How does astronomy affect society?

Impression of the Universe
Credit: Harmonia Macrocosmica

Knowing our place in the Universe also affects our view of the world around us. Astronomical insights have shaped the way we think about ourselves.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Here comes the Sun! Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) revolutionised our view of the Universe by placing the Sun in the centre of the Solar System.
Credit: Getty Images
Doubtful Dane
Doubtful Dane! Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) was a great observer, but he had trouble accepting Copernicus’s world view.
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Founding father
Founding father! His experimental approach made Italian physicist Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) the father of modern science. He promoted the Sun-centred view of the Universe.
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Law and order
Law and order! The mathematical laws of planetary motion were finally derived by German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) using the data collected by Tycho Brahe.
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For thousands of years, people saw the Earth as the centre of the Universe and humans as the pinnacle of creation. The 16th-century work of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus changed all that. Since then, we have come to realise that we are a very recent species, living on an insignificant planet – cosmic newcomers in a remote corner of the Universe. Astronomy (as well as geology and evolutionary biology) has given us a completely different view of ourselves that has significantly altered the way we treat our planet, our fellow human beings and other lifeforms on planet Earth.

Earth-centered view
Earth-centred view: According to the old Greek view of the cosmos, the Sun, Moon and planets all orbit the central Earth, as depicted in this engraving from 1568.
Credit: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

Long ago, people thought that the Earth was the centre of everything. But astronomers have discovered that we are just a tiny planet in a vast Universe. We’re not that important!