Amy+Kim+&+Yoona+Cha

Yoona Cha: Nicolaus Copernicus (NC) Amy Kim: MC Amy

Show Name: Supermassive Black Hole (Background Music) Mr. Brightside - The Killers and "Cutting my hair" -Daylight (instrumental) media type="custom" key="1938890"

MC Amy: Hello and welcome back to Supermassive Black Hole. The date is September 9, 2008 and its two minuetes before midnight.Today’s surprise guest is Mr. Nicolaus Copernicus. Please give him a warm round of applause. He came all the way from the 16th century Poland! (Clapping)

NC: Hullo boys and girls of the world history freshmen class. My name is Nicolaus Copernicus. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.

MC Amy: Thank you for taking off some of your precious time for this interview.

NC: No problem. Though I must say, that being a mathematician, astronomer, physician, classical scholar, translator, Catholic cleric, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat, and an economist does put strain on time.

MC Amy: Oh my!! But I thought that your main passion was astronomy, after all, it was through astronomy that you formulated the heliocentric cosmology, wasn’t it?

NC: Ah yes, it is but astronomy is little more than an advocation, amid all my other responsibilities.

MC Amy: So even though you barely had time, you made the heliocentric cosmology?? That’s amazing!!

NC: I know! And I’m also the first astronomer to formulate a scientifically based heliocentric cosmology!

MC Amy: Wow! I’ve been saying heliocentric cosmology for some time but I don’t understand what it means…

NC: What??? You are all here thinking that the earth and other planets such as mars, venus, saturn, and mercury revolves around the sun because of me.

MC Amy: Ah right~! Of course! Without Mr. Copernicus’ brilliant contributions to the workings of the universe, especially the heliocentric theory, we might all be just worshiping God for placing the earth at the center of the universe.

(Crowd cheers; Go Copernicus!)

So, on to our topic for today. Mr. Copernicus, why did you believe that the sun was the center of our solar system when the Catholic Church clearly stated that God had deliberately placed Earth in the center of the universe for the purpose of drama and life?

NC: Well, obviously I didn’t randomly decide to oppose the beliefs of my Church. I am a very religious person you know; and I do believe that unbiased science and religion both have important roles to play in the world of men. The reason why I presented my heliocentric theory to the public despite my prior knowlege of the Church’s reactions is mainly due to my professor and friend Domenico Maria de Novara.

MC Amy: How did this friend of yours influence you?

NC: Well, Domenico was a professor at the University of Bologna, in which I attended during the eighteenth year of my life. He taught me astronomy and often shared his skeptical views of the geocentric theory proposed by Claudius Ptolemy. I began to share Domenico’s skeptical beliefs and started researching for a better solution. This is when I started formulating the heliocentric theory.

MC Amy: Mr. Copernicus, can you elaborate on the heliocentric theory?

NC: Well, the heliocentric theory is the belief that the sun is at the center of our universe, which contradicts the geocentric theory. Also, I have found out that the earth rotates on an axis while revolving around the sun; that is why we have seasons year round in most parts of Earth.

MC Amy: So, Mr. Copernicus, if heliocentricism is the idea that the sun is the center of the universe, then how would you explain geocentricism?

NC: Geocentricism is the idea that the Earth is at the center of the universe. Originated by Aristotle and Ptolemy, this theory is incorrect. If there should chance to be any mathematician who, ignorant in mathematics yet pretending to skill in that science, should dare, upon the authority of some passage of Scripture wrested to their purpose, to condemn and censure my hypothesis, I value them not, and scorn their inconsiderate judgment.

MC Amy: So you believe that Aristotle and Ptolemy were fools?

NC: No, not at all. It’s just that everything is changing and mathematics was written for mathematicians and I know that my theory is correct.

MC Amy: How are you so sure that your theory is correct?

NC: Well, let me explain my heliocentric theory more carefully to you. In my ordering, the Earth is just another planet and the Moon is in orbit around the Earth, not the sun. In fact, the stars are distant objects that do NOT revolve around the sun. My idea also proves that our stars naturally vary in brightness because they are not always the same distance from the Earth. As I once said “finally we shall place the Sun himself at the center of the Universe. All this suggested by the systematic procession of events and harmony of the whole Universe, if only we face the facts, as they say, ‘with both eyes open.’”

MC Amy: Ah, I see, and that explains the reason why Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn every so often appear to move across the sky in one direction and then seem to stop and go in the opposite direction. Other astronomers of your time did not understand this, but your heliocentric theory gave an explanation for what they called retrograding across the sky.

NC: Exactly, now you seem to get the whole theory. That’s brilliant. Oh my, five minuets already? I am truly sorry, but I must get going or I’ll miss daily examination of the sun.

MC Amy: Well, thank you for being with us today at Supermassive Black Hole, and may be we’ll see you again soon! (Clapping)