 Nicolaus Copernicus (in Latin; Polish Mikołaj Kopernik, German Nikolaus Kopernikus); February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) was a Polish astronomer, mathematician and economist who developed the heliocentric (Sun-centered) theory of the solar system in a form detailed enough to make it scientifically useful. His main occupations and services rendered were in Royal Prussia as church canon, governor and administrator, jurist, astrologer and as a doctor. Astronomy was actually a byproduct, a hobby of his. His theory about the Sun as the center of the solar system, turning over the traditional geocentric theory (that placed Earth at the center of the Universe), is considered one of the most important discoveries ever, and is the fundamental starting point of modern astronomy and modern science itself (it inaugurated the scientific revolution). His theory affected many other aspects of human life as well, opening the door to young astronomers everywhere to challenge the dogmas and never take anything at face value. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (556x648, 99 KB) de: Nikolaus Kopernikus (Portrait aus Thorn - Beginn des 16. ...
Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...
February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ...
May 24 is the 144th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (145th in leap years). ...
// Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ...
An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ...
A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ...
An economist is someone who studies Economics. ...
Heliocentric Solar System In astronomy, heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Universe and/or the Solar System. ...
The Sun is the star at the centre of our Solar system. ...
Theory has a number of distinct meanings, depending on the context. ...
Presentation of the solar system (not to scale) The solar system is the retinue of objects gravitationally bound to our Sun. ...
Royal Prussia (Polish: Prusy Królewskie, German: Königliches Preussen) was a Polish province formed from the western part of the Lands of the Teutonic Order following the Thirteen Years War or War of the Cities. During the war, the Prussian Confederation, led by the cities of Gdansk (Danzig), Elblag...
A canon (from the Latin canonicus and Greek κανωνικωσ relating to a rule) is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to a rule (canon). ...
A jurist is a professional who studies, develops, applies or otherwise deals with the law. ...
An astrological chart (or horoscope) _ Y2K Chart — This particular chart is calculated for January 1, 2000 at 12:01:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time in New York City, New York, USA. (Longitude: 074W0023 - Latitude: 40N4251) Astrology (from Greek: αστρολογία = άστρον, astron, star + λόγος, logos, word) is...
The Sun is the star at the centre of our Solar system. ...
Presentation of the solar system (not to scale) The solar system is the retinue of objects gravitationally bound to our Sun. ...
The geocentric model (in Greek: geo = earth and centron = centre) of the universe is a paradigm which places the Earth at its center. ...
Earth, also known as the Earth, Terra, and (mostly in the 19th century) Tellus, is the third-closest planet to the Sun. ...
The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos. ...
A discovery is a novel observation, usually of a natural phenomenon. ...
In ancient Greece and other early civilizations, astronomy consisted largely of astrometry, measuring positions of stars and planets in the sky. ...
In the history of science, the scientific revolution was the period that roughly began with the discoveries of Kepler, Galileo, and others at the dawn of the 17th century, and ended with the publication of the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica in 1687 by Isaac Newton. ...
Biography
Copernicus was born in 1473 in the city of Toruń in Polish Royal Prussia. His father Nikolas, a citizen of Kraków (at that time the capital of Poland), moved there in 1460 and became a respected citizen of Toruń as well, once the war with the Teutonic Knights was over. He was ten years of age when his father, a wealthy businessman and copper trader, died. Little is known of his mother, Barbara Watzenrode, but she appears to have predeceased her husband. His maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode, a church canon and later the Prince-Bishop governor of Warmia, raised him and his three other siblings after the death of Copernicus' father. His brother Andrew became canon in Frombork. A sister, Barbara, became a Benedictine nun and the other sister, Katharina, married a businessman and city councillor, Barthel Gertner. Download high resolution version (498x673, 157 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Download high resolution version (498x673, 157 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa, see also other names, in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ...
Bertel Thorvaldsen, portrait by Karl Begas, c. ...
Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ...
Toruń (pronounce: [], Kashubian: Torń, German: Thorn, see also other names) is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula river. ...
Royal Prussia (Polish: Prusy Królewskie, German: Königliches Preussen) was a Polish province formed from the western part of the Lands of the Teutonic Order following the Thirteen Years War or War of the Cities. During the war, the Prussian Confederation, led by the cities of Gdansk (Danzig), Elblag...
Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada miasta Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area 326,8 km² Population - city - urban - density 757,500 (2004 est. ...
Events The first Portuguese navigators reach the coast of modern Sierra Leone. ...
General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance copper, metallic Atomic mass 63. ...
Lucas Watzenrode (Łukasz) was born 1400 in Toruń and died in Toruń in 1462. ...
A canon (from the Latin canonicus and Greek κανωνικωσ relating to a rule) is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to a rule (canon). ...
Prince-Bishop was the title given bishops who held secular powers, beside their inherent clerical power. ...
