Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19th 1473 in Thorn, Poland (now known as Torun) to a merchant father who was also a local official. At the age of ten, Copernicus’ father died and he was sent to live with his uncle who at the time was a priest. In 1491, at the age of 18, Copernicus went to Krakow Academy as a pupil. In 1496, Copernicus then travelled to Italy and studied law at the University of Bologna. During his time at the University of Bologna, Copernicus lived with Domenico Maria de Novara, a mathematics professor who encouraged him to study geography and astronomy. Furthermore, throughout his time in Italy, Copernicus travelled to Rome and studied at the universities of Padua and Ferrara. Than in 1503, Copernicus moved back to Poland and worked for his uncle now the bishop of Ermland as a secretary. When his uncle died in 1512, Copernicus moved to Frauenberg and worked for the church. During his time working at the church, Copernicus studied astronomy and in 1514, when the catholic church was looking to improve the calendar, Copernicus was asked to help. Copernicus’ upbringing helped shape his interests in the sciences, especially astronomy. Copernicus is known to have established the heliocentric theory, which replaced the previously accepted geocentric model. However, prior to Copernicus other thinkers such as Aristarchus as well as thinkers after such as Galileo developed a similar theory. Even though it is unclear who established the heliocentric model, Copernicus has had a major impact on our modern sciences.

Astronomic theories are known as Pre-copernican. Before Copernicus, the widely accepted astronomical theory was known as the geocentric model and was the theory that the earth is the center of the unive...

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...er thinkers ideas to establish the heliocentric model therefore making his idea similar to others.Copernicus had hesitated for years to publish his theory, not because he feared he had contradicted Catholic church but rather because he thought, even after working on it for three decades, that his theory was still incomplete.

Copernicus died of a cerebral hemorrhage on May 24, 1543. His manuscripts caused much controversy between both the european sciences and religion. Copernicus was the first to combine physics, astronomy, and mathematics into a fact-based model of the universe. Copernicus has had a major impact in our modern sciences. Copernicus not only challenged the widely accepted belief of a geocentric model, but developed the heliocentric model which revolutionized the way people thought about the configuration of our solar system and our universe.