Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Polish Renaissance mathematician and astronomer, known for his heliocentric model, which proposes that the Sun, and not the Earth, is the center of the universe.
These revolutionary ideas, despite not being entirely correct, were embodied in his work On the revolutions of the celestial spheres (1543) and were a boost to the Scientific Revolution. They had a great influence on the later works of Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton and many other scientists..
Article index
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473, specifically in the Prussian region. Torún (today called Thor) was his city of birth and was located towards the north of Poland.
The Prussian region was annexed to Poland in 1466 and it was precisely in this area that his father had established his residence. There he lived with who was the mother of Copernicus, Barbara Watzenrode. Barbara's father was a wealthy merchant who came from a wealthy bourgeois family in the city.
At the age of 10, Copernicus lost his father. Faced with this scenario, their mother's brother actively helped them, allowing them to move in with him. His uncle was named Lucas Watzenrode, and he, his brothers and his mother settled in his house.
Lucas took over the education of Copernicus. He served as a canon in the local church and focused on providing him with a high-quality, well-rounded education because he planned for him to also serve as a clergyman..
Part of the motivation that led Lucas to want this future for his nephew was that he considered it to be one of the best opportunities to solve his economic environment, not only in his immediate future, but also in the long term..
This was considered like this by Lucas because he thought that the support of the Roman Church would be beneficial for Copernicus in the future, supplying him with all the material elements that he would need throughout his life..
Thanks to the support of his uncle, Nicolaus Copernicus began his higher studies at the University of Krakow, known today as the Jalegonian University, currently considered the best university in Poland..
At that time, the University of Krakow was one of the most prestigious both within Poland and throughout Europe; the academic quality of its professors was widely recognized. Lucas Watzenrode had studied there, so it was his first choice to send Nicolás.
There he entered in 1491, when he was 18 years old, and attended classes in astrology and astronomy. According to some records, it is believed that one of his main teachers was Wojciech Brudzewski.
Brudzewski was a mathematician and astronomer of great relevance for the time. Part of his popularity was the consequence of a comment he made about one of the studies of the also famous mathematician and astronomer Georg von Peuerbach.
One of the characteristics of the University of Krakow is that it taught scientific subjects together with the humanistic ones, which had just become present.
Among the areas of study that Copernicus developed at this university, a chair called Liberal Arts was included, in which a little mathematics was also studied..
Copernicus was at the University of Krakow until 1494. Later he traveled to Italy and was moving within that country for the next two years..
In 1496 he entered the University of Bologna, where his uncle Lucas had also previously studied. There Copernicus specialized in four areas of study: Greek, Medicine, Philosophy and Law..
He was training in this house of studies until 1499, and during his career he worked as an assistant to Domenico da Novara, who taught astronomy classes..
In 1501 Copernicus returned to Poland temporarily, because there he would be granted an appointment as canon of the Frombork Cathedral, a designation that he obtained thanks to the intervention of his uncle.
Copernicus received and thanked the honors, was in Poland for a few days and immediately returned to Italy to continue his studies.
His studies, in Law and Medicine, were carried out in three important Italian cities: Ferrara, Padua and Bologna. In the first of these cities, Copernicus received the degree of Doctor of Canon Law in 1503.
According to historical records, in this he made a large number of astronomical observations, and many of these data were used later in his studies. During his stay in Italy he managed to finish his training as a mathematician and astronomer, in addition to learning Greek.
Copernicus was a man eager for knowledge, and while he lived in Italy he had access to many emblematic works from the scientific, literary and philosophical fields, which helped him form his criteria.
In Italy he witnessed how the Platonic and Pythagorean theories had a second impulse, while he was informed of what were the greatest difficulties that affected astronomers at that time.
In 1503 Copernicus returned to Poland with all this new information, which greatly nourished him and served him in his later activities..
Copernicus' residence in Poland was the bishop's house, located in the town of Lidzbark. At this time he returned to have closer contact with his uncle Lucas, who asked him to be his private doctor.