Warmia (Polish: Warmia or Warmija, Latin: Warmia or Varmia, German: Ermland or Ermeland) is a region between Pomerania and Masuria in northeastern Poland. ...
Frombork is a town in northern Poland, situated on Vistula Bay in the Warmia i Mazury voivodship with a population of 2700 (in 2000). ...
A Benedictine is a person who follows the Rule of St Benedict. ...
In 1491 Copernicus entered the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and here he encountered astronomy for the first time, thanks to his teacher Albert Brudzewski. This science soon fascinated him, as his books (stolen by Swedes during The Deluge, and now in the Uppsala University Library) show. After four years and a brief stay in Toruń, he moved to Italy, where he studied law and medicine at the universities of Bologna and Padua. His uncle financed his education and wished for him to become a bishop as well. However, while studying canon and civil law at Ferrara, he met his teacher Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara, a famous astronomer. He followed his lessons and became a disciple and assistant. // Events December 6 - King Charles VIII marries Anne de Bretagne, thus incorporating Brittany into the kingdom of France. ...
Jagiellonian University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jagielloński) is a university in Krakow, Poland. ...
Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada miasta Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area 326,8 km² Population - city - urban - density 757,500 (2004 est. ...
In ancient Greece and other early civilizations, astronomy consisted largely of astrometry, measuring positions of stars and planets in the sky. ...
Albert Blar Brudzewski, Wojciech Brudzewski, Albert of Brudzewo in Masovia (Latin Albertus de Brudzewo) (1445_1497) Polish astronomer and mathematician, a prominent professor at the University of Kraków, where he stayed for twenty years. ...
// What is science? There are different theories of what science is. ...
The Deluge Conflict Date 1655 - 1660 Place Poland, Lithuania, Denmark Result Polish-Lithuanian victory This article is about the history of Poland. ...
The Uppsala University Library consists of 19 different branch libraries, with the largest being the one in the old main library building Carolina Rediviva. ...
Toruń (pronounce: [], Kashubian: Torń, German: Thorn, see also other names) is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula river. ...
Critical legal studies Jurisprudence Law (principle) Legal research Letter versus Spirit List of legal abbreviations Legal code Pointless law Natural justice Natural law Philosophy of law Religious law External links Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Law Look up law in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Medicine on the Web NLM (National Library of Medicine, contains resources for patients and healthcare professionals) Virtual Hospital (digital health sciences library by the University of Iowa) Online Medical Dictionary Collection of links to free medical resources Categories: Medicine | Health ...
Bologna (from Latin Bononia, Bulaggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, between the Po River and the Apennines. ...
Location within Italy Tronco Maestro Riviera: a pedestrian walk along a section of the inland waterway or naviglio interno of Padua The city of Padua (Lat. ...
A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ...
In Western culture, canon law is the law of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. ...
Civil law has at least three meanings. ...
Ferrara, a town, an archiepiscopal see and a province in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. ...
Domenico Maria Novara (Ferrara, 1454-1504) was an astronomer and for 21 years was a professor at Bolognas university, where he became famous as Nicolaus Copernicus teacher. ...
An astronomer or astrophysicist is a scientist whose area of research is astronomy or astrophysics. ...
The first observation Copernicus made in 1497 together with Domenico Novara, are recorded in De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. Events May 10 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World. ...
Title page of De revolutionibus Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) began to write De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his death, in 1543. ...
In 1497 his uncle was ordained the bishop of Warmia and Copernicus was named a canon in the Frombork cathedral, but he waited in Italy for the great Jubilee of 1500. Copernicus went to Rome, where he could observe a lunar eclipse and where he gave some lessons of astronomy or mathematics (unfortunately, nothing of this remains to us). Events May 10 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World. ...
A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy (such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Lutheran or Anglican churches), which serves as the central church of a bishopric. ...
The concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. ...
// Events Europes population was ~60 million. ...
City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area - City Proper 1290 km² Population - City (2004) - Metropolitan - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1...
Total solar eclipse in Zambia, 2001 An eclipse (Greek verb: ecleipo = cease to exist) is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. ...
He would have then visited Frombork only in 1501. As soon as he reached this town, he asked and obtained permission to return to Italy to complete his studies in Padua (with Guarico and Fracastoro) and in Ferrara (with Bianchini), where in 1503 received his doctoral degree in canon law. It has been supposed that it was in Padua that he gained access to those passages of Cicero and Plato about the opinion of Ancients on the movement of the Earth, having the first intuition of his theory. His collection of observations and ideas on the theory started in 1504. // Events Alexander becomes King of Poland. ...
Events January 20 - Seville in Castile is awarded exclusive right to trade with the New World. ...
Marcus Tullius Cicero (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin prose stylist. ...
Statue of a philosopher, presumably Plato, in Delphi. ...
Events January 1 - French troops surrender Gaeta to the Spanish under Cordoba. ...
