abstract:The Copernican Revolution, which in terms of astronomy amounted to the acceptance of heliocentrism as suggested by Nicolaus Copernicus, has also been used widely as a metaphor supporting descriptions of modernity. A particularly prominent case was the selection of this comparison by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason to explain the effect in epistemology of his new transcendental philosophy.
Itwasthere, 18 centuries beforetheCopernican revolution, that Aristarchus posited a heliocentricsolar system and Eratosthenescalculated the circumferenceoftheEarth.
Initially, the new paradigm is typically greeted with strong resistance both from the scientific community and even from other powers as in the case of the Copernicanrevolution.