If you ask people—even scientists—what they know about the Copernican Revolution, you are likely to hear that people believed in the Ptolemaic astronomical model for over a millennium, which placed Earth at the center of the universe. Eventually, the Copernican heliocentric model replaced its geocentric predecessor because it is more accurate, despite the strong opposition of the Catholic Church and its persecution of Copernican supporters like Galileo. However, it turns out that not much of this commonly believed story is true.
Join Case Western Reserve University’s chapter of Sigma Xi for a virtual Science Café Cleveland discussion about “The Copernican Myths,” led by Mano Singham, emeritus professor of physics at CWRU. Using the Copernican revolution as a case study, Singham will discuss why myths acquire so much power over our imaginations that they readily displace the actual historical record.
The event will take place Monday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. (ET). Access the Zoom link through Facebook.