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Nicolaus Copernicus Biography


Nicolaus Copernicus Biography

నికోలస్ కోపర్నికస్ జీవిత చరిత్ర

Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance-era mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe, in all likelihood independently of Aristarchus of Samos, who had formulated such a model some eighteen centuries earlier. His book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, is often thought of as the most important book ever published in the field of astronomy. The ensuing explosion or research, observation, analysis, and science that followed its publication is referred to as the Copernican Revolution.

Early Life

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in the Polish town of Torun. His father was a rich merchant and Nicolaus was one of 4 children. (He had 1 brother and 2 sisters). In 1491 Copernicus went to the University of Cracow. He left there about 1495. In 1496 he went to the University of Bologna to study law. By then Copernicus had become interested in astronomy. Copernicus left Bologna in 1501. He then studied medicine at the University of Padua. From 1503 to 1510 he worked as a secretary and physician to his uncle who was a bishop. Meanwhile he continued to study astronomy.

His Theory

An ancient Greek called Aristarchus (c 310-230 BC) correctly realized that the Earth orbits the Sun. Unfortunately, his ideas were rejected and people came to believe that the Earth is the center of the universe. They believed that the Moon, the Sun and the other planets orbit the Earth. Copernicus realized that this is not so. The Sun is the center of the Solar System and the Earth and the other planets orbit it. This is called the Heliocentric system from the Greek word for Sun, Helios. (The older theory that the Earth is the center is called the Ptolemaic System after a Roman astronomer named Ptolemy (c 87-170 AD). Copernicus also realized that the Earth spins on its axis. The axis is tilted. That accounts for the seasons.


However, the theory that the Earth is the center of the Universe raised an awkward question. Aristotle taught that objects fall to the Earth because it is at the center of the Universe and it is natural for them to fall towards the center. If Copernicus was right then what caused objects to fall to the Earth? (Remember this was long before the theory of gravity). Furthermore, if the Heliocentric theory was true then the Earth was just another planet, part of the Heavens. But people believed the Heavens were constant and unchanging. How could the Earth be part of the Heavens when it was constantly changing? If Copernicus was correct, it called people's other beliefs about the world into question.

Copernicus worked out his new theory and wrote a manuscript but he only circulated it among close friends. He needed to make many mathematical calculations before he could publish his new theory. Finally, by 1540 he was ready. The theory was published in 1543. The book was called On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies. It was dedicated to Pope Paul III.

Shortly afterwards on 24 may 1543 Copernicus died. However, after his death Copernicus became famous throughout Europe. Yet it was a long time before the Copernican Heliocentric theory was widely accepted. In 1588 Tycho Brahe put forward an alternative system in which the other planets orbited the Sun and the Sun in turn orbited the Earth. Yet by the middle of the 17th century the Copernican theory was generally accepted.

The End

Nicolaus Copernicus died at the age of 70, on May 24, 1543 of a stroke. He had not married and had no children. He had devoted his life to science, the church, and government.

He was buried in Frombork Cathedral, Poland, where he had been Canon. His grave was lost for centuries, but found again in 2005. In 2010 his remains were reburied in Frombork Cathedral in the same spot as they were discovered. His new tombstone shows a golden sun with six planets orbiting it.

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