Having left Italy at the end of his studies, he came to live and work in Frombork. Some time before his return to Warmia, he had received a position at the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross in Wrocław, Silesia, which he held for many years until he resigned a few years prior to his death, when he progressively became ill. Throughout his lifetime he made astronomical observations and calculations, but always in his spare time and never as a profession. WrocÅ‚aw, ( [:vrɔʦwaf]), German Breslau, Czech Vratislav, Latin Wratislavia; many Polish documents in English use the spelling Wroclaw) is the capital of Silesia in southwestern Poland, situated on the Oder River (Odra). ...
Silesia (-Latin, Polish ÅšlÄ…sk, German Schlesien, Czech Slezsko) is a historical region in central Europe. ...
Copernicus worked for years with Prussian diet on monetary reform and published some studies about the value of money; as a governor of Warmia, he administered taxes and dealt out justice. It was at this time that Copernicus came up with one of the earliest iterations of the theory now known as Gresham's Law. During these years he also travelled extensively on government business and as a diplomat, on the behalf of the Prince-Bishop of Warmia. Money Money is any marketable good or token used by a society as a store of value, a medium of exchange, and a unit of account. ...
Greshams law is stated as: Bad money drives good money out of circulation. Greshams law applies specifically when there are two forms of commodity money in circulation which are forced, by the application of legal tender laws, to be respected as having the same face value in the...
Categories: Business | Academic disciplines | School subjects ...
This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ...
Prince-Bishop was the title given bishops who held secular powers, beside their inherent clerical power. ...
 "Astronomer Copernicus: Conversation with God", painted by Jan Matejko In 1514 he made his "Commentariolus"—a short, handwritten text describing his ideas about the heliocentric hypothesis—available to his friends. From there he continued gathering evidence for a more detailed work. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Jan Matejko , self-portrait Jan Matejko, also Jan Mateyko (b. ...
// Events March - Louis XII of France makes peace with Emperor Maximilian. ...
During the war between the Teutonic Order and the Kingdom of Poland (1519–1524) Copernicus successfully defended Allenstein (Olsztyn) on the head of royal troops besieged by the troops of Albert of Brandenburg. Teutonic Knights, charging into battle. ...
Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ...
Events March 1, 1524/5 - Giovanni da Verrazano lands near Cape Fear (approx. ...
Motto: none Voivodship Warmia i Mazury Municipal government Rada Miasta Olsztyn Mayor Czesław Jerzy Małkowski Area 87,9 km² Population - city - urban - density 173 350 - 1972/km² Founded City rights - - Latitude Longitude 53°47 N 20°30 E Area code +48 89 Car plates NO Twin towns - Municipal...
Albert (May 16, 1490 - March 20, 1568), (Albertus in Latin, Albrecht in German) Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and first duke of Ducal Prussia, was the third son of Frederick of Hohenzollern, prince of Ansbach and Bayreuth, and Sophia, daughter of Casimir IV Jagiello grand duke of Lithuania and...
In 1533 Albert Widmanstadt delivered a series of lectures in Rome outlining Copernicus' theory. In 1536 his work was already in a definitive form, and some rumours about his theory had reached the scientists of all Europe. From many parts of the continent, Copernicus received invitations to publish it, but he felt quite apprehensive of persecution for his revolutionary work by the establishment of the time. The cardinal Nicola Schoenberg of Capua wrote him asking him to communicate his ideas more widely and requested a copy for himself; "Therefore, learned man, without wishing to be inopportune, I beg you most emphatically to communicate your discovery to the learned world, and to send me as soon as possible your theories about the Universe, together with the tables and whatever else you have pertaining to the subject." Some have proposed that this note may have made Copernicus nervous of publication whereas others have suggested that the church wanted to ensure that his ideas were published. Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ...
// Events February 2 - Spaniard Pedro de Mendoza founds Buenos Aires, Argentina. ...
World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second-smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ...
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory. ...
Capua (modern Santa Maria Capua Vetere) was the chief ancient city of Campania, and one of the most important towns of ancient Italy, situated 25 km (16 mi) north of Neapolis, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. ...
Copernicus was still completing his work (even if he was not convinced to publish it), when in 1539 Georg Joachim Rheticus, a great mathematician at Wittenberg, directly arrived in Frombork. Philipp Melanchthon had arranged with several astronomers for Rheticus to visit and study with them. Rheticus became a disciple of Copernicus' and stayed with him for two years, in which he wrote a book, Narratio prima, in which he included the essence of the theory. Events May 30 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal to find gold. ...
Georg Joachim von Lauchen Rheticus was born in 1514 at Feldkirch, Austria and died in 1574 at Kosice, Hungary. ...
A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ...
Statue of Martin Luther in the main square Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany, in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, at 12° 59 E, 51° 51 N, on the Elbe river. ...
Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, by Lucas Cranach the Elder. ...
