Editing Mediocrity principle (section)

== Measurement of distance to stars ==
The mediocrity principle was implicitly applied during the 17th century, when astronomers attempted to measure the distance between distant [[star]]s and the [[Earth]]. By assuming that the [[Sun]] was just an average star, and that some stars seemed brighter simply because they were closer to us, they were able to estimate how far these stars were from the Earth. Although this method was flawed due to the differences among stars, it gave astronomers at that time a rough idea of how far the stars were from the Earth. For example, [[James Gregory (mathematician)|James Gregory]], [[Isaac Newton]] and [[Christiaan Huygens]] were able to estimate the distance between [[Sirius]] and the Earth through this method.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gingerich |first1=Owen |title=God's Universe |url=https://archive.org/details/godsuniverseowen00ging |url-access=registration |date=2006 |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=[https://archive.org/details/godsuniverseowen00ging/page/20 20]|isbn=9780674023703 }}</ref>