After a short time, Lucas also related to Copernicus in other areas, since he asked him to be his secretary, his adviser and his personal assistant in the field of politics..
The labor bond between the two remained until 1512. In all that time both traveled through various cities as part of their work, and also lived together in the bishop's palace..
In this period Copernicus published one of his works, entitled Moral, rural and amatory epistles. This text was published in 1509, and its historical value is not found in the prose used or in other elements of a literary nature, since these are not really relevant..
The importance is in the prologue. It was written by a close friend of Copernicus, and in the midst of the information it provides, it highlights how this scientist continued to carry out astronomical observations while accompanying his uncle Lucas on his various engagements..
As indicated by Copernicus's friend in the book, the latter dedicated himself to observing the Moon, the Sun and the stars, and carried out different studies based on the data obtained..
Despite his diplomatic work with Lucas, at that time Copernicus had not forgotten astronomy. In fact, information found suggests that it was precisely in this period when he began to work in greater depth on his heliocentric theory..
While Copernicus traveled with his uncle, he had the opportunity to continue observing the skies and recording his reflections..
He arrived at an early version of what later became his heliocentric model. This first approach was made known in a very informal way, transcribed in a manuscript that he handed out to some people..
This information was never formally printed; in fact, only three copies of this manuscript remain today. A relevant fact is that Copernicus did not place the date or his signature on the document.
As a consequence of this, doubts were generated regarding its legitimacy; However, some years ago it was determined that, indeed, this manuscript is attributable to Copernicus.
He also suggested that there was a possibility that the document in question, entitled Brief exposition of the hypotheses about celestial movements, would correspond to a sketch of his most important work: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.
It is precisely in this last text, published in 1512, in which Copernicus makes his heliocentric proposal in a formal way.
1512 marked the end of that period of work with his uncle Lucas, because in that year the bishop died. As a consequence of this, Copernicus settled in Frombork and dedicated himself to organizing and managing the assets of the chapter corresponding to that cathedral, in the diocese of Warmia.
Although these tasks consumed part of Copernicus' time, he continued to dedicate himself to observing the skies. His work as an astronomer did not cease and the ecclesiastical task was carried out without being ordained as a cleric.
In addition to astronomy, there were other areas of knowledge that caught his attention at this time and to which he devoted much of his time..
For example, he was drawn to economic theory and focused primarily on the realm of monetary reform. He showed so much interest that he even wrote a book about it, which was published in 1528. Likewise, at this time he was able to practice medicine..
The popularity that Copernicus achieved was remarkable at this time, given that in 1513, just a year after settling in Frombork, he was invited to join the team that would apply a reform to the Julian calendar.
Much later, in 1533, he sent his works to Pope Clement VII and three years later received a communication from Cardinal Nikolaus von Schönberg, who insisted that he publish these dissertations as soon as possible..
In this period of the life of Copernicus many of his contributions took place, thanks to which he has been credited with being the first modern astronomer.
The revolutionary idea of conceiving the Sun as the central element of the universe, and the planets as bodies that move around it, generated a paradigm shift so transcendent that it meant the birth of a new vision and relationship between human beings and the cosmos..
Nicolaus Copernicus died on May 24, 1543 at the age of 70 in the city of Frombork.
His remains were deposited in the cathedral of Frombork, a fact that was confirmed more than 450 years later, in 2005, when a group of archaeologists of Polish origin found some fossils that, apparently, belonged to Copernicus..
Three years later, in 2008, an analysis was carried out on these pieces found, specifically a portion of the skull and a tooth, which were contrasted with a Copernicus hair that had been found in one of his manuscripts. The result was positive: these remains did correspond to the Polish scientist.
Later, some experts in the police field were able to reconstruct his face based on the skull found, and his recreation coincided with a portrait made in life.
