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, the heliocentric system was born 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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Nicolaus Copernicus.
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Copernicus (Kopernik, Copernicus) Nicholas (1473-1543), Polish astronomer, creator heliocentric system peace. He made a revolution in natural science, abandoning the doctrine of the central position of the Earth, accepted for many centuries. Explained visible movements celestial bodies by the rotation of the Earth around its axis and the revolution of the planets (including the Earth) around the Sun. He outlined his teaching in the work “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres” (1543), which was banned by the Catholic Church from 1616 to 1828.
Copernicus (Kopernik, Copernicus), Nicholas (1473-1543) - Polish astronomer and thinker. From criticizing and denying the truth of the geocentric system of the world canonized by the church, Copernicus gradually came to the approval of a new system of the world, according to which the Sun occupies a central position, and the Earth is one of the planets revolving around the Sun and rotates around its axis. The main work of Copernicus is “On Rotations” celestial bodies"(1543, Russian translation, 1964).
Philosophical Dictionary / author's comp. S. Ya. Podoprigora, A. S. Podoprigora. - Ed. 2nd, erased - Rostov n/a: Phoenix, 2013, p. 176.
Copernicus Nicholas (1473 1543) - Polish astronomer, creator of the heliocentric system of the world, economist. In the history of science, the teaching of Copernicus was a revolutionary act by which the study of nature declared its independence from religion. Copernicus's theory of the Earth's revolution around the Sun and the Earth's daily rotation around its axis meant a break with the geocentric system of Ptolemy and the religious ideas based on it about the Earth as a “chosen by God” arena in which the struggle of divine and devilish forces for human souls was played out. This theory rejected what came from Aristotle and the opposition of the movements of heavenly and earthly bodies used by scholasticism dealt a blow to the church legend about heaven and hell, creating the possibility of the emergence in the future of teachings about natural origin and development solar system. For the theory of knowledge, Copernicus’s distinction between the visible (apparent) and real states of bodies (the Earth) became important. Copernicus's discoveries became the object of a fierce struggle: the church condemned and persecuted them, the progressive thinkers of his time and subsequent eras made them their battle banner and developed them further ( Bruno , Galileo etc.), eliminating, for example, such erroneous positions of the Copernican system as the location of all the stars on a single “sphere” and the Sun in the center of the universe. The main works of Copernicus, “On the revolutions of the celestial spheres” (1543), testify to Copernicus’s familiarity with the achievements of ancient atomism and the astronomical hypotheses of the ancients (Heliocentric and geocentric systems of the world).
Philosophical Dictionary. Ed. I.T. Frolova. M., 1991, p. 204.
Copernicus (Kopernik, Copernicus) Nicholas (February 19, 1473, Torun, Poland - May 24, 1543, Frombork) - Polish astronomer and thinker who revived and scientifically substantiated the heliocentric system of the world. He studied mathematics, the theoretical foundations of astronomy, medicine at the University of Krakow (1491-95), studied at the Faculty of Church Law at the University of Bologna (1496-1501), where he also studied astronomy and participated in the research of the famous astronomer Domenico de Novara. He studied medicine at the University of Padua and received the degree of Doctor of Canon Laws in Ferrara (1503). He performed numerous duties: canon in Frombork, chancellor of the Warmia Chapter, initiator of the monetary reform. In addition, he organized protection from attacks by soldiers of the Teutonic Order; as a doctor, he participated in the fight against the epidemic of 1519, gave lectures on mathematics, and published translations. At the same time, Copernicus was constantly engaged in astronomical observations and mathematical calculations of the movements of the planets, and by 1532 he completed the work “On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres,” which he did not dare publish for a long time, although he was convinced of the fallacy of the Ptolemaic system and the truth of the heliocentric model of the Universe. The work was published only in 1543, the year of his death. From 1616 to 1882, at the request of the Vatican, the work of Copernicus was in the Index of Prohibited Publications. The main work was preceded by the “Small Commentary” (1505-07), which set out the main assumptions of heliocentrism. All spheres move around the Sun as the center of the world, the center of the Earth is the center of gravity and the lunar orbit, all movements of the “firmament”, the Sun and planets belong not to them, but to the Earth. These provisions were developed in detail in the main work of Copernicus, where it was substantiated that the Earth, together with other planets, rotates around the Sun in the ecliptic plane, around its axis perpendicular to the ecliptic plane, and around its own axis perpendicular to the equatorial plane. In addition, it is proven that the world and the Earth are spherical, the movement of celestial bodies is circular and constant, the Earth occupies only a small part of the infinitely large space of the heavens. According to T. Kuhn, Copernicus's innovation was not simply an indication of the movement of the Earth, but constituted new way vision of the problems of physics and astronomy, in which the meaning of the concepts “earth” and “movement” necessarily changed (see T. Kuhn. The structure of scientific revolutions. M., 1975, p. 190).