In 1542, in the name of Copernicus, Rheticus published a treatise on trigonometry (later included in the second book of De revolutionibus). Under the strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen that the first general reception of his work had not been favorable, Copernicus finally agreed to give the book to his close friend Tiedemann Giese, (the bishop of Chelmno Land) to be delivered to Rheticus for printing at Nuremberg. Events War resumes between Francis I of France and Emperor Charles V. This time Henry VIII of England is allied to the Emperor, while James V of Scotland and Sultan Suleiman I are allied to the French. ...
Trigonometry (from the Greek trigonon = three angles and metro = measure) is a branch of mathematics dealing with angles, triangles and trigonometric functions such as sine, cosine and tangent. ...
Title page of De revolutionibus Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) began to write De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his death, in 1543. ...
Tiedemann Giese (June 1, 1480 - October 23, 1550) of the Patrician family Giese from Gdańsk became bishop of Chełmno, then bishop of Warmia. ...
A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ...
Chelmno Land or Culmland (Polish: Ziemia Chełmińska, German: Kulmerland, Kulmer Land, Culmerland or Culmer Land) is the traditional name for a district around the city of Chełmno, in north-western Poland. ...
Nuremberg coat of arms Location of Nuremberg Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ...
Legend says that the first printed copy of De revolutionibus was put in Copernicus's hands the same day of his death, so that he could say goodbye to his opus vitae. He allegedly awoke from his stroke induced coma, looked at his book, and died peacefully. Title page of De revolutionibus Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) began to write De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his death, in 1543. ...
A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted by occlusion (an ischemic stroke- approximately 90%of strokes) or by hemorrhage (a hemorrhagic stroke - approximately 10% of strokes). ...
This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
Copernicus was buried in the Frombork Cathedral. However, a group of archaeologists searching for the body of Copernicus in 2004 failed to find the corpse of the astronomer. They found, however, several interesting graves from various time periods. The search for the body of Copernicus will continue in 2005. 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also discussion about Copernicus' nationality. There is some controversy regarding Nicolaus Copernicus nationality (Polish or German). ...
The Copernican heliocentric system
Earlier theories Much has been written about earlier heliocentric theories. Philolaus (4th century BC) was one of the first to suppose a movement of the Earth, probably inspired by Pythagoras's theories on a spherical Globe. Philolaus (circa 480 BC – circa 405 BC) was a Greek mathematician and philosopher. ...
(5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Invasion of the Celts into Ireland Gauls sack Rome Kingdom of Macedon conquers Persian empire The Scythians are beginning to be absorbed into the Sarmatian people. ...
Pythagoras (582 BC – 496 BC, Greek: ΠυθαγόÏας) was an Ionian mathematician and philosopher, known best for formulating the Pythagorean theorem. ...
Aristarchus of Samos (3rd century BC) developed some theories by Heraclides Ponticus (already talking about a revolution of our planet on its axis) to propose what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first serious model of a heliocentric solar system. Unfortunately, his work about his heliocentric hypothesis did not survive, so we can only speculate about what led him to his conclusions. It is notable that, according to Plutarch, a contemporary of Aristarchus accused him of impiety for "putting the Earth in motion". Aristarchus (310 BC - circa 230 BC) was a Greek astronomer and mathematician, born in Samos, Greece. ...
Samos (Greek Σαμος; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is an island in southeastern Greece in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Turkey. ...
(4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean Rome conquers Spain Great Wall of China begun Indian traders regularly visited Arabia Scythians occupy...
Heraclides Ponticus (387 - 312 BCE), also known as Heraklides, was a Greek philosopher who lived and died at Heraclea, now Eregli, Turkey. ...
Indian mathematicians, astronomers and physicians, most notably Aryabhata and Bhaskara I, also predate Copernicus' discoveries, by about 1000 years. The work of the 14th century Muslim astronomer Ibn al-Shatir contains results similar to those of Copernicus, and it has even been suggested that Copernicus might have been influenced by them. Aryabhata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...
Bhaskara I, 7th century Indian mathematician, gave a unique and remarkable rational approximation of the sine function in his commentary on Aryabhatas work. ...
(13th century - 14th century - 15th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. ...
Ibn al-Shatir (or Ibn ash-Shatir) (1304–1375) was a Muslim astronomer of Damascus. ...
Copernicus cited Aristarchus and Philolaus in an early manuscript of his book which has survived, stating: "Philolaus believed in the mobility of the earth, and some even say that Aristarchus of Samos was of that opinion." For reasons unknown he crossed out this passage before publication of his book.
Copernican Theory Copernicus' major theory was published in the book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) in the year of his death 1543, even though he had arrived at it several decades earlier. Title page of De revolutionibus Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) began to write De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his death, in 1543. ...
// Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ...
This book marks the beginning of the shift from a geocentric (and anthropocentric) universe with the Earth at its center. Copernicus held that the Earth is another planet revolving around the fixed sun once a year, and turning on its axis once a day. He arrived at the correct order of the known planets and explained the precession of the equinoxes correctly by a slow change in the position of the Earth's rotational axis. He also gave a clear account of the cause of the seasons: that the Earth's axis is not perpendicular to the plane of its orbit. He added another motion to the Earth, by which the axis is kept pointed throughout the year at the same place in the heavens; from the time of Galileo it has been recognized that for it not to point to the same place would be a motion. Download high resolution version (563x996, 264 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Download high resolution version (563x996, 264 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Monument - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...
Jagiellonian University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jagielloński) is a university in Krakow, Poland. ...
This article needs cleanup. ...
The geocentric model (in Greek: geo = earth and centron = centre) of the universe is a paradigm which places the Earth at its center. ...
Anthropocentrism (Greek άνθÏωπος, anthropos, man, human being, κÎντÏον, kentron, center), or Homocentrism, is the practice, conscious or otherwise, of regarding the existence and/or concerns of human beings as the central fact of the universe. ...
A planet in common parlance is a large object in orbit around a star that is not a star itself. ...
A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ...
The axis of rotation of a rotating body is a line such that the distance between any point on the line and any point of the body remains constant under the rotation. ...
A day (symbol: d) is a unit of time. ...
It has been suggested that Equinoctial point be merged into this article or section. ...
He also replaced Ptolemy's equant circles with epicycles. This is the main source of the statement that his system had even more epicycles than Ptolemy's. With this change his system had only uniform circular motions, correcting what seemed to be a defect in Ptolemy's system. Unfortunately, uniform circular motion is not what happens in the solar system, which runs on elliptical orbits; and this model was no more precise in predicting ephemerides than the then current tables based on Ptolemy's model. Furthermore, he badly underestimated the size of the solar system, like most of the astronomers of the time. Claudius Ptolemaeus, given contemporary German styling, in a 16th century engraved book frontispiece . Claudius Ptolemaeus (Greek: ΚλαÏδιος Πτολεμαῖος; ca. ...
Equant is an international voice and data telecommunication carrier, formed by the spin-out of the network arm of SITA, a telecommunications provider to the aviation industry. ...
In physics, an orbit is the path that an object makes, around another object, whilst under the influence of a source of centripetal force, such as gravity. ...
An ephemeris (plural: ephemerides) (from the Greek word ephemeros= daily) was, traditionally, a table providing the positions (given in a Cartesian coordinate system, or in right ascension and declination or, for astrologers, in longitude along the zodiacal ecliptic), of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets in the sky at...
The system nevertheless had a large influence on scientists such as Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler, who adopted, championed and (especially in Kepler's case) improved the model. Galileo's observation of the phases of Venus produced, however, the first observational evidence for Copernicus' theory. Galileo Galilei (Pisa, February 15, 1564 – Arcetri, January 8, 1642), was a Tuscan astronomer, philosopher, and physicist who is closely associated with the scientific revolution. ...
Tycho Brahe (December 14, 1546 Knudstrup, Denmark – October 24, 1601 Prague, Bohemia (now Czech Republic)) was a Danish nobleman, well known as an astronomer/astrologer (the two were not yet distinct) and alchemist. ...
Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), a key figure in the scientific revolution, was a German astronomer, mathematician and astrologer. ...
In astronomy, a phase of the Moon is any of the aspects or appearances presented by the Moon as seen from Earth, determined by the portion of the Moon that is visibly illuminated by the Sun. ...
(*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ...
The Copernican system can be summarized in seven propositions, as Copernicus himself collected them in a Compendium of De revolutionibus that was found and published in 1878: Title page of De revolutionibus Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) began to write De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his death, in 1543. ...
1878 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
- Orbits and celestial spheres do not have a unique, common, center.
- The center of the Earth is not the center of the Universe, but only the center of the Earth's mass and of the lunar orbit.
- All the planets move along orbits whose center is the Sun, therefore the Sun is the center of the World. (Copernicus was never certain whether the Sun moved or not, claiming that the center of the World is 'in the Sun, or near it.')
- The distance between the Earth and the Sun, compared with the distance between the Earth and the fixed stars, is very small.
- The daytime movement of the Sun is only apparent, and represents the effect of a rotation that the Earth makes every 24 hours around its axis, always parallel to itself.
- The Earth (together with its Moon, and just like the other planets) moves around the Sun, so the movements that the Sun seems to be making (its apparent moving during daytime, and its annual moving through the Zodiac) are nothing else than effects of the Earth's real movements.
- These movements of the Earth and of the other planets around the Sun, can explain the stations, and all the particular characteristics of the planets' movements.
These propositions represent the exact contrary of what the dominant geocentric propositions stated. Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ...
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium
 Nicolaus Copernicus Main article: De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...
Title page of De revolutionibus Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543) began to write De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres) in 1506 and finished it in 1530, but did not publish it until the year of his death, in 1543. ...
The major work of Copernicus, "On the Revolution of Celestial Spheres" (1543), is the result of decades of labor. It was dedicated to Pope Paul III, and is divided into 6 books. // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ...
