Heliocentrism (1543)

Nicolaus Copernicus's 1543 De Revolutionibus, placing the Sun at the solar system's center, launched the Scientific Revolution by displacing humanity from the cosmic center—a paradigm shift more profound than Darwin's later challenge to human exceptionalism. This heliocentric model overturned 1,400 years of Ptolemaic geocentrism, challenging Church authority and establishing empirical observation over received wisdom. Within 50 years, it reduced Earth's orbital error by 99%, and it is faster than the typical ancient model in explaining planetary motion.