Final answer:
The scientific model of understanding the solar system, particularly the heliocentric model, is attributed to the work of Johannes Kepler, who, along with Nicolaus Copernicus and Galileo Galilei, moved away from the Ptolemaic model to a mathematical understanding of the cosmos. The correct option is D.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of a scientific model, specifically in reference to the understanding of the solar system, can be attributed to the transition from the Ptolemaic model to a heliocentric understanding of the cosmos.
The Ptolemaic model, named after the Greek philosopher Ptolemy who lived in the second century A.D., was a geocentric model that described the planets' motions around the Earth without offering explanations based on cause and effect.
It was Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, who challenged this view with his mathematical models that supported the heliocentric or sun-centered universe, previously proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus.
Kepler's laws of planetary motion were pivotal in evidencing this mathematical model, affirming that the true nature of the universe could be discovered through mathematics.
This was a view shared by Galileo Galilei, the Italian astronomer, who also promoted the idea that the universe's mysteries could be unraveled using mathematical principles. The correct option is D.