Nicolaus Copernicus, a famous astronomer from Poland, was born on February 19, 1473. Being the fourth child in a merchant family, he received his primary education at school. During the plague epidemic, he lost his father and was subsequently under the protection of his uncle Lukasz.
Since 1491, Copernicus studied at the University of Krakow at the Faculty of Arts. Then he entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Bologna. There he studied civil and ecclesiastical law. Nikolai also studied medicine at the University of Padua. And at the University of Ferrara he received a doctorate in theology.
He made his first scientific and astronomical observation in 1497. And in the early thirties of the sixteenth century he completed work on the creation of the work “On Appeals celestial spheres". Nicolaus Copernicus pushed aside the generally accepted ideas about the geocentric system of the world. He put forward the theory that the Earth is not the fixed center of the world. The Sun and other celestial bodies do not revolve around it. Everything is just the opposite. The Earth and other planets move around the Sun And the movement of the Sun throughout the day across the sky is due to the fact that our planet rotates around its own axis. Thus, it was born heliocentric system devices of the world. Copernicus saw the first typographical version of his work while dying.
He died on May 24, 1543. In 1616, his book was included in the list of prohibited books. But this did not prevent the development of his idea, and science began to move in a new direction.
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Documentary video about the theory of Nicolaus Copernicus
This is how a new, Heliocentric Copernican system appeared.
A bold idea that revolutionizes people’s consciousness, as was consonant with the entire Renaissance era... It is especially interesting that he made all his conclusions without a telescope - it would be invented by another great astronomer, Galileo Galilei.
But the old one did not want to give up its positions without a fight. This affected Copernicus himself to a small extent - the revolutionary nature of his ideas was simply not understood during his lifetime. And there was plenty of other work to do - he was talented in many areas. A good doctor, a water supply designer, a reformer of the financial system in Poland, an organizer of the defense of his bishopric from the Teutonic Order: this is an incomplete list of his merits. You can also recall his contribution to the theory of monetary circulation: it was Copernicus who, noticing that when gold and copper coins circulate simultaneously, gold goes into savings, and copper remains in circulation, he concluded: “The worst money drives the best out of circulation.”
Merits
But the main thing remained the work on the Heliocentric system. If he published the first notes on his theory in 1503, and the book “On the Rotation of the Celestial Spheres” was published in 1543, then it turns out that the work took forty years! It is symbolic that this treatise was published shortly before Copernicus’s death, as if summing up his life’s journey...
With his death, his ideas did not die; on the contrary, a heated discussion began around them. The Catholic Church banned the works of Copernicus, seeing heresy in them: is the Earth really not the center of the universe, but just one of the planets? What then to think about heaven and hell?
But this did not stop inquisitive minds - the result was the death of Giordano Bruno at the stake of the Holy Inquisition and the trial of Galileo Galilei.
It is noteworthy that, calling Copernicus’ theory a heresy, the Catholic Church allowed the use of his model in astronomical calculations. This paradox fixed the facts - Copernicus’ theory was more consistent with reality, although it undermined the biblical picture of the world.
It was the idea of Nicolaus Copernicus that served as the catalyst for the first scientific revolution. Transfer from medieval view to the world, to the scientific - this is his historical merit.
Name: Nicolaus Copernicus
State: Poland
Field of activity: The science. Astronomy
Today science is given a lot of attention. But it was not always so. It is difficult to imagine how life was for learned men several centuries ago - especially in Catholic countries, where the church tried to prevent the population from becoming overly educated. If the teaching went against the postulates of the churchmen, scientists were severely punished - they would be lucky if they were simply expelled from the city. But alive! But many ended their lives at the stake, as heretics and apostates.
The most interesting thing about this is that their teachings turned out to be correct (in the 19th and 20th centuries, the theories of the Middle Ages were confirmed). Particular attention was paid to astronomy - even in ancient times (for example, in) the priests knew that the earth was round and revolved around the sun. But with the advent of new times, they tried to erase this knowledge from memory. Nicolaus Copernicus, the great Polish astronomer, proved that all the theories of antiquity were true. He is probably the only one who died a natural death for such “heretical” views. But more about everything.
early years
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in Torun, Poland, about 100 miles south of Danzig. He belonged to a merchant family. The most interesting thing is the origin of the future scientist - many consider him a Pole (in principle, rightly so). But biographers and historians cannot find a single document written on behalf of Copernicus in Polish. The mother was German by origin, the father was a Pole from Krakow (but again it is unclear). There were three more children in the family - a son and two daughters.
Nicholas entered the University of Krakow in 1491, where he studied for three years until 1494. There he studied basic subjects - mathematics, theology, literature. But it was astronomy that really attracted him. Although he did not attend classes on this subject, student years Copernicus began collecting books on astronomy (especially those related to the study of the Universe).
Upon completion of his studies, without receiving any title, Copernicus returned to hometown in 1494. In 1496, through the efforts of his uncle, he became a canon (priest) in Frauenburg, remaining in this post until the end of his life. To continue his studies, the family council decided to send the young man to Italy, to Bologna, where Copernicus went to study canon law.
In Bologna, Copernicus came under the influence of Domenico Maria di Novara, an astronomer who became famous in his homeland. In 1500 he moved to Rome to continue his study of astronomy. Note that here we get academic degree Copernicus failed. In 1503, in another city - Ferrara - he was finally able to pass the exams and become a doctor of canon law. He spent the next three years studying medicine at the University of Padua.
Copernican world system
In 1506 he returned to Poland for a sad reason. His uncle got sick. For several years Nikolai was engaged in astronomical research and was personal doctor his uncle. In 1512, Nicholas began working as a priest in the small town of Frombork. However, at the same time he continued to study the sky and comprehend the basics of astronomy.
It was during these years that a complete picture of the structure of the universe gradually emerged. Copernicus is thinking about writing a treatise. The basis was the so-called heliocentric system. Copernicus was in a sense lucky - the church did not initially persecute him for such statements (probably they did not look heretical). After some time, astronomy lovers had in their hands a small treatise “a short commentary on the celestial spheres.”
It contained a list of seven axioms (truths), each of which indicated a feature characteristic of the heliocentric system. The third principle stated, in part:
“All spheres revolve around the sun, since it is the central point, and therefore the sun is the center of the universe.”
Despite the fact that the treatise was not widely popular, the scientist’s friends and colleagues believed that Nikolai was one hundred percent right. Still, he had talent. Gradually, the fame of the young astronomer spread not only in Poland itself, but also beyond its borders - Copernicus was invited to universities as a consultant, to the Lateran Council, where the astronomer’s opinion was needed to draw up a new calendar.
Copernicus worked a lot - after all, the position of canon implied not only church service, but also various legal problems, as well as administrative, medical, and financial matters. However, there were also those who criticized Nicholas’s theory. Among them was Martin Luther, who considered Copernicus “a fool capable of turning the concept of astronomy upside down.” The papal throne has not yet paid much attention to the treatise, probably because Nicholas expressed his thoughts regarding the heliocentric system carefully. Despite this, there were many gaps and inaccuracies in his treatise (also in theory). That, however, did not prevent the book from becoming a reference book for many subsequent generations of astronomers.
Death and Glory
Nicolaus Copernicus died on May 24, 1543 from complications after a stroke. He was about 70 years old - a very old age at that time. A few hours before his death, he received the first printed version of his book. Unfortunately, the thousand copies were not sold and were only reprinted three times.
But this circumstance does not make Copernicus’s treatise less valuable - after his death it was included (finally the church decided to somehow punish the scientist who no longer cared) in the register of prohibited ones, although only for 4 years. Then the book was published again, but the heliocentric system was removed, leaving only mathematical calculations.
However, the fame of Nicolaus Copernicus as one of the leading astronomers of the Middle Ages lives on today. Along with other famous names.
(1473 —1543 )
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in the Polish city of Toruń into the family of a merchant who came from Germany. He was the fourth child in the family. Elementary education He received it, most likely, at a school located near his home at the Church of St. John the Great. Until the age of ten, he grew up in an atmosphere of prosperity and contentment. Carefree childhood ended suddenly and quite early. Nicholas was barely ten years old when the “pestilence” - a plague epidemic, a frequent guest and a formidable scourge of humanity at that time, visited Toruń, and one of its first victims was Nicolaus Copernicus the father. Concerns about education and future fate Lukasz Wachenrode, the mother's brother, took over the nephew.