L. A. Mikeshina
New philosophical encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy RAS. Scientific ed. advice: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Guseinov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Mysl, 2010, vol. II, E – M, p. 309-310.
Copernicus (Kopernik, Copernicus) Nicholas (19.2.1473, Toruń, -24.5.1543, Frombork), Polish astronomer and thinker. In Copernicus’s main work “On the Rotations of the Celestial Spheres” (1543, Russian translation, 1964), the long-forgotten ancient idea of heliocentrism (Aristarchus of Samos, 3rd century BC) is revived, developed, proven and justified as a scientific truth . From a scientific point of view, the advantages of heliocentrism are immediately apparent: for the first time in the history of astronomy, possible definition from observations of actual planetary distances; the specific mathematical and geometrical features of Ptolemy’s scheme (which previously were of an incomprehensible and random nature) receive a clear physical meaning; the new system of the world makes a strong aesthetic impression, establishing the actual “shape of the world and the exact proportionality of its parts” (“On Rotations...”, p. 13). The teachings of Copernicus refuted the centuries-old geocentric tradition of Aristotle - Ptolemy, dealt a decisive blow to religious and theological ideas about the Universe and the place of man in it, and served as the starting point for the development of new astronomy and physics (in the works of Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton). Engels called the publication of Copernicus’s main work “a revolutionary act by which the study of nature declared its independence... From here the liberation of natural science from theology begins its chronology...” (Marx K. and Engels F., Works, vol. 20, p. 347). In philosophical terms, the transition to heliocentrism means a revolution in epistemology, the basis of natural scientific knowledge. Up until Copernicus, epistemology dominated, an attitude according to which the visible was identified with the real. In the teachings of Copernicus, the opposite principle is realized for the first time - what is visible is not certainty, but an “inverted” reflection of the reality hidden behind the phenomena. Subsequently, this principle becomes epistemology, the basis of all classical science.
Philosophical encyclopedic Dictionary. - M.: Soviet encyclopedia. Ch. editor: L. F. Ilyichev, P. N. Fedoseev, S. M. Kovalev, V. G. Panov. 1983.
Works: Opera omnia, t. l-2, Warsz., 1972-75; in Russian lane - in the collection: Polsk. thinkers of the Renaissance, M., I960, p. 35-68.
Literature: Nicolaus Copernicus. [Sat.]. To the 500th anniversary of the birth. 1473-1973, M., 1973 (lit. about K. published in Russia and in the Soviet Union); Veselovsky I. I., Bely Yu. A., Nikolai K., M., 1974; Idelson N.I., Studies on the history of celestial mechanics, M., 1975; Kühn T. S., The copernican revolution, Camb., 1957; B l s k u p M., D o b r z u s k i J., Mikolaj Kopernik- uczony i obywatet, Warsz., 1972.
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. He received his primary education, most likely at the school at the Church of St. Yana. After the death of Nicolaus Copernicus, his father, during the plague, his nephew’s care was taken over by Lukasz Wachenrode, his mother’s brother.
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.
In 1496, Nicholas and his brother Andrzej found themselves in Bologna, which was then part of the Papal States and famous for its university. Nikolai enrolled in the Faculty of Law with departments of civil and canonical, i.e., church law. On March 9, 1497, together with the astronomer Domenico Maria Novara, Nicholas made his first scientific observation.
In 1498, Nicolaus Copernicus was confirmed in absentia as a canon of the Frombork Chapter.
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 the position of canon in Frombork, a fishing town at the mouth of the Vistula.
In Frombork, Copernicus began his astronomical observations, despite the inconvenience of frequent fogs from the Vistula Lagoon.
The most famous instrument used by Copernicus was the triquetrum, a parallactic instrument. The second device used by Copernicus to determine the angle of inclination of the ecliptic, "horoscopes", sundial, a type of quadrant.
In the Small Commentary, written around 1516, Copernicus gave a preliminary statement of his teachings, or rather of his hypotheses.
At the height of the war with the crusaders, at the beginning of November 1520, Copernicus was elected administrator of the chapter's properties in Olsztyn and Pienienzno. Having taken command of the small garrison of Olsztyn, Copernicus took measures to strengthen the defense of the castle-fortress and managed to defend Olsztyn. Soon after the truce was concluded in April 1521, Copernicus was appointed commissar of Warmia, and in the autumn of 1523 - chancellor of the chapter. .
