Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473-1543, was a Renaissance academic and astronomer of Polish/German descent. Shortly before his death his book was published in which he expanded on his discovery that the Sun, not the Earth, was at the centre of our solar system, which brought his ideas into direct conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. Even Martin Luther, a near contemporary and challenger to some practices of the Catholic Church, on hearing of Copernicus’ ideas stated, ‘I believe in Holy Scripture’. A century later Galileo Galilei was accused of heresy by the Catholic Church for ‘following the position of Copernicus, which is contrary to the true sense and authority of Holy Scripture’.
The incredible discoveries of 20th century cosmology have led to such remarkable facts as; an almost infinite number of galaxies beyond the ‘Milky Way’, an expanding universe following the ‘Big Bang’ and the replication of the same elements (rocks and gases) across the Universe. 21st century cosmology may be able to prove that our expanding Universe is just one of many universes and that expansion may be followed by contraction to a point where the next ‘big bang’ starts the process all over again.
Although my knowledge is very limited, it would seem that here is the culmination of the Rise of Rationalism with, literally, everything being explainable by the properties of evolution, cosmic physics and matter. I’m pretty sure that quantum theory should be in this list also but, at present, I just don’t understand it.
We are living in a remarkable age for, despite a dumbing-down of human culture and politics, we are seeing the outcome of the work of pioneers 15+ generations past.