Humans first looked at the universe as small and geocentric. But over the years scientific evidence has shown that it is heliocentric, and that we are only a tiny planet among billions and billions of other planets in this enormous universe. We have been able to discover this due to the advancement in technology. Also humans first had a religion-based view on the universe, but we now look at it secularly. Human understanding of the universe has changed over time as scientific research has contained more evidence over time.
When humans first became interested in the universe, they assumed that the earth was in the center, with the planets orbiting around it, and the whole thing surrounded by heaven. Ptolemy had the idea of heavenly spheres, in which all the orbits are perfect circles. But astronomers such as Galileo discovered that in order for a geocentric model of the universe to work, there would have to be very complicated orbits that just didnt make sense. Copernicus had thought of the universe as heliocentric, but he also had the idea of perfectly circular orbits. Isaac Newton, with help from the telescope, discovered that the universe is heliocentric, and the orbits arent complicated, or perfect circles, but more of an oval shape. .
The reason Newton was able to discover this was because there was much better technology available to him then there was for earlier astronomers. Astronomers first observed the universe with the naked eye. But over time, telescopes were developed and they were made more and more powerful, until eventually we were able to launch telescopes into space to get an even better view. Using the telescope, Galileo was able to see details of the moon, sun, and other planets never seen before. At the time this was considered heresy, because it went against church teachings of heavenly spheres. .
Religion used to be a big part of human understanding of the universe.