By the beginning of the thirties, work on the creation new theory and its design in the 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. The provisions of Ptolemy's theory were considered unshakable, since they were in good agreement with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Observing the movement of 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 proved that the Earth is only one of the planets and that all planets revolve around the Sun.
Copernicus believed that a person perceives the movement of celestial bodies in the same way as the movement various items on Earth when he himself is in motion. 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.
Copernicus was dying when his friends brought him the first copy of “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres,” printed in one of the Nuremberg printing houses.
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.
Reprinted from the site http://100top.ru/encyclopedia/
Read further:
World famous scientists(biographical reference book).
Essays:
Opera omnia, t. 1-2. Warsz., 1972-1975;
On the rotations of the celestial spheres. M., 1964.
Literature:
Nicolaus Copernicus. To the 500th anniversary of his birth, ed. V. A. Kotelnikova. M., 1973;
Veselovsky I. N., Bely Yu. A. Nikolai Copernicus. M., 1974;
Kuhn T. S. The Coperniean Revolution. Cambr. (Mass.), 1957.
Biography
early years
Toruń: the house where Copernicus was born
The question of Copernicus's ethnicity still remains the subject of a (rather unpromising) debate. His mother was German (Barbara Watzenrode), his father's nationality is unclear. Thus, ethnically Copernicus was German or half-German, although he himself may have considered himself a Pole (by territorial and political affiliation). He wrote in Latin and German; not a single document in Polish written by his hand has been found; after early death father, he was raised in a German family by his mother and uncle. Niccolò Komneno Popadopoli spread the unproven - and, in the opinion modern historians, invented by himself - the story that Copernicus allegedly enrolled at the University of Padua as a Pole. It should be noted that the concept of nationality in those years was much more blurred than it is today, and some historians suggest that Copernicus be considered a Pole and a German at the same time.
In the Copernicus family, besides Nicholas, there were three more children: Andrei, later a canon in Warmia, and two sisters: Barbara and Katerina. Barbara went into a convent, and Katerina married and gave birth to five children, to whom Nicolaus Copernicus was very attached and cared for them until the end of his life.
Bust of Copernicus in Krakow
Having lost his father as a 9-year-old child and remaining in the care of his maternal uncle, Canon Luke ( Lucas) Watzenrode (Watzelrode), Copernicus entered the University of Krakow in 1491, where he studied mathematics, medicine and theology with equal zeal, but he was especially attracted to astronomy.
To continue his education, Copernicus went to Italy () and entered the University of Bologna. In addition to theology, law and ancient languages, he also has the opportunity to study astronomy there. It is interesting to note that one of the professors in Bologna was then Scipio del Ferro, with whose discoveries the revival of European mathematics began. Meanwhile, thanks to the efforts of his uncle, in Poland Copernicus was elected in absentia as a canon in the diocese of Warmia.
Death
A. Lesser. Death of Copernicus
The book of Copernicus has remained as an outstanding monument to human thought. From this moment dates back to the beginning of the first scientific revolution.
grave
The location of Copernicus's grave remained unknown for a long time, but in November 2008, DNA analysis confirmed the discovery of his remains.
Scientific activity
Heliocentric system
Celestial spheres in the Copernicus manuscript
Title page "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium"
In the preface to the book, Copernicus writes:
Considering how absurd this teaching must seem, I hesitated for a long time to publish my book and thought whether it would not be better to follow the example of the Pythagoreans and others, who transmitted their teaching only to friends, spreading it only through tradition.
The Nuremberg theologian Osiander, to whom Rheticus entrusted the printing of Copernicus’s book, out of caution, provided it with an anonymous preface, in which he declared new model conditional mathematical technique, invented to reduce computation. At one time, this preface was attributed to Copernicus himself, although he, in response to Osiander’s request, resolutely refused to make such a reservation. The preface is followed by a letter of praise from Cardinal Schoenberg and a dedication to Pope Paul III.
In structure, Copernicus’s main work almost repeats the “Almagest” in a somewhat abbreviated form (6 books instead of 13). The first part talks about the spherical shape of the world and the Earth, and instead of the position about the immobility of the Earth, another axiom is placed - the Earth and other planets rotate around an axis and revolve around the Sun. This concept is argued in detail, and the “opinion of the ancients” is convincingly refuted. From a heliocentric position, he easily explains the reciprocal motion of the planets.
The second part provides information on spherical trigonometry and rules for calculating the apparent positions of stars, planets and the Sun in the firmament.
The third talks about the annual movement of the Earth and precession (precedence of the equinoxes), and Copernicus correctly explains it by displacement earth's axis, which causes the line of intersection of the equator and the ecliptic to move.
