Copernicus

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Russia
Nicolaus Copernicus was born in 1473 in Torun,
Poland.
Lithuania
.Torun
Belarus
Warsaw
He was raised by his uncle, a bishop in the
Catholic church, after his father died when he
was 10 years old.
Germany
Poland
. Krakow
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Slovakia
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The uncle sent him and his brother to the
Jagiellonian University in Krakow.
Copernicus studied liberal arts for 4 years, then
left for Italy to study medicine and law.
He did not return to Poland for 6 years.
Jagiellonian University
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Copernicus studied liberal arts in Bologna,
medicine in Padua, and canon law in Ferrara.
. Padua
. Ferrara
. Bologna
Italy
Galileo taught at the University of Padua nearly
100 years later.
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In Italy, Copernicus lived in the home of a
mathematics professor while he studied canon
(scriptural) law.
Both men were greatly interested in geography and
astronomy.
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While he was in Italy, Copernicus was elected as
canon for the Frombork Cathedral in Warmia, a
region in Poland by the Baltic Sea.
Russia
.Frombork
Lithuania
.Torun
Germany
Although he was living in Italy, the church in
Warmia paid him a steady source of income for
performing administrative duties in absentia.
Warsaw
Belarus
Poland
. Krakow
Czech Republic
Ukraine
Slovakia
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After Copernicus completed a degree in canon law,
he returned to Poland to take up church duties
and become an advisor and physician to his uncle,
the bishop.
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For several years, Copernicus worked as canon
for the bishop of Warmia.
In his spare time, he observed the heavens from
one tall tower on Cathedral Hill, and studied the
ancient scientists Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, and
Ptolemy.
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The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 BC)
wrote several scientific treatises that had long
been accepted and unchallenged in Western
civilization.
Aristotles geocentric theory stated that Earth
was a 2-dimensional flat world in the
center of the universe.
This theory was supported by the Catholic Church.
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By 1530, Copernicus had completed his major
work, On the Revolutions of the
Celestial Spheres.
He was reluctant to publish his works, not
wanting to offend the church, and continued to
work on it for 30 years, checking and rechecking
his observations.
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Finally we shall place the Sun himself at the
center of the Universe. All this is suggested by
the systematic procession of events and the
harmony of the whole Universe, if only we face
the facts, as they say, with both eyes
open. Copernicus, De Revolutionibus Coelestibus
Copernicus proposed that the Earth rotated and
revolved with other planets around a stationary
sun.
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He wrote several abstracts and sent them to
interested friends, gradually spreading his
theory of heliocentrism.
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A 26-year-old German mathematician, George
Rheticus, was fascinated with Copernicus work.
He went to Poland and spent 2 years there,
discussing and studying Copernicus theories with
him.
Rheticus persuaded him to publish his works.
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Copernicus died on May 24, 1543, at the age of
70. He received a copy of the published work on
the day he died.
Image courtesy of Department of History and
Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge.
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The heliocentric theory marked the beginning of a
scientific revolution and the beginning of modern
astronomy.
People began viewing the universe as much larger
than they had previously thought.
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The Copernican Revolution led to further
discoveries by
Galileo Galilei
Johann Kepler
Isaac Newton
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Bibliography
Field, J. V. (----). Nicolaus Copernicus. London
Available Online http//www-history.mcs.standr
ews.ac.uk/history/Mathematicians/Copernicus.html
Hagen, J. G. (1999). Nicolaus Copernicus. The
Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV. Available
Online http//www.newadvent.org/cathen/04352b.ht
m
Oedziowski, Dr. Severyn. (October 20, 1993). When
the earth moved. Available Online
http//wings.buffalo.edu/info-poland/classroom/kop
ernik/copernicus.html
Science and Education. (1999). Magiczny Krakow.
Available Online http//www.krakow.pl/en/nauka
/
Starry Messenger. Available Online.
www.hps.cam.ac.uk/starry