Which mathematician and astronomer proposed the heliocentric model in De revolutionibus, published in 1543?

Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, published in 1543. The model placed the Sun near the center of the planetary system and made Earth a moving planet that rotates daily and orbits the Sun yearly.

Copernicus did not invent the idea that Earth moves; ancient Greek thinker Aristarchus of Samos had suggested a Sun-centered arrangement centuries earlier. Copernicus’s importance came from developing a detailed mathematical system that challenged the dominant Earth-centered model associated with Ptolemy.

His system was not identical to modern astronomy because it retained circular orbits and relied on additional circles to match observations. Johannes Kepler later replaced those circles with elliptical orbits, while Galileo’s telescopic observations supplied influential evidence. Copernicus dedicated his book to Pope Paul III, and a traditional story says a printed copy reached him shortly before his death on 24 May 1543.