In the fourth - about the Moon, in the fifth about planets in general, and in the sixth - about the reasons for changes in the latitudes of the planets. The book also contains a star catalog, an estimate of the sizes of the Sun and Moon, the distances to them and to the planets (close to the true ones), and the theory of eclipses.
Assumption I: The sun is the center of the universe and, therefore, motionless. Everyone believes that this statement is absurd and absurd from a philosophical point of view, and, moreover, formally heretical, since its expressions largely contradict Holy Scripture, according to the literal meaning of the words, as well as the usual interpretation and understanding of the Church Fathers and teachers of theology.
Assumption II: The Earth is not the center of the universe, it is not motionless and moves as a whole (body) and, moreover, makes a daily revolution. Everyone believes that this position deserves the same philosophical condemnation; from the point of view of theological truth, it is at least mistaken in faith.Original text(lat.)
Propositio I: Sol est centrum et omnino immobilis motu locali. Censura: omnes dixerunt dictam propositionem esse stultam et absurdam in philosophia et formaliter hereticam, quatenus contradicit expresse sententiis sacrae Scripturae in multis locis, secundum proprietatem verborum et secundum expositionem et sensum SS, Patrum et theologorum doctorum. Propositio II: Terra non est centrum mundi nec immobilis, sed secundum se totam movetur etiam motu diurno. Censura: omnes dixerunt hanc propositionem recipere eandem censuram in philosophia et spectando veritatem theologicam ad minus esse in fide erroneam..
The most famous consequence of this decision in the 17th century was the trial of Galileo (1633), who violated the church ban in his book “Dialogues about two major systems peace."
Contrary to popular belief, the book of Copernicus itself " "was formally banned by the Inquisition for only 4 years, but was subject to censorship. In 1616 it was included in the Roman Index of Forbidden Books with the notation "until correction". The required censorship amendments that needed to be made by the owners of the book to allow further use were made public in 1620. These corrections mainly concerned statements that suggested that heliocentrism was not just a mathematical model, but a reflection of reality. Many copies of the first (Nuremberg,), second (Basel,) and third (Amsterdam,) editions, which belonged, in particular, to famous astronomers and others, have survived historical figures, in which the owners complied with censorship instructions from to varying degrees loyalty: from completely obscuring the required fragments of Copernicus and inscribing the recommended text, to completely ignoring the instructions. About 2/3 of the surviving copies from Italy were corrected by their owners, while the vast majority of copies from other countries were not corrected. The Spanish index of banned books explicitly allowed the book. Interestingly, copies of the second and third editions were brought to China by Jesuit missionaries in 1618 during the formal prohibition. The book was removed from Rome's Index of Prohibited Books in 1835. .
Other advances in astronomy
Copernicus was one of the first to express the idea of universal gravitation. One of his letters says:
I think that heaviness is nothing more than a certain tendency with which the divine Builder bestowed upon the particles of matter so that they would unite in the shape of a ball. This property is probably possessed by the Sun, Moon and planets; These luminaries owe their spherical shape to him.
He confidently predicted that Venus and Mercury have phases similar to those of the Moon. After the invention of the telescope, Galileo confirmed this prediction.
Economy
Copernicus was the first to draw attention to a pattern known as the Copernicus-Gresham Law (also independently discovered by the English banker Thomas Gresham). According to this principle, money that is more stable in its exchange rate (for example, gold) will be forced out of circulation, as people will accumulate savings in it, and “worse” (for example, copper) money will participate in real circulation.
List of works
- N.C. Meditata XV. Augusti anno domini MDXVII.,
- Tractatus de monetis,
- Monetae cudendae ratio,
- De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium- Nuremberg, Germany:
Perpetuation of memory
Named after Copernicus:
see also
Notes
Literature
Essays
- Copernicus Nicholas. On the rotation of the celestial spheres. Per. I. N. Veselovsky. M.: Nauka, 1964.
About him
- Ambartsumyan V. A. Copernicus and modern astronomy. Report at the Anniversary meeting General meeting Academy of Sciences of the USSR, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the birth of N. Copernicus, March 6, 1973. “Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR”, No. 5, 1973, pp. 46-56.
- Akhutin A.V. Copernican innovation and the Copernican revolution. In the book: Akhutin A.V. Litigation about existence. M.: RFO, 1997, p. 181-243.
- Bely Yu. A. Copernicus, Copernicanism and the Development of Natural Science. IAI, Vol. XII, p. 15.
- Veselovsky I. N., Bely Yu. A. Copernicus, 1473-1543. M.: Nauka, 1974.
- Gerasimenko M. P. Nicolaus Copernicus is an outstanding economist of the era of early capitalism. Kyiv: