The heliocentric model is a theory observed by Copernicus that places the Sun as the centre of the universe, and the planets orbiting around it. The heliocentric model replaced geocentrism, which is the belief that the Earth is the centre of the universe, as new invented technology allowed the scientists to approach new discovery.
The idea of sun instead of Earth is at the centre of universe challenged the Roman Catholic church, who had a powerful force at that time period and suppressed Copernicus’ thought. In opposition to the religious belief of geocentric theory, the heliocentric theory is an evidence that people were moving towards enlightenment thinking in which people began to stressed scientific evidences instead of vogue religious believes.
The heliocentric theory plays an important role in world history not only because of its significant discovery of the universe but also its challenge towards traditional ideas, which led to the later on period of enlightenment.
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Interation between human and the environment- technology: The discovery of the actual structure of the universe is a huge step-forward in the realm of astronomy. It also proves that the technology at that time period was advanced enough to support the observation of universe.
Cultural- Belief system: The biggest challenge faced by the Heliocentric theory was the opposition of Roman Catholic church, who believed in every everything claimed by God. However, the fact that the heliocentric theory eventually replaced geocentric proves that the era of scientific thinking had begun as religious influence weakened.
Left: heliocentric model
Right: geocentric model
Cessna, A. (2009, June 22). Heliocentric Model. Retrieved from
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