Nicholas Copernicus Research Paper

Copernicus is a known during the Renaissance as the astronomer who hypothesized that the Earth revolved around the sun in a heliocentric universe. Copernicus’s strong accurate view on the universe was shocking at his time because popular belief was that the Earth was the center of everything and not the sun. If Copernicus’s findings were published during his lifetime, he would have been burned at the stake, but luckily for him, Copernicus published his findings after his death. Copernicus’s idea for the heliocentric universe is a great example of what Renaissance people do. Both Magellan and Copernicus are again like the other Renaissance figures different, but had the same outcome.

He was also very much significant to astronomy during the 1500’s. He was born in Poland on February 19th, 1473. In the early 1500’s other astronomers believed that the sun moved around the planets, but Copernicus discovered something else. He found that the planets we the ones that revolved around the sun. Everyone believed that all the planets, the stars and even the sun, revolved around Earth.

He was the fourth and youngest child in the Copernicus family. The family wasn't the richest, they were copper merchants in their town of Torun. Copernicus' family was German (Mikolaj Kopernik in German) but by the time he was born they were living in Poland. Must have been a fun trip being pregnant. Therefore under Polish rule, he was Polish although his first language was German. He did speak some Polish as well because he had lived there. At a young ripe age of 10, his father had died. It is not clear what had happened to his mother and siblings although, generally assumed, they hadn't moved. His uncle, Bishop of Varmia Lucas Watzenrode took a paternal role to make sure he had a great education. This was obviously very hard on young Nicolaus so to keep distracted he kept his head in his books which increased his intelligence. In 1491 Copernicus started to attend University of Cracow where he studied Math and painting like a true Renaissance man that he was. From his reading when he was younger, Nicolaus realized he was also into the stars and how they had worked.

Galileo was born February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy. His father was Vincenzo Galilei. He was a musician, so galileo was around the instruments most of his youth he watched the vibrations

Copernicus lived in a time where the Ptolemaic system was the prime model used for the justification of the location of the earth within the universe. The system used the findings from the mathematical astronomy of Ptolemy and the physical cosmology

“That moment when the Church excommunicates you for being right.” In 1564 on February 15th in Pisa, Italy, Galileo Galilei was born. Throughout his life he had numerous accomplishments including being the first person to study the sky with a telescope, which led to numerous other astronomically astronomical discoveries. If he would not have existed we may never have uncovered many of the truths about space and astronomy. Galileo Galilei was a man of thought and curiosity, these characteristics led him to be one the most well known and influential scientists in the world today.

Compare and contrast Copernicus’ model of the universe to that described by Aristotle and Ptolemy.

Prior to the publication of De Revolutionibus, astronomical theories proposed that the earth was the centre of the universe and all the planets revolved around the earth. This was a view that was supported by both Aristotle and Ptolemy although Ptolemy's work was based upon observations and scientific methods as opposed to Aristotle who was in effect theorising based upon religious belief. I shall outline the essential content of the De Revolutionibus and explain why it took so long for the church to condemn his book and then try Galileo for heresy as a

the ptolemaic system (Gale Virtual Reference Library). He wrote about and explained his theory in the book he wrote called ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium’ meaning “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Sphere” which was published in 1543. Copernicus believed that the earth was just another “wandering star.” Aside from many astronomical discoveries, there were also many new brilliant inventions during the Scientific Revolution.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Portland. Nicolaus was born in a wealthy family so he grew up with great education. Copernicus’ father died so he was raised by his uncle who was a bishop in a Catholic church. Copernicus went to Bologna and became an assistant for Domenico Maria Novara Ferrara, a famous astronomer.(Universetoday.com) There he started to get an interest in astronomy. He came up with the theory that the planets revolved around the sun in the 1500s.(Nola) During his time, many people believed the model geocentric, the Earth was the center and everything revolved around it.

Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer and mathematician who lived between 1671-1630. Kepler was a Copernican and initially believed that planets should follow perfectly circular orbits (“Johan Kepler” 1). During this time period, Ptolemy’s geocentric theory of the solar system was accepted. Ptolemy’s theory stated that Earth is at the center of the universe and stationary; closest to Earth is the Moon, and beyond it, expanding towards the outside, are Mercury, Venus, and the Sun in a straight line, followed by Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the “fixed stars”. The Ptolemaic system explained the numerous observed motions of the planets as having small spherical orbits called epicycles (“Astronomy” 2). Kepler is best known for introducing three

Copernicus “lived, worked and died in that period which is generally regarded as a transition from the so-called middle ages to modern times. It was a period of the revival of learning and of the birth of modern science.” Copernicus’ discoveries led to the formation of the branch of science that we continue to develop and refine today. In effect, it was the beginning of the scientific method of inquiry as we know it today, because it finally drew the distinction between religion and science; it resulted in “…the destruction of a worldview that science (in the person of Ptolemy), philosophy (in the person of Aristotle) and religion (Jewish, Christian and Islamic) [were] centred on man and created for him.” By rejecting the idea that the Earth and man were at the center of the universe, Copernicus’ discoveries fundamentally changed the goal of the field of science.

The Copernicus revolution set way to a major shift in how we see the universe. The previous understanding that the sun, moon and all other celestial objects in our solar system revolved around the sun went unchallenged for thirteen hundred years before Copernicus suggested a radically different way of thinking about the universe. Copernicus suggested that it was not the stars which seemed to be orbiting the earth but the earth itself that was moving. He suggested that the earth constantly rotated on its own axis every twenty four hours. It turns out the “movement of the heavens” (Russell par.6) had been one huge illusion caused by the constant moving of those that observed the night sky while studying our solar system. As controversial as this

Nicolaus Copernicus was a polish astronomer and a cleric. At the age of ten his father died and his uncle took him in along with his brothers and sisters. His uncle wanted to make sure he had the best education possible. He went to three different Universities to learn math, science, law, medicine, and astronomy. A spot opened up in the church and his uncles connections got Copernicus the spot. He studied the Bible and became a priest like his uncle. With all of the income he was receiving it allowed him to not work and study the universe. He went on studying the solar system and it’s rotations. After spending twenty five years studying the earth and its rotation he came up with the theory that the sun is the center of the universe and

Nicolaus Copernicus was interested in science for a while. He read the work of the Ancient Greeks. In 1513, he bought 800 building stones with the intention of building his own observatory. There Nicolaus would do his work as an astronomer, and make history. In the observatory is where Nicolaus would come up with his famous heliocentric model instead of Ptolemy’s geocentric model. This model will come to be known as what we call today, The Solar System.