Concurrent sea voyages provided practical proof that Earth is a globe, just as Galileo’s use of his newly invented telescope in the early 17th century soon showed various other planets to be globes as well. Since the Copernican revolution of the 16th century, at which time the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus proposed a Sun-centred model of the universe ( see heliocentric system), enlightened thinkers have regarded Earth as a planet like the others of the solar system. Earth’s name in English, the international language of astronomy, derives from Old English and Germanic words for ground and earth, and it is the only name for a planet of the solar system that does not come from Greco-Roman mythology. Its single most outstanding feature is that its near-surface environments are the only places in the universe known to harbour life.

SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!Įarth, third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the solar system in terms of size and mass.

Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them!

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COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.

Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.

This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.

#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.

Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.

Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.

Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.

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