"The central fire received a number of mythological names. ...[W]e are dealing with a real scientific hypothesis. It was a great thing... that the phenomena could best be "saved" by a central luminary, and that the earth must... be a revolving sphere like the planets. [W]e are almost tempted to say that the identification of the central fire with the sun... suggested for the first time in the Academy, is a mere detail in comparison. The great thing was that the earth should... take its place among the planets... once... done.., we can... search for the true "hearth" of the planetary system... It is probable... that... this theory... made it possible for Herakleides of Pontos and Aristarchos of Samos to reach the heliocentric hypothesis, and it was... Aristotle’s reversion to the geocentric theory which made it necessary for Copernicus to discover the truth afresh. We have his own word for it that the Pythagorean theory put him on the right track."