heliocentrism
noun[U]
environment,physicsspecializeduk/ˌhiː.li.əʊˈsen.trɪ.zəm/us/ˌhiː.li.əˈsen.trɪ.zəm/theideathat thesunis at thecentreof theuniverse, with theEarthand otherplanetsmovingaround it:
Historically, heliocentrism wasopposedto geocentrism, whichplacedtheEarthat thecentre.
Compare
geocentrism
- TheChurchacceptedthe use of heliocentrism as acalculatingdevice, butopposedit as aliteraldescriptionof thesolarsystem.
- Heliocentrism had been inconflictwithreligionbefore Copernicus.
- Thetheoriesof heliocentrism and therotationof theearthonitsaxishad been around for sometimebefore Galileo came along.