Nicolaus Copernicus, an astronomer, was influential in inventing the notion of a heliocentric solar system, in which the sun, rather than the earth, is the solar system's center.
Who Was Copernicus?
Nicolaus Copernicus constructed his own celestial model of a heliocentric planetary system about the year 1508, and published it in 1508. He published his results in the Commentariolus in 1514. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, his second treatise on the subject, was forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church decades after his death in Frombork on May 24, 1543.
Early Childhood Development and Education
On February 19, 1473, renowned astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik in Polish) was born. Copernicus was born in Torun, West Prussia, as the fourth and youngest child of Nicolaus Copernicus Sr. and Barbara Watzenrode, an affluent copper merchant family. Torun had already been given to Poland by the time he was born, making him a Polish citizen. Copernicus' original language was German, although some researchers believe he also spoke Polish.
Copernicus' father passed away in the mid-1480s. Bishop of Varmia Lucas Watzenrode, Copernicus' maternal uncle, willingly adopted a father role, ensuring that Copernicus received the greatest possible education. Copernicus enrolled at the University of Cracow in 1491 to study painting and mathematics. He became increasingly interested in the universe and began collecting literature on the subject.
Established as Canon
Copernicus was appointed to the Frombork canon cathedral in the middle of the decade, and he stayed there for the remainder of his life. It was a lucky break: the canon's post allowed him to continue his studies for as long as he wanted. Nonetheless, the work consumed most of his time, and he was only able to pursue his academic pursuits in his spare time.
Copernicus took a leave of absence in 1496 and proceeded to Bologna, Italy, to study religious law at the University of Bologna. He met astronomer Domenico Maria Novara there, which proved to be a crucial meeting, as the two began discussing astronomical theories and observations, eventually becoming roommates. "In establishing intimate touch with Novara, Copernicus met, maybe for the first time in his life, a mind that ventured to dispute the authority of [astrologist Claudius Ptolemy], the most prominent ancient writer in his chosen fields of study," historian Edward Rosen wrote.
Copernicus moved on to the University of Padua to study practical medicine in 1501. However, because his two-year leave of absence from his canon employment was about to expire, he did not stay long enough to acquire a degree. Copernicus studied at the University of Ferrara in 1503, where he earned his PhD in canon law after passing the required exams. He returned to Poland quickly, resuming his duties as canon and rejoining his uncle at an Episcopal castle. For the next many years, Copernicus stayed in the Lidzbark-Warminski estate, working and tending to his old, sick uncle while also exploring astronomy. Copernicus relocated to the Frombork cathedral chapter chapter in 1510. He would spend the rest of his life there as a canon.
The Heliocentric Solar System, according to Copernicus
Copernicus continued to study astronomy during his stay at Lidzbark-Warminski. Regiomontanus' 15th-century book Epitome of the Almagest, which gave an alternative to Ptolemy's picture of the cosmos and impacted Copernicus' study, was one of the sources he used. Scholars think Copernicus began creating his own celestial model, a heliocentric planetary system, circa 1508. Ptolemy devised a geometric planetary model with eccentric circular movements and epicycles in the second century A.D., departing dramatically from Aristotle's theory that heavenly bodies traveled in a fixed circular motion around the earth. In an attempt to resolve these contradictions, Copernicus' heliocentric solar theory designated the sun as the solar system's center, rather than the earth. Copernicus then assumed that the size and speed of each planet's orbit were proportional to its distance from the sun.
Copernicus was not the first astronomer to suggest a heliocentric system, though his hypothesis was groundbreaking and controversial. The ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos had recognized the sun as a central unit orbited by a rotating earth centuries before, in the third century B.C. However, in Copernicus' day, a heliocentric theory was ignored since Ptolemy's views were more more widely accepted by the powerful Roman Catholic Church, which firmly backed the earth-based solar system hypothesis. Copernicus' heliocentric theory, on the other hand, proved to be more thorough and precise than Aristarchus', with a more efficient method for estimating planetary locations.
Contributions
Around 1514, Copernicus finished a 40-page paper called Commentariolus (Latin for "Small Commentary"), in which he detailed his heliocentric planetary system and hinted to forthcoming mathematical formulas that would serve as evidence. The diagram included seven axioms, each of which described a different component of the heliocentric solar system:
- Planets do not revolve around a single fixed point
- The earth is not at the center of the universe
- The sun is at the center of the universe, and all celestial bodies revolve around it
- The distance between the Earth and the Sun is only a fraction of the distance between the Earth and the Sun
- Stars do not move, and if they do, it is only because the Earth moves
- The Earth moves in a sphere around the Sun, causing the Sun'
Commentariolus went on to elaborate on Copernicus' claim that a mere 34 circles could adequately depict planetary motion. Copernicus forwarded his unpublished book to a number of scientific acquaintances and contemporaries, and while the document got little to no reaction from his peers, interest in Copernicus and his unusual beliefs began to grow.
Embracing the Catholic Church's Controversy
With Commentariolus and De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ("On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres"), Copernicus sparked a lot of debate, with the latter book appearing just before his death. His detractors argued he failed to answer the issue of parallax — the apparent displacement in a celestial body's location when seen along different lines of sight — and that his work lacked an adequate explanation for why the Earth circled the Sun.
Copernicus' views were likewise considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther expressed his objection to the heliocentric solar system concept in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, which was published in 1543. "This idiot intends to flip the entire art of astronomy upside down," his underling, Lutheran pastor Andreas Osiander, said of Copernicus.
Osiander even included a disclaimer noting that the heliocentric system was an abstract concept that did not have to be taken seriously. He inserted his material into the book's introduction, causing readers to believe it was written by Copernicus himself. Copernicus was ill and unsuited for the duty of defending his work at this point.
Copernicus had dedicated De revolutionibus orbium coelestium to Pope Paul III, which was ironic.
If his praise to the religious leader was intended to soften the Catholic Church's stance, it failed miserably. De revolutionibus was finally outlawed by the church in 1616, however it was later removed from the list of prohibited reading materials.
Death
Georg Joachim Rheticus, a mathematician and philosopher, provided Copernicus with a copy of the freshly published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in May 1543. Copernicus was reported to have died in his bed on May 24, 1543, in Frombork, Poland, holding the book after suffering the effects of a recent stroke.
Legacy
Kepler eventually disclosed to the world that Osiander, not Copernicus, wrote the prelude to De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. Copernicus became a symbol of the bold scientist standing alone, defending his theories against the prevalent views of his time while Kepler labored to build on and fix the faults in Copernicus' heliocentric theory.