Once it was determined that the remains found were indeed Copernicus, an ecclesiastical celebration was organized, in which his remains were deposited again in Frombork Cathedral, in the same place where they were found..
The Polish papal nuncio at that time, Józef Kowalczyk -who was also primate of Poland-, was the one who led the mass of this second funeral, on May 22, 2010..
Currently the remains of Copernicus are crowned by a black tombstone in which it is indicated that he was the author of the heliocentric theory. The same tombstone has a representation of the system proposed by Copernicus: it highlights a large golden sun that is surrounded by six planetary bodies.
The most recognized and revolutionary contribution of Nicolás Copernicus is, without a doubt, the model of heliocentrism. Until that moment, the model of Ptolemy had been followed, which proposed that the earth was the center of the universe (geocentrism).
Copernicus proposed a model of a spherical universe, in which both the Earth and the planets and stars revolved around the Sun. This contribution of Copernicus to science is one of the most revolutionary ideas in the history of mankind, as it implied a change paradigm for science.
The seven principles of his model stated:
The heliocentric model of Copernicus was the basis of the work of some of the most influential scientists in history, including Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton.
Galileo, using the telescope and based on the Copernicus model, confirmed his data. In addition, he discovered that the planets were not perfect circles..
Kepler developed the three fundamental laws of the motion of the planets, including elliptical and non-circular motion.
Isaac Newton developed the law of universal gravitation.
The rise of the learning of Greek in the Renaissance came to Copernicus early and in Bologna he began to learn it in 1492. He translated the letters of the 7th century Byzantine philosopher Theophylact of Simocatta, printed in 1509, into Latin. this is his only post prior to By revolutionibus orbium celestium.
Copernicus' acquisition of a good reading level was critical to his studies in astronomy, since most of the works of Greek astronomers, including Ptolemy, had not yet been translated into Latin, the language in which they were written..
In addition, it is noteworthy that this knowledge of Greek allowed him to reinterpret Aristotle.
The fact that the center of the universe was the Earth, implied that this was its center of gravity.
Following your model, if the center of gravity is not the Earth, why then do things inside the Earth fall towards its center? Copernicus' response was:
All matter has gravity, and heavy matters will attract and be attracted to similarly heavy matters, in the same way that smaller matters will be attracted to larger ones..
In this way, the little things that are on Earth are attracted to it. For example, the Moon, being smaller than the Earth, revolves around it, and the Earth, being smaller than the Sun, does the same.
Copernicus explained his idea as follows: “All celestial bodies are centers of attraction of matter".
Copernicus assisted in the revision of the Julian calendar, which was the official calendar since the fourth century. Pope Leo X asked the astronomer to participate in the reform that took place between 1513 and 1516.
Nicolás Copernicus was based on his heliocentric model of the universe to solve the problems presented by the previous calendar, but it was not until 1582 that all the changes took effect in the Gregorian calendar.
His model of the universe implied that the Earth has three motions: rotation, translation, and a conical oscillation motion of its own axis. The first lasts one day, the second one year, and the third also occurs progressively in a year..
Through geometry, Copernicus showed that since the Earth is a sphere, the center of gravity and the center of its mass coincide.
He also came to the conclusion that the amount of water cannot be greater than that of land (contrary to what was thought at the time), because heavy materials conglomerate around the center of gravity and light ones outside..
In such a way that, if the amount of water exceeds the amount of land, the water would cover the entire surface of the earth..
Copernicus became interested in monetary matters when King Sigismund I of Poland asked him to make a proposal to reform the currency of his community.
Copernicus's analysis showed that it is impossible to have two types of currency in a single government, one more valuable, for foreign trade, and the other less valuable, for local transactions..
He then formulated the "theory of the quantity of money", which stipulates that prices vary proportionally with the supply of money in society. He explained this before the concept of inflation emerged..,
In very simple terms, for Copernicus it was necessary to avoid putting too much money into circulation, because this determines the value of the currency. The more money there is, the lower its value.
Yet No Comments