Paul III, né Alessandro Farnese (February 29, 1468 - November 10, 1549) was pope from 1534 to 1549. ...
The first book contains a general vision of the heliocentric theory, and a summarized exposition of his idea on the World.
The second book is mainly theoretical and reports the principles of spherical astronomy and a list of stars (as a basis for the arguments developed in the following books).
The third book is mainly dedicated to the apparent movements of the Sun and to related phenomena.
The fourth book contains a similar description of the Moon and its orbital movements.
The fifth and the sixth books contain the concrete exposition of the new system.
Copernicus and Copernicanism Copernicus' theories have an extraordinary relevance in the history of human knowledge. Many authors suggest that only Euclid's geometry, Darwin's Evolution, or Newton's physics could have a similar influence on human culture in general and on science in particular. Although many of the results in Elements originated with earlier mathematicians, one of Euclids accomplishments was to present them in a single, logically coherent framework. ...
In mathematics, Euclidean geometry is the familiar kind of geometry on the plane or in three dimensions. ...
When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species it shook the scientific world. ...
Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution by natural selection. ...
Sir Isaac Newton in Godfrey Knellers 1689 portrait Sir Isaac Newton, PRS (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727 by the Julian calendar in use in England at the time; or 4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727 by the Gregorian calendar) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and alchemist...
Since antiquity, people have tried to understand the behavior of matter: why unsupported objects drop to the ground, why different materials have different properties, and so forth. ...
Look up Culture on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has news related to this article: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin...
// What is science? There are different theories of what science is. ...
Many meanings have been seen in his theory, quite apart from its scientific value. His work cut across science and religion, dogmatism and freedom of scientific investigation. His academic standing is often compared with Galileo Galilei. This article is on dogma in religion. ...
Galileo Galilei (Pisa, February 15, 1564 – Arcetri, January 8, 1642), was a Tuscan astronomer, philosopher, and physicist who is closely associated with the scientific revolution. ...
When his work was published, it contradicted then accepted religious dogma: the suggestion being that there is no need for an entity (God) that from outside could give a soul, a power and a life to the World and to Human beings when science can explain everything attributed to Him. The term God is capitalized in the English language as a proper noun when used to refer to a specific monotheistic concept of a Supreme Being in accordance with Christian, Jewish (sometimes as G-d - cf. ...
The soul according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is the ethereal substance — spirit (Hebrew:rooah or nefesh) — particular to a unique living being. ...
However, Copernicanism also opened a way to immanence, the view that the divine force, or the divine being, pervades through all things that exist, which has been developed further in modern philosophy. Immanentism also leads into subjectivism: the theory that perception creates reality, and that there is no underlying, true, reality that exists independent of perception. Accordingly some find that Copernicanism demolished the foundations of mediaeval science and metaphysics. Immanence is a religious and philosophical concept. ...
This article is in need of attention. ...
Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ...
One of the consequences of Copernicanism is that scientific laws must not necessarily coincide with appearance. This contrasts with Aristotle's system, which placed much more value on knowledge gained from the senses. Aristotle, marble copy of bronze by Lysippos. ...
Copernicus' innovation was a scientific revolution. Some say "the" revolution [1]. Immanuel Kant, for instance, caught the symbolic character of Copernicus' revolution (of which he put in evidence the transcendental rationalism) postulating that human rationality was the real legislator of observed phenomena. More recent philosophers also have found Copernicanism to remain valid and retain valuable philosophical meaning. Immanuel Kant (April 22, 1724 – February 12, 1804) was a German philosopher and scientist (astrophysics, mathematics, geography, anthropology) from East Prussia, generally regarded as one of Western societys and modern Europes most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment. ...
Rationalism, also known as the rationalist movement, is a philosophical doctrine that asserts that the truth can best be discovered by reason and factual analysis, rather than faith, dogma or religious teaching. ...
Discussion Copernicus' lived in early 16th century Prussia and Poland, and was influenced by the cultural, religious, and social contexts of life at the time. He was well educated. At the University of Kraków, which he attended in 1491 and 1492, Copernicus studied both mathematics and astronomy in common with all university students of that time. There is evidence that his interest in these subjects continued after he had left Kraków. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...
Jagiellonian University (Polish: Uniwersytet Jagielloński) is a university in Krakow, Poland. ...
// Events December 6 - King Charles VIII marries Anne de Bretagne, thus incorporating Brittany into the kingdom of France. ...
Events January 2 - Boabdil, the last Moorish King of Granada, surrenders his city to the army of Ferdinand and Isabella after a lengthy siege. ...
Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada miasta Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area 326,8 km² Population - city - urban - density 757,500 (2004 est. ...