In the second half of October 1491, Nicolaus Copernicus, together with his brother Andrzej, arrived in Krakow and enrolled in the Faculty of Arts at the local university. After its completion in 1496, Copernicus went on a long journey to Italy.
In the fall, Nikolai, together with his brother Andrzej, found himself in Bologna, which was then part of the Papal States and famous for its university. At that time, the law faculty with the departments of civil and canonical, i.e., church law, was especially popular here, and Nikolai enrolled in this faculty. It was in Bologna Copernicus developed an interest in astronomy that defined him scientific interests. On the evening of March 9, 1497, together with the astronomer Domenico Maria Novara, Nicholas held his first scientific observation After it, it became clear that the distance to the Moon when it is in quadrature is approximately the same as during a new or full moon. The discrepancy between Ptolemy's theory and the discovered facts amused me to think...
In the first months of 1498, Nicolaus Copernicus was confirmed in absentia as a canon of the Frombork Chapter, a year later Andrzej Copernicus also became a canon of the same chapter. However, the very fact of receiving these positions did not reduce the financial difficulties of the brothers; life in Bologna, which attracted many wealthy foreigners, was no different cheapness, and in October 1499 the Copernicians found themselves completely without a livelihood. Canon Bernard Skulteti, who later met them several times in their life, came to their rescue from Poland.
Then Nikolai a short time returns to Poland, but just a year later he goes back to Italy, where he studies medicine at the University of Padua and receives a doctorate in theology from the University of Ferrara. Copernicus returned to his homeland at the end of 1503 in full educated person He settled first in the city of Lidzbark, and then took up the post of canon in Frombork, a fishing town at the mouth of the Vistula. The astronomical observations begun by Copernicus in Italy were continued, albeit on a limited scale, in Lidzbark. But with particular intensity he developed them in Frombork, despite to the inconvenience due to the high latitude of this place, which made it difficult to observe the planets, and due to frequent fogs from the Vistula Bay, significant cloudiness and cloudy skies over this northern area.
The invention of the telescope was still far away, and Tycho Brahe’s best instruments for pre-telescopic astronomy did not exist, with the help of which the accuracy of astronomical observations was brought to within one or two minutes. The most famous instrument used by Copernicus was the triquetrum, a parallactic instrument. The second instrument used by Copernicus to determine the angle of inclination of the ecliptic, “horoscopes”, sundial, a type of quadrant.
Despite the obvious difficulties, in the “Small Commentary”, written around 1516, Copernicus had already given a preliminary statement of his teaching, or rather, his hypotheses at that time. He did not consider it necessary to provide mathematical proofs in it, since they were intended for a more extensive work on November 3 In 1516, Nicolaus Copernicus was elected to the post of manager of the chapter's estates in the Olsztyn and Pieniżny districts. In the autumn of 1519, Copernicus' powers in Olsztyn expired, and he returned to Frombork, but surrendered astronomical observations to test his hypotheses, and this time he really couldn’t. There was a war with the crusaders.
At the height of the war, at the beginning of November 1520, Copernicus was again elected administrator of the chapter's estates in Olsztyn and Pienienzno. By that time, Copernicus turned out to be the eldest not only in Olsztyn, but in the whole of Warmia - the bishop and almost all members of the chapter, having left Warmia, were holed up in safe places Having taken command of the small garrison of Olsztyn, Copernicus took measures to strengthen the defense of the castle-fortress, taking care of installing guns, creating a supply of ammunition, provisions and water. Copernicus, unexpectedly showing determination and remarkable military talent, managed to defend himself from the enemy.
Personal courage and determination did not go unnoticed - soon after the truce in April 1521, Copernicus was appointed Commissioner of Warmia. In February 1523, before the election of a new bishop, Copernicus was elected general administrator of Warmia - this is the highest position he had to hold. In the autumn of the same year, after choosing a bishop, he is appointed chancellor of the chapter. Only after 1530 did Copernicus's administrative activities narrow somewhat.
