性的。他把固定的太阳放在太阳系的中心，别的行星都围绕太阳转动，只有月亮仍然围绕地球转动。他还认为，地球在围绕太阳运转的同时也在自转，这就解释了行星运行和星体亮度上的变化。他的朋友都热情地鼓励他把他的想法公之于世，而哥白尼却小心谨慎。他不想遭到基督教教会的攻击，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. The Christian Church rejected\s\up1(34(34) his theory, saying\s\up1(35(35) it was against\s\up1(36(36) God's idea and people who supported it would be attacked. Yet Copernicus' theory is now the basis\s\up1(37(37) on which\s\up1(38(38) all our ideas of the universe\s\up1(39(39) are built. His theory replaced\s\up1(40(40) the Christian idea of gravity, which\s\up1(41(41) said things fell to earth because God created\s\up1(42(42) the earth as the centre of the universe. Copernicus showed this was obviously wrong.Now people can see that there is a direct link between his theory and the work of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

　　\s\up1(34(34)reject [rI'dʒekt] vt.拒绝；不接受；抛弃

　　\s\up1(35(35)现在分词短语saying it was against God's idea ...作方式状语。saying后跟两个宾语从句，其中第二个宾语从句中含有who引导的定语从句who supported it，修饰people。

　　\s\up1(36(36)be against反对；违背

　　be for支持；赞同

　　\s\up1(37(37)basis n. [C]基础

　　\s\up1(38(38)on which all our ideas ...为定语从句，修饰the basis。

　　\s\up1(39(39)universe ['juːnIvɜːs] n．宇宙；世界

　　\s\up1(40(40)replace vt.取代

　　\s\up1(41(41)which引导定语从句，修饰先行词gravity。

　　\s\up1(42(42)create vt.创造；产生；制造

　　[第5段译文]

当然他小心是正确的。 基督教教会拒绝接受他的理论，说这种理论违背了上帝的旨意，而任何支持这种理论的人都将受到打击。然而现在哥白尼的理论却是我们的宇宙观建立的基础。他的理论还取代了基督教教会对地球引力的看法，他们认为物体掉到地球上是因为上帝把地球设定为宇宙的中心。哥白尼证明这显然是错误的。今天人们可以看到他的理论和艾萨克·牛顿、阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦、斯蒂芬·霍金的研究工作有着直接联系。