The Earth-centered Ptolemaic cosmology had been the accepted model of the universe since the 2nd century BC. Ptolemy's model explained each planet's circular motion individually and was the first model of the universe to explain some of the eccentric behaviour of the planets. It maintained that all planetary motion, and the motion of the Moon, the Sun, and the stars was circular, around a stationary Earth. The Ptolemaic system was a model to explain the motions of the heavens, espoused by Claudius Ptolemaeus in his work, the Almagest some time around the 2nd century, C.E., and accepted for over 1,000 years by the vast majority of Europeans to be the correct cosmological model. ...
(3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events BC 168 Battle of Pydna -- Macedonian phalanx defeated by Romans BC 148 Rome conquers Macedonia BC 146 Rome destroys Carthage in the Third Punic War BC 146 Rome conquers...
An accurate calculation of the astronomical year was important to a clergyman, like Copernicus, allowing him to forecast properly the various festivals that comprised the liturgical calendar. The mathematical confusion that Copernicus said caused him to develop an alternative to the geocentric model derived from an inadequate reconciliation of the Aristotelian model and amendments to it by Ptolemy.
The Ptolemaic geocentric model was complicated and inconsistent in Copernicus' estimations and observations, including one in 1497 of the star Aldebaran, that did not coincide with predictions made by Ptolemy. Nor did the Ptolemaic model explain precession. Precession is the phenomenon by which the Earth's axis "wobbles". This characteristic of the Earth's movement is apparent only with observation over long periods of time. In Copernicus' view, Ptolemy's explanation failed to provide an accurate mathematical description of the universe. His heliocentric universe theory accomplished this by dispensing with individual explanations for the motion of each planet, and replacing them with a description that applied to all the planets, including the Earth. Events May 10 - Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World. ...
Comparison between Aldebaran and the Sun Aldebaran, (α Tau / α Tauri / Alpha Tauri), is the brightest star in the constellation Taurus and one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky. ...
There are two types of precession: torque-free precession and torque-induced precession. ...
Copernicus' mathematical experience engendered in his thought a desire for a simpler and more elegant model of the universe. He was acquainted with ideas espoused by other classical authors. Some of the ideas expressed by Philolaus (5th century BC) and Heraclides (4th century BC), proposed cosmological models in which the Earth moved. Aristarchus (3rd century BC) proposed an openly heliocentric model of the universe. Heraclides' description of the revolutions of Mercury and Venus around the Sun might have led Copernicus to consider that the other planets, including the Earth, did the same. Philolaus (circa 480 BC – circa 405 BC) was a Greek mathematician and philosopher. ...
(6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) The 5th and 6th centuries BC are a period of philosophical brilliance among advanced civilizations. ...
Heraclides Ponticus (387 - 312 BCE), also known as Heraklides, was a Greek philosopher who lived and died at Heraclea, now Eregli, Turkey. ...
(5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Invasion of the Celts into Ireland Gauls sack Rome Kingdom of Macedon conquers Persian empire The Scythians are beginning to be absorbed into the Sarmatian people. ...
Aristarchus (310 BC - circa 230 BC) was a Greek astronomer and mathematician, born in Samos, Greece. ...
(4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC - other centuries) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean Rome conquers Spain Great Wall of China begun Indian traders regularly visited Arabia Scythians occupy...
For additional meanings, see Mercury (disambiguation). ...
(*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ...
Elegance was a consequence of the overall simplicity of Copernicus' cosmology and much of this seeming simplicity resulted from his retention of circular orbits for the planets around the central Sun. Copernicus used the eccentrics, epicycles, and equants of Ptolemaic cosmology, but added three kinds of motion to describe the observed behaviour of the Earth:
- Annual motion — the yearly orbit around the Sun
- Daily rotation — the motion around a tilted axis that results in day and night
- Precession — the axial wobble mentioned earlier that explains why the position of the fixed stars seems to change over long periods of time.
Until 1543, the year that Copernicus died, and the year in which his de Revolutionibus was published, and for many years afterwards, Copernicus' description of the motion of the Earth was not ratified by empirical evidence. In his unauthorized and anonymous preface to de Revolutionibus, Andreas Osiander was technically correct when he made reference to "the hypothesis of this work". However, its consistency with the observed behaviour of the universe in a time before the telescope made more detailed observation and the gathering of more accurate measurements practicable, gave the Copernican model its strongest support. Not much more than a century later, Kepler had certainly despatched the circular orbits of the planets and replaced them with ellipses, but the Copernican heliocentric universe was still intact. // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ...
Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630), a key figure in the scientific revolution, was a German astronomer, mathematician and astrologer. ...
