Planetary system BC by Aristarchus of Samos, but received no support from most other ancient astronomers. "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" by Nicolaus Copernicus, published in 1543, was the first mathematically predictive heliocentric model of a planetary system. 17th-century successors Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton developed an understanding of physics which led to the gradual acceptance of the idea that the Earth moves round the Sun and that the planets are governed by the same physical laws that governed the Earth. In the 16th century the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, an early supporter of the Copernican theory that the Earth and
The Sun in culture The Sun in culture The Sun, as the source of energy and light for life on earth has been a central object in culture and religion since prehistory. Ritual solar worship has given rise to solar deities in theistic traditions throughout the world, and solar symbolism is ubiquitous. Apart from its immediate connection to light and warmth, the sun is also important in timekeeping as the main indicator of the day and the year. The earliest understanding of the Sun was that of a disk in the sky, whose presence above the horizon creates day and whose absence causes night.