The famous scientist who proposed the heliocentric model of the solar system is Nicolaus Copernicus. In the 16th century, Copernicus challenged the geocentric perspective, which posited that the Earth was the center of the universe. His revolutionary theory, articulated in his work "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium," argued that the Sun, not the Earth, is at the center, with planets, including Earth, orbiting around it. This groundbreaking idea laid the foundation for modern astronomy and significantly impacted the Scientific Revolution, leading to the eventual acceptance of heliocentrism and changes in mankind’s understanding of its place in the universe.