Nicholas Copernicus
By: Ellie Mitchell, Megan Spencer, Mariana Hincape
Who was he?
Nicholas Copernicus was an astronomer who was born on February 19, 1473 in Toruń, Poland. He studied liberal arts as well as astronomy and astrology at the University of Krakow then continued his studies at the University of Bologna in Italy. While studying at Bologna he lived in the same house as Domenico Maria de Novara, the principal astronomer at the school, allowing him to witness and become involved with Novara’s work. Copernicus was elected the canon of Frauenberg with his uncle's guidance and received a doctorate for canon law at the University of Ferrara in 1503. Nicholas was never married and it was rumored he may have taken holy orders. On May 24, 1543 Copernicus died with his newly printed book De Revolutionibus .
What did he contribute to the Scientific Revolution?
- De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
- Copernicus revealed a system in which the Earth and other planets, rotating daily on their axes, make annual revolutions around the stationary sun.
- written between 1507 and 1530
- Copernicus described the moon's orbit around the Earth
How did his contributions change the way people viewed the world?
Copernicus's contributions changed the the way people viewed the world. The way he did this is because what he discovered as an Astronomer, which was that all bodies revolved around a fixed Earth. Copernicus unveiled a fixed order in which the Earth and other planets, rotating daily on their axes, make annual revolutions around the stationary sun. He completely changed the way people thought about the world. People were now starting to realize their could be a whole new world out there, there could be a whole different population of people. On top of that, they found out that they are constantly rotating, spinning around the sun. This was a whole new territory in Science that people have never thought of or even dared to try before. Copernicus changed science forever.
How did people respond to his contributions?
Rheticus was unable to remain and supervise and so he left Copernicus. And so he turned the manuscripts over to Andreas Osiander (1498–1552),Copernicus, Osiander had urged him to present his ideas as purely hypothetical, and he now introduced certain changes without the permission of either Rheticus or Copernicus.addition, the title of the work was changed from the manuscript’s “On the Revolutions
of the Orbs of the World” to “Six Books Concerning the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs”—a change that
appeared to mitigate the book’s claim to describe the real universe.