Nicoluas+Copernicus


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Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) Was a Polisher astronomer and mathmatician best known for his theory of a heliocentric galaxy, which was later supported by other astronomers such as Galileo.

Copernicus was the youngest of four children, born to Barbara Watzenrode and a well-to-do merchant Nicolaus Copernicus, Sr who had moved to Torun from Cracow. The city was an important inland port on the Vistula River, Hanseatic League. In 1466 Fighting between the Order of the Teutonic Knights and the Prussian Union in alliance with the Kingdom of Poland ended and West Prussia, which included Torun, was ceded to Poland making Copernicus and his family subject to the Polish Crown. The father died in 1483, and the children's maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode (1447-1512), took them under his protection. Watzenrode was a very successful cleric — he was to become bishop of Warmia (Ermland in German) in 1489 — and he both facilitated his nephew's advancement in the church and directed his education. In 1491 Copernicus enrolled in the University of Cracow. There is no record of his having obtained a degree, which was not unusual at the time as he did not need a bachelor's degree for his ecclesiastical career or even to study for a higher degree. But the University of Cracow offered courses in mathematics, astronomy, and astrology, and Copernicus's interest was sparked, which is attested to by his acquisition of books in these subjects while at Cracow.
 * Early Life**

He made his celestial observations from a turret situated on the protective wall around the cathedral, observations were made "bare eyeball," so to speak, as a hundred more years were to pass before the invention of the telescope. In 1530, Copernicus completed and gave to the world his great work De Revolutionibus, which asserted that the earth rotated on its axis once daily and traveled around the sun once yearly: a fantastic concept for the times. Up to the time of Copernicus the thinkers of the western world believed in the Ptolemiac theory that the universe was a closed space bounded by a spherical envelope beyond which there was nothing. Claudius Ptolemy, an Egyptian living in Alexandria, at about 150 A.D., gathered and organized the thoughts of the earlier thinkers. (It is to be noted that one of the ancient Greek astronomers, Aristarchus, did have ideas similar to those more fully developed by Copernicus but they were rejected in favour of the geocentric or earth-centered scheme as was espoused by Aristotle.) Ptolemy's findings were that the earth was a fixed, inert, immovable mass, located at the center of the universe, and all celestial bodies, including the sun and the fixed stars, revolved around it. It was a theory that appealed to human nature. It fit with the casual observations that a person might want to make in the field; and second, it fed man's ego.Copernicus was in no hurry to publish his theory, though parts of his work were circulated among a few of the astronomers that were giving the matter some thought; indeed, Copernicus' work might not have ever reached the printing press if it had not been for a young man who sought out the master in 1539. George Rheticus was a 25 year old German mathematics professor who was attracted to the 66 year old cleric, having read one of his papers. Intending to spend a few weeks with Copernicus, Rheticus ended up staying as a house guest for two years, so fascinated was he with Copernicus and his theories. Now, up to this time, Copernicus was reluctant to publish, -- not so much that he was concerned with what the church might say about his novel theory (De Revolutionibus was placed on the Index in 1616 and only removed in 1835), but rather because he was a perfectionist and he never thought, even after working on it for thirty years, that his complete work was ready, -- there were, as far as Copernicus was concerned, observations to be checked and rechecked.
 * Astrology**

Copernicus was infamous for his heliocentric model of the galaxy which back then was considered blasphemy.
 * Accomplishments

Along with the heliocentric model of the galaxy, Copernicus discovered the earth spins on an axis once daily.** CONCLUSIVE OUTSTANDING PEACEFUL ENTHUSIATIC RATIONAL NERVOUS INTELLECTUAL CULTURED UNDERSTANDING SCRUPULOUS

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