[Elsie]

I wonder if the Earth had a greater eccentricity of orbit, if thinkers of old would have been able to figure out astronomical truths sooner?

[RadioAstronomer]

I wonder if the Earth had a greater eccentricity of orbit, if thinkers of old would have been able to figure out astronomical truths sooner?

Oh yes! The heliocentric model was proposed long ago. The primary reason it got shot down was the instruments of the time could not resolve the parallax.

Even thousands of years ago they knew parallax was one of the “requirements” for a heliocentric solar system.