Nevertheless, it was in the twenties that a significant part of the astronomical results of Copernicus accounted for. It was possible to carry out many observations. So, around 1523, observing the planets at the moment of opposition, that is, when the planet is opposite the Sun
point of the celestial sphere, Copernicus made an important discovery; he refuted the opinion that the position of planetary orbits in space remains fixed. The line of apses - a straight line connecting the points of the orbit at which the planet is closest to the Sun and most distant from it, changes its position compared to what was observed 1300 years earlier and recorded in Ptolemy’s Almagest. But most importantly, by the beginning of the thirties, work on creating new theory and its design in his work “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres” was basically completed. By that time, the system of the world structure proposed by the ancient Greek scientist Claudius Ptolemy had existed for almost one and a half millennia. It consisted in the fact that the Earth rests motionless in the center of the Universe, and the Sun and other planets revolve around it Ptolemy's theory did not explain many phenomena, well known to astronomers, in particular the loop-like movement of the planets across the visible sky. But its provisions were considered unshakable, since they were in good agreement with the teaching catholic church Long before Copernicus, the ancient Greek scientist Aristarchus argued that the Earth moves around the Sun. But he could not yet experimentally confirm his teaching.
Watching the movement celestial bodies, Copernicus came to the conclusion that Ptolemy's theory was incorrect. After thirty years of hard work, long observations and complex mathematical calculations, he convincingly proved that the Earth is only one of the planets and that all planets revolve around the Sun. True, Copernicus still believed that the stars motionless and located on the surface of a huge sphere, at a great distance from the Earth. This was due to the fact that at that time there were no such powerful telescopes with which one could observe the sky and stars. Having discovered that the Earth and the planets are satellites of the Sun, Copernicus was able to explain the apparent movement of the Sun across the sky, the strange entanglement in the movement of some planets, as well as the apparent rotation of the sky. Copernicus believed that we perceive the movement of celestial bodies in the same way as the movement various items on Earth when we ourselves are in motion. When we are sailing in a boat on the surface of a river, it seems that the boat and we are motionless in it, and the banks are floating in the opposite direction. In the same way, to an observer on Earth, it seems that the Earth is motionless, and the Sun is moving around it. In fact, it is the Earth that moves around the Sun and makes full turn in its orbit.
In the twenties, Copernicus gained fame as a skilled physician. He expanded the knowledge he acquired in Padua throughout his life, regularly getting acquainted with the latest medical literature. The fame of an outstanding physician was deserved - Copernicus managed to save many patients from severe and intractable ailments. And among his patients were all the contemporary bishops of Warmia, high-ranking officials of the Royal and Ducal Prussia, Tiedemann Giese, Alexander Skulteti, many canons of the Warmian Chapter. He often provided assistance and ordinary people. There is no doubt that the recommendations of his predecessors
Copernicus used it creatively, carefully monitoring the condition of patients and trying to understand the mechanism of action of the drugs he prescribed.
After 1531, his activity in the affairs of the chapter and its social activity, although back in 1541 he served as chairman of the chapter’s construction fund. Affected long years life. 60 years is an age that in the 16th century was considered quite advanced. But scientific activity Copernicus did not stop. He did not stop practicing medicine, and his fame as a skilled physician grew steadily. In mid-July 1528, being present as a representative of the Frombork Chapter at the sejmik in Torun, Copernicus met the then famous medalist and metal carver Matz Schilling, who had recently moved to Toruń from Krakow. There is an assumption that Copernicus knew Schilling from Krakow, more Moreover, on his mother’s side he was distantly related to him.
In Schilling's house, Copernicus met his daughter, the young and beautiful Anna, and soon, when compiling one of his astronomical tables, in the title of the column devoted to the planet Venus, Copernicus outlined the sign of this planet with an outline of ivy leaves - the Schilling family mark, which was placed on all coins and medals minted by Anna's father... Being a canon, Copernicus had to observe celibacy - a vow of celibacy. But over the years, Copernicus felt more and more lonely, more and more clearly felt the need for a close and devoted being, and then he met Anna...
