Which approach did Copernicus challenge during the Scientific Revolution?

Copernicus challenged the geocentric model, which posited that the Earth was the center of the universe and that all celestial bodies, including the sun, revolved around it. His introduction of the heliocentric model, which placed the sun at the center of the universe with the planets, including Earth, orbiting around it, marked a significant shift in astronomical thought during the Scientific Revolution. This revolutionary idea laid the groundwork for future astronomers, such as Galileo and Kepler, and ultimately transformed our understanding of the cosmos.

In contrast, the heliocentric model is the very concept that Copernicus proposed, thus it cannot be what he challenged. The theory of natural selection is a biological concept developed much later by Charles Darwin, unrelated to Copernicus’s work in astronomy. Additionally, the idea of spontaneous generation refers to an outdated belief about the origin of life that was also addressed well after Copernicus's time.