Nicolaus Copernicus
Heliocentric model of the solar system
Sayings by Nicolaus Copernicus
For it is clear that the earth performs a double motion: one about its axis, and another about the sun.
The order of the planets is as follows: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury, and in the middle of all, the Sun.
There are three kinds of motion of the earth, as I shall demonstrate below.
For the motion which appears to us in the heavens is not in the heavens themselves, but in the earth.
Therefore, I propose that the earth moves, and that the fixed stars are immovable.
And if the earth were to stand still, the appearance of the heavens would be very different.
For the world is spherical, and is bounded by a spherical surface.
The earth also is spherical, since it presses upon its center from every direction.
At rest, however, in the middle of everything is the sun.