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Nicolaus Copernicus Research Paper

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Nicolaus Copernicus

How did Nicolaus Copernicus help in the scientific revolution? Well his theory of the heliocentric model of the universe was a big discovery, that had very positive consequences in the future. Until his time all scientist thought that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun revolved around the Earth. But Nicolaus was about to change that forever. Nicolaus Copernicus had a rough childhood, born on February 19, 1473. By the time he was born Torun had ceded to Poland making Nicolaus a citizen under the Polish crown. German was his first language, but some scholars believe he spoke some Polish too. He was the son of a wealthy merchant, but when his father died, he was raised by his mother’s brother. A bishop …show more content…

While there he performed church duties, practiced medicine and studied astronomy. In Copernicus’ time most astronomers believed the theory the greek astronomer Ptolomy had developed more than 1,000 years ago. Ptolomy said the Earth was the center of the universe and did not move. Copernicus thought that Ptolemy's theory was not correct. Sometime between the years of 1507 and 1515 he first proposed the principles of his heliocentric or sun centered astronomy. Copernicus concluded that every planet, including Earth, revolved around the Sun. He also determined that the Earth rotates daily on its axis and that the Earth's motion affected what people saw in the heavens. Copernicus did not have the tools to prove his theories. By the 1600s, astronomers such as Galileo would develop the physics that would prove he was correct. Copernicus died on May 24, 1543. So, how did Nicolaus Copernicus help the scientific revolution? He built a path in astronomy that other astronomers down the road would follow, like Galileo who built the first telescoped and saw that not only did earth revolved around the sun it also spun on its own axis once every day. So even though Nicolaus Copernicus wasn't alive when his theory was proven correct, he still played a key role in the discovery of our heliocentric solar

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