math in every walk
of life. In our days everything is related to math, and Copernicus used his
knowledge of mathematics to provide the human kind with an important...
present day town of Torun, Poland in
February of 1473. While still a young boy, Copernicus was put in custody of his
uncle when his father died. His uncle made sure...
many years after Aristotle died, a Polish astronomer named Nicolaus
Copernicus, formulated his own theories about best known for his astronomical
theory that the sun...
Galilei who further revolutionized astronomy as we know it today.Nicolaus Copernicus, born Mikolaj Kopernik, of Thorn, Poland accomplished a great many...
universe or if they were scattered throughout space. Unlike Ptolemy's motionless earth, Copernicus said the earth rotates around itself daily, causing night and day...
Nicolaus Copernicus was born February 19, 1473 in Torun, Poland. Copernicus was a proponent of the theory that the Sun, and not the Earth, is at rest in the center of the Universe.
Copernicus received his education, first at the University of Krakow, and then at various universities in Italy. While attending Padua University in Italy, Copernicus studied medicine, Greek, and mathematical sciences. He eventually received a degree in Canon Law at the University of Ferrara. When Copernicus returned to Poland he practiced medicine, though his official employment was as a canon in the cathedral chapter run by his uncle, the Bishop of Olsztyn.
Copernicus was never a professional Astronomer. The great work that made him famous was written in his spare time. It was for friends he met in Rome while pursuing his education that, in about 1513, Copernicus first wrote a short account his heliocentric (sun centered) cosmology. His heliocentric system states that the Sun (not the Earth) is at rest in the center of the Universe, with the other heavenly bodies (planets and stars) revolving around it in circular orbits. A full account of the theory titled, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres was published in 1543, very near the end of Copernicus's life. He is said to have received a copy of the printed book on his deathbed.
Copernicus' heliocentric system was considered implausible by the vast majority of his contemporaries, and by most astronomers and natural philosophers until the middle of the seventeenth century. Its notable defenders included Johannes Kepler (1571 -1630) and Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642). Strong theoretical underpinning for the Copernican theory was finally provided by Sir Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation (1687).
No comments