Paradigm Shifting and Telescope Advances

Around the 17th century there was a massive shift in the paradigm of astronomy. The earth was no longer the center of the universe, Jupiter suddenly had more inner satellites, Venus went through phases, the moon was not smooth anymore (or made out of cheese) and the rest of the stars in the galaxy started to pop up and show themselves. This was all because of one 45-year-old Italian mathematician who pointed a tube with two lenses skyward.

This mathematician was Galileo and the tube with two lenses was the begining of the modern day telescope. It was also the findings of this amazing person that allowed for copernicus' theory of a heliocentric solar system. This whole advance in astronomy was a paradigm shift.

The mechanisms and reasons for this shift was quite simple yet very big. For ages people had thought that earth was at the center of the universe and that everything orbited around it. This was all meant to change when Galileo invented the first rudimentary telescope and proved the social norm wrong. This was not the case however, as people doubted the validity of his findings and still stuck with the ways of thinking.

Galileo's findings also showed that the moon was bumpy and that the planet Venus went through phases like the moon. These findings were mostly overlooked until another brilliant astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, finally managed to sway the major beliefs of the way the universe worked by showing how the earth orbits around the sun.