Copernicus Gets A Google Doodle As Birthday Present
Had Nicolaus Copernicus lived to be 540-years-old its almost a certainty that he would have been honored to be part of Google’s latest Doodle. The search engine giant routinely celebrates important people and dates by incorporating them into the Doodle.
Most people have probably heard the name, Copernicus but may not remember exactly why he was in their history books. Copernicus is largely credited with coming up with the heliocentric model.
The National Geographic details that in 1543, when he published the model it was revolutionary. Until that time it was believed that all planets in the solar system, as well as the sun revolved around the earth.
Copernicus came up with the model that showed that all the planets, including the earth, actually revolved around the sun.
As PC Mag points out, the scientist published his theories in two different books. The Roman Catholic Church strongly objected to his findings and actually banned the second of the books.
Despite the church’s efforts Copernicus’ model became widely accepted and ultimately proven to be undeniably true. Google issued a tweet announcing the Doodle earlier today saying:
“The world revolves around me!’ said the sun. Happy 540th to #NicolausCopernicus who created the heliocentric model”
The Doodle is a colorful diagram, showing all of the planets revolving around the sun which is used to form the second ‘O’ in Google.
The Google Doodle has become something that Internet mavens tend to watching closely. Because of this, there have been plenty of Doodles that have generated quite a bit of controversy.
“The world revolves around me!” said the sun. Happy 540th to #NicolausCopernicus who created the heliocentric model google.com
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) February 19, 2013
It would seem that the controversy surrounding Copernicus has long since died down. Hopefully Google and rest of the world can celebrate the man’s 540th birthday without there being much of an uproar.