Years passed. They seemed to have become accustomed to Anna's presence in Copernicus's house. However, a denunciation followed to the newly elected bishop. During his illness, Dantiscus calls Doctor Nicholas and in a conversation with him, as if by chance, remarks that it would not be appropriate for Copernicus to have such a young and such a distant relative with him - he should find someone less young and more closely related.
And Copernicus is forced to “take action.” Anna will soon move into her own home. And then she had to leave Frombork. This has undoubtedly clouded last years life of Nicolaus Copernicus In May 1542, Copernicus’s book “On the sides and angles of triangles, both plane and spherical,” with detailed tables of sines and cosines, was published in Wittenberg.
But the scientist did not live to see the time when the book “On the Rotations of the Celestial Spheres” spread throughout the world. He was dying when friends brought him the first copy of his book, printed in one of the Nuremberg printing houses. Copernicus died on May 24, 1543.
Church leaders did not immediately understand the blow to religion that Copernicus’ book dealt. For some time his work was freely distributed among scientists. Only when Copernicus had followers, his teaching was declared heresy, and the book was included in the “Index” of prohibited books. Only in 1835 did the Pope exclude the book of Copernicus from it and thereby, as it were, acknowledge the existence of his teaching in the eyes of the church.
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Biography of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
Short biography:
Education: University of Padua, University of Krakow, University of Ferrara, University of Bologna
Place of Birth: Toruń, Poland
A place of death: Frauenburg, Poland
– Polish astronomer, mathematician: biography with photos, main ideas and discoveries, contributions to science, heliocentric system of the world, the Sun in the center.
Accepted in modern times as the father of astronomy, he was born on February 19, 1473. starts in Toruń, Poland. He was the son of a successful merchant. After the death of his father, he was raised by his uncle, a wealthy Catholic bishop. It was his uncle who arranged for Copernicus to study at the University of Krakow, which was famous at that time for its mathematical, philosophical and astronomical studies. training programs. Copernicus later studied humanitarian sciences in Bologna, medical in Padua, and legal at the University of Ferrara. In 1500 he lectured on astronomy in Rome and in 1503 he graduated from Ferrara with the degree of Doctor of Canon Law. Soon after this, in 1507, Copernicus returned to Poland, where he was elected canonist of the church. He conscientiously fulfilled his church duties, but also practiced medicine, wrote a treatise on monetary reform and eventually turned his attention to the topic of astronomy.
The interest in astronomy eventually developed into a major interest. During its biographies Nicolaus Copernicus he worked alone, without outside help or advice. All observations were made without using optical instruments, because the latter were invented only a hundred years later. Nicolaus Copernicus watched from a tower located on the protective wall surrounding the monastery. In 1530, Copernicus completed work on his first great work entitled “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” (On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres). It was in this book that he argued that the Earth rotates on its axis once every day and travels around the Sun throughout the year. This was an unimaginably fantastic idea at the time. Before the time of Copernicus, thinkers Western world adhered to Ptolemy's theory, according to which the universe was closed space, limited by a spherical shell, behind which there was nothing. They believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe and that the stars, planets and the Sun revolved around the stationary Earth. This was the famous geocentric (Earth-centered) theory. Copernicus was in no hurry to publish his book, as he was a perfectionist and believed that it was necessary to check and double-check his observations.
Thirteen years after it was written, in 1543, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium was finally published. Unfortunately, Copernicus died later that year and did not learn about the great controversy he had created. It is said that he apparently received the first copy of his book on his deathbed when he died on May 24, 1543 in Frombork, Poland. His great book went against the philosophical and religious beliefs that were propagated in the Middle Ages. The Church argued that man was created by God in his own image and therefore is the next creature after him. That is, man is superior to all other creatures and was not part of natural world. The Church feared that because of the teachings of Nicolaus Copernicus, people would believe that they were just part of the world, but not above it, which went against the theories of politically powerful churchmen of the time. His work forever changed man's place in outer space. The revelation of the heliocentric (sun-centered) theory marked the beginning of a scientific revolution and a new look at the picture of the Universe.
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