Directions: The passage below is followed by several questions. Choose the best answer from the choices given. The invalidation of the Ptolemaic model of the solar system is owed chiefly to Nicolaus Copernicus, a 15th century astronomer from Poland. An early Renaissance man, Copernicus studied a wide range of subjects encompassing mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and law. He studied at the University of Krakow and later at the University of Bologna. While in Italy, his investigations led him to question the widely held belief of the time that the sun and planets revolved around the earth.... Show more

Directions: The passage below is followed by several questions. Choose the best answer from the choices given.

The invalidation of the Ptolemaic model of the solar system is owed chiefly to Nicolaus Copernicus, a 15th century astronomer from Poland. An early Renaissance man, Copernicus studied a wide range of subjects encompassing mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and law. He studied at the University of Krakow and later at the University of Bologna. While in Italy, his investigations led him to question the widely held belief of the time that the sun and planets revolved around the earth. In Copernicus' time, people believed that the earth was motionless and fixed at the center of the universe. This model had originated with the Greek astronomer Ptolemy 1,000 years earlier and was supported strongly by the Catholic Church. Copernicus, a church canon himself, challenged the Ptolemaic theory. In its place, he proposed a heliocentric or sun-centered astronomic model. From his observations, made with the naked eye, Copernicus concluded that all the planets—including the earth—revolved around the sun. He also measured the earth's daily axial rotation and proposed this motion as the cause of the apparent movement of heavenly bodies. Working before the advent of the telescope, Copernicus could not prove his theories. He died in 1543.

Show less