The Copernican Principle, named in honor of Nicolaus Copernicus (who proposed the heliocentric model of the universe), states ...

Earth-centered models of the universe did not require stars to be at the vast distances needed by the Copernican model. Lesser distances translated into lesser sizes. In Earth-centered models, stars ...

Humans, says astrophysicist Scharf (Gravity’s Engines), are torn between two philosophical extremes: either we—ourselves and our planet—are unique and rare or we are simply “as dull as they come,” our ...

IN ARIZONA, AT Kitt Peak National Observatory, a telescope has spent three years building a three-dimensional map of the heavens. In examining the light from tens of millions of galaxies, the Dark ...

Ian G. McCarthy receives funding from UKRI's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). He works for Liverpool John Moores University. Given how unfathomably large the universe is, it is ...

Medical Doctor. Interdisciplinary Lecturer. PhD Student, History and Philosophy of Science., University of Sydney The scientific worldview has made great contributions to humanity’s flourishing. But, ...

Humans like to think by analogy, and this method often works well for advancing knowledge. For instance, when Galileo first turned his new telescope towards the heavens in 1609–10, he quickly noted ...