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Copernicus' Revolutionary Theory
哥白尼的革命性理论
Nicolaus Copernicus was frightened and his mind was confused.
尼古拉·哥白尼被吓得心烦意乱的。
Although he had tried to ignore them, all his mathematical calculations led to the same conclusion:
虽然他曾经试着不去理睬那些数字，然而他所有的数学计算都得出了一个相同的结论：
that the earth was not the centre of the solar system.
地球不是太阳系的中心。
Only if you put the sun there did the movements of the other planets in the sky make sense.
只有当你把太阳放在中心位置上，天空中其他行星的运动才能说得清楚。
Yet he could not tell anyone about his theory
他的这个理论可不能告诉任何人，
as the powerful Christian Church would have punished him for even suggesting such an idea.
因为即使他只暗示有这种想法，他都会受到强大的基督教会势力的惩罚。
They believed God had made the world and for that reason the earth was special and must be the centre of the solar system.
教会认为世界是上帝创造的，正因为如此，地球就具有特殊的意义，它必定要成为太阳系的中心。
The problem arose because astronomers had noticed that some planets in the sky seemed to stop, move backward and then go forward in a loop.
这样，问题就来了，因为天文学家以前发现过，天上有些行星停顿下来，往后移动，然后再成环状向前移动，。
Others appeared brighter at times and less bright at others.
而其他行星看上去有时亮些，有时又不怎么亮。
This was very strange if the earth was the centre of the solar system and all planets went round it.
如果地球是太阳系的中心，而所有行星环绕着地球转的话，那么这种现象就很奇怪了。
Copernicus had thought long and hard about these problems and tried to find an answer.
哥白尼对这些问题曾经苦苦思索过很久，试图找出问题的答案。
He had collected observations of the stars and used all his mathematical knowledge to explain them.
他曾经收集过观察星球的数据，并且利用他的全部数学知识来解释这些数据。
But only his new theory could do that.
但是只有他的新理论才能作出解释。
