Abyssal plains were not recognized as distinct physiographic features of the sea floor until the late 1940s and, until very recently, none had been studied on a systematic basis. They are poorly preserved in the sedimentary record, because they tend to be consumed by the subduction process.
The first man to discover that the earth moves around the sun was an Italian scientist named Galileo Galilei.
In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published a new theory stating the earth revolves around the sun. This is known as the Copernican theory. This theory was considered a serious challenge to the Ptolemaic theory and the Roman Catholic Church. Copernicus died before he could prove his theory.