About Time - Chapter 10 - Heliocentric time

Since the rise of astrology, priests had been observing and interpreting the motions of stars and planets for religious purposes. But others developed an interest that would be more accurately described as scientific. So-called ‘astronomers’ had a passion for empirical observation and meticulous measurement. Over time they built up an extensive database describing the celestial realm. Enabled by all this data and the invention of the telescope, progress was further fueled by new mathematical insights and the ability for ideas to develop and spread rapidly thanks to the founding of universities and the invention of the printing press.

Our understanding of the cosmos expanded 01:01 - quickly. Successive insights from individuals such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, would challenge the doctrines of the Catholic church. Slowly but surely, the geocentric veil was lifted and the true nature of the heavens was revealed as a giant heliocentric clockwork. No longer would the universe seem to revolve around us. The apparent motions of the Sun, the phases of the moon and the cycle of seasons could now be explained and predicted as direct consequences of a convincing, orderly and elegant model with the Sun at its centre.

Time became a 01:47 - mathematical parameter used to describe reality in detail. While hours were produced by the clock, years, months and days were produced by the powers of gravity. .