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So between 1510 and 1514 he worked on it, gradually improving his theory until he felt it was complete.
于是，他在1510至1514年期间从事这项研究，逐步修改他的理论，直到他感到完善时为止。
In 1514 he showed it privately to his friends.
1514年，他把他的新理论私下里给他的朋友们看。
The changes he made to the old theory were revolutionary.
他对旧理论的修改是具有革命性的。
He placed a fixed sun at the centre of the solar system with the planets going round it and only the moon still going round the earth.
他把太阳固定在太阳系的中心位置上，而行星则围绕着太阳转，只有月球仍然绕着地球转。
He also suggested that the earth was spinning as it went round the sun
他还提出地球在围绕太阳转的同时，它本身还自转，
and this explained changes in the movement of the planets and in the brightness of the stars.
这样就说明了行星运动的变化情况以及星球亮度问题。
His friends were enthusiastic and encouraged him to publish his ideas, but Copernicus was cautious.
他的朋友都热情地鼓励他把他的想法公之于世，而他却小心谨慎，。
He did not want to be attacked by the Christian Church, so he only published it as he lay dying in 1543.
他不想遭到基督教会的攻击，所以他直到1543年临终之前才公布了这一观点。
Certainly he was right to be careful.
当然，他小心谨慎是对的。
The Christian Church rejected his theory, saying it was against God's idea and people who supported it would be attacked.
基督教会拒绝接受他的理论，说这种理论违背了上帝的旨意，而支持这种理论的人都会受到打击。
Yet Copernicus' theory is now the basis on which all our ideas of the universe are built.
然而哥白尼的理论却是我们宇宙观赖以建立的基础。
His theory replaced the Christian idea of gravity, which said things fell to earth because God created the earth as the centre of the universe.
他的理论还改变了基督教对地心引力的看法，他们认为物体往地球上掉落是因为上帝创造了地球，而地球正是宇宙的中心。
Copernicus showed this was obviously wrong.
哥白尼表明这是明显错误的。
Now people can see that there is a direct link between his theory and the work of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
如今人们可以看到，他的这些想法与艾萨克·牛顿、阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦以及斯蒂芬·霍金等人的研究都有着直接的联系。
