THE HERITAGE OF NICOLAUS COPERNICUS

The discovery of heliocentricism has had a significant influence on the whole history of civilization development. Therefore, the Copernicus’ theory can be considered as a program for human development for the recent 500 years. The article considers the impact of Copernicus’ theory, first formulated 500 years ago (in 1515) on our worldview formation, as it first noted the joint existence of heliocentric system, gravitation and relativity principle. Nowadays these notions are in common scientific use for scientific research. These notions are the basis of the new approach to the understanding of processes around us, allowing the change our present worldview.