Abstract In this article, we present a new conception of the astronomical revolution accomplished by Philolaus. Like Copernicus against the geocentric system accounting for the alternation of days and nights by the movement of the sun around the earth, Philolaus reversed Empedocles’s system and the Presocratic paradigm that involved fire directly or indirectly in the alternation of days and nights. He transferred fire from the periphery to the center of the universe and endowed the earth with a movement around this central fire, like the other celestial bodies. This new physical conception allowed a fair evaluation of the Philolaic system by ridding it of the mythological and religious veil, at least as regards its foundation.
Azeddine Chahi (Sat,) studied this question.