Nicolaus Copernicus: who he was and his contribution to astronomy

We explain who Nicolaus Copernicus was and what his studies were based on. We also explain his general characteristics and what his life was like.

Nicolaus Copernicus was famous for having formulated the heliocentric theory.

Who was Nicolaus Copernicus?

Nicolaus Copernicus was a mathematician, astronomer, jurist, physicist, Catholic cleric and military leader Polish-Prussian Renaissance philosopher, born in 1473 and died in 1543, famous for having formulated the heliocentric theory of the solar system, according to which the Sun and not the Earth occupied the central axis around which the rest of the celestial bodies orbit.

Copernicus He dedicated his life to study, and visited the Universities of Carkow and Bologna.where he studied Mathematics, Law, Medicine, Greek, Philosophy and, later, during a brief stay in Rome, Science and Astronomy, the latter field in which he would bear his greatest fruit.

Despite this, and given the revolutionary impact that his studies would have on the world view in force at the time, which contravened the Aristotelian precepts upheld by the Church (specifically, the model of geocentrism), Copernicus did not publish his work, which was published posthumously.

See also: Galileo Galilei.

Characteristics of Nicolaus Copernicus:

1. Heliocentric theory

Copernicus claimed that stars are distant and fixed objects.

The fundamental precepts of the theory that Copernicus developed during 25 years of study took up the work of Aristarchus of Samos, a Greek astronomer and mathematician, to propose the following postulates:

• The movements of the stars are circular, eternal, uniform or composed of several cycles.
• The center of the Universe is located more or less close to the Sun.
• The different planets orbit the Sun (the outer planets had not yet been discovered).
• Stars are distant and fixed objects that do not orbit the Sun.
• The planet Earth presents three movements: a daily rotation, an annual revolution and an annual tilt of its axis.
• The retrograde motion of the planets finds its explanation in the movements of the Earth itself.
• The distance between the Sun and the Earth is very small compared to that from the Earth to the stars.

2. Censorship

Some scholars think that Copernicus was afraid of criticism.

The reasons why Copernicus did not publish his work during his lifetime are unknown. Many suspect that in 1536, already close to his definitive theory, His studies were known throughout Europe and he was cited by the Archbishop of CapuaNicolaus von Schönberg, to appear and explain his theories. This summons seems to show the ecclesiastical supervision to which Copernicus would yield.

Others Scholars prefer to think that Copernicus was afraid of criticism.which reinforces their faith in the scientific model rather than the religious one.

3. Publication

The book containing his astronomical work was called From the heavenly orbium revolutionis (On the revolutions of the celestial spheres) and It was published by the German theologian and literary editor Andreas Osiander.in 1543.

In her Copernicus studied numerous Greek philosophersespecially the Pythagoreans, and curiously he never mentions Aristarchus of Samos, the first scholar in history to consider the heliocentric model.

4. Breaking off

The great breakthrough that Copernicus’ work represented It is of a cosmological and above all religious nature.since the ideas supported throughout the Middle Ages by the dogma of the Catholic Church, and which were supported in the texts of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, watched over a closed and hierarchical universe, of which the Earth was the center, given its importance in divine creation.

The Copernican model, on the other hand, He proposed a vast and indeterminate universepractically infinite, whose center was located close to the Sun.

5. Structure

Copernicus’ fourth book explains lunar motions.

From the heavenly orbium revolutionis It consists of six books, each with a specific approach:

• First. A general explanation of the heliocentric model.
• Second. The principles of a spherical astronomy and a list of stars.
• Third. The apparent motions of the Sun and related phenomena.
• Room. Lunar movements.
• Fifth. The concrete explanation of the new system based on the above.
• Sixth. A continuation of the concrete explanation from the previous book.

6. Legacy

These theories and explanations are considered cornerstone of numerous subsequent studies equally revolutionary, like the work of Galileo Galilei or Isaac Newton, which is why his contribution is often referred to as the “Copernican Revolution”.

7. Symptom of the times

The importance of the Copernican model is such, in its break with the prevailing religious model, that It is considered a sign of the profound and enormous changes that were to come. with the Scientific Revolution and the development of humanism as the prevailing ideology, that is, with the birth of faith in human reason and the scientific capacity to understand the world.

8. Rejection

Copernicus’ works were included in the index of books banned by the Church.

The rejection of Copernican works, however, It was produced by the Holy Inquisition of the Catholic Churchwho opposed and persecuted the defenders of heliocentrism. In fact, his books were included in the Index librorum prohibitorumthat is, the index of books banned by the Church.

9. Death

Copernicus He died of a stroke at the age of 70His remains were found in 2005 by an archaeological team in Frombork Cathedral, Poland, and were genetically verified against a hair found among his writings. From these, a theory about his real face could be put together.

10. Acknowledgements

Copernicus’ name was included, once the value of his discoveries was accepted and understood, in the Lutheran Calendar of Saints, and His surname was given as the name to a lunar crater and an asteroid (1322): CopernicusIn 2010 he received a second funeral and was buried under a black tombstone with the Copernican model represented on its surface.