That guy there

By: Josh Barber

Biography: Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19th, 1473 in Torun, Poland to

a successful copper merchant. His father died when he was 10 and from that point on he was raised by his uncle, a bishop. He spent his early adult life bouncing between universities, earning degrees in mathematics, law, and medicine, while simultaneously gaining an interest in astronomy. By 1508 Copernicus began developing his own model of the solar system, a heliocentric model ( the sun is at the center). Before this point the theories of ancient philosophers Ptolemy and Aristotle pointed towards a geocentric model (Earth at the center). In 1514 Copernicus published his findings in the manuscript Commentariolus where he supported his theory with both skyward observations and mathematical formulas. While astronomers were split on his theories the Roman Catholic Church thought that his theories were downright heretical, surprisingly anti catholic leader Martin Luther agreed with the church and also thought that copernicus was mad. After his second book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Latin for "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres") was published in 1543 it was banned by the Church and remained so for over 3 centuries. Coopernicus died shortly after on May 24th,1543.

Support of the “ism’s”: Copernicus was a clear product of the northern renaissance, because, even though he was a practitioner of natural science, and his ideas directly conflicted with the church, he was a very religious man. The only field of the renaissance Copernicus really contributed to was natural sciences, with himself coming up with one of the most groundbreaking theories in history with just a telescope and lots of math. Without Copernicus who knows how long it would have taken before the sun would have been put in it’s proper place.

3 images: 1. Model of the Geocentric solar system.This picture illustrates the model of the solar system that was believed in the time of copernicus, with the earth at the

center.

3 images: 2.Heliocentric model of the solar system. This was the new and revolutionary new model that Copernicus suggested with the Sun at the middle instead of the Earth.

3 images: 3. Copernicus’s book Commentariolus. The first book Copernicus published suggesting his heliocentric theory.

Spirit of the renaissance: Despite the fact that he was religious, Copernicus very well represents the spirit of the Renaissance. This is due to the fact that at the time he was a lone scientist who proposed a very revolutionary theory throwing off centuries of an incorrect and mindlessly believed theory. he was also almost alone in his assumptions, other than a few scientists most people believed he was either a heretic or completely off his rocker.

Contributions to society: Nicolaus Copernicus really only gave one thing to our society, that being the heliocentric model of the solar system. This discovery jumped the field of astronomy ahead decades.