In his own preface to his work, dedicated to Pope Paul III, Copernicus took care to point out that his motives for developing a cosmology that included a moving, rather than a stationary, Earth, were inspired by his dissatisfaction with the mathematical and astronomical descriptions of the geocentric model, and were not intended to defy the written Word. "Mathematics", he says, "is written for mathematicians". Copernicus seems to have been benefited from the attitude of the bishops who were his superiors in the church - Johann Dantiscus and Tiedmann Giese. Both preferred, at least initially, to promote tolerance of differing views within the church rather than open discord, and both encouraged Copernicus' publication of his scientific beliefs. However, the lenient attitudes in Chelmno, where Copernicus carried out much of his work, began to change and might have contributed to Copernicus' isolation in the last years of his life. For orthodox Catholics, the Copernican model of the universe might have seemed too radically different from the geocentric model, sustained as it was by its agreement with many scriptural references. They might not have been ready to change to an understanding of the Bible as a source only of moral and spiritual, rather than scientific, wisdom. Chełmno is a town in northern Poland with 22,000 inhabitants (1995) and the historical capitol of Chelmno Land also known as Kulmland. ...
Spirituality is, in a narrow sense, a concern with matters of the spirit, however that may be defined; but it is also a wide term with many available readings: it may include belief in supernatural powers, as in religion; but the emphasis is on personal experience. ...
// What is science? There are different theories of what science is. ...
As far as Copernicus was concerned, the Sun, a distinctive element in classical thought, held the central and most important position in the universe, gave added credence to his cosmology. His reverence for the sun can be seen in the most famous passage of de Revolutionibus:
- "In the center of all rests the Sun. For who would place this lamp of a very beautful temple in another or better place then this from which it can illuminate everything at the same time? As a matter of fact, not unhappily do some call it the lantern; others, the mind, and still others, the pilot of the world. Trismegistus calls it a 'visible God'; Sophocles' Electra, 'that which gazes upon all things.' And so the Sun, as if resting on a kingly throne, governs the family of stars which wheel around."
In this discussion of Copernicus' reasons for discarding such a long-held belief as the geocentric cosmology of Ptolemy, we can see that the Copernican revolution was simmering against a background revolution of theological thought — the Reformation. Neo-Platonic and classical ideas formed the intellectual environment in which Copernicus worked. Although not holding ordained office within the Catholic Church, Copernicus was devout and unwilling to be openly defiant of the Church's teaching, but, in common with supporters of the Reformation, Copernicus was criticizing orthodox theory and belief. His reasons for doing so lay in his dissatisfaction with the inadequacies of the geocentric model, in his strong belief in the truth of the solution to the problem that he developed, its elegance and relative simplicity, and its coincidence with observation and with the classical ideals to which he had subscribed since his youth.
Quotes Goethe: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe? (pronounced [gø tə, sometimes incorrectly pronunced Goth, Gurter and Gotha]) (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832) was a German novelist, dramatist, humanist, scientist, philosopher, and he conducted his civic services as a cabinet minister of Weimar. ...
- "Of all discoveries and opinions, none may have exerted a greater effect on the human spirit than the doctrine of Copernicus. The world had scarcely become known as round and complete in itself when it was asked to waive the tremendous privilege of being the center of the universe. Never, perhaps, was a greater demand made on mankind - for by this admission so many things vanished in mist and smoke! What became of our Eden, our world of innocence, piety and poetry; the testimony of the senses; the conviction of a poetic - religious faith? No wonder his contemporaries did not wish to let all this go and offered every possible resistance to a doctrine which in its converts authorized and demanded a freedom of view and greatness of thought so far unknown, indeed not even dreamed of."
Copernicus: - For I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them. I am aware that a philosopher's ideas are not subject to the judgement of ordinary persons, because it is his endeavor to seek the truth in all things, to the extent permitted to human reason by God. Yet I hold that completely erroneous views should be shunned. Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the heaven as its center would, I reflected, regard it as an insane pronouncement if I made the opposite assertion that the earth moves.
- For when a ship is floating calmly along, the sailors see its motion mirrored in everything outside, while on the other hand they suppose that they are stationary, together with everything on board. In the same way, the motion of the earth can unquestionably produce the impression that the entire universe is rotating.
- “Therefore alongside the ancient hypotheses, which are no more probable, let us permit these new hypotheses also to become known, especially since they are admirable as well as simple and bring with them a huge treasure of very skillful observations. So far as hypotheses are concerned, let no one expect anything certain from astronomy, which cannot furnish it, lest he accept as the truth ideas conceived for another purpose, and depart from this study a greater fool than when he entered it. Farewell.”
University Copernicus was honoured by Poland when the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, established 1945, was named after him. Nikolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Uniwersytet im Mikołaja Kopernika (UMK) w Toruniu) is one of the most respected universities in Poland. ...
1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...
See also The terms inferior planet and superior planet were coined by Copernicus to distinguish a planets orbits size in relation to the Earths. ...
The terms inferior planet and superior planet were coined by Copernicus to distinguish a planets orbits size in relation to the Earths. ...
In 2000, the World Almanac published The Ten Most Influential People of the Second Millennium as listed by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and second-generation historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. ...
Copernicus is a prominent lunar impact crater located on the eastern Oceanus Procellarum. ...
Reference DC Goodman, CA Russell, eds. The Rise of Scientific Europe 1500-1800. Bath, UK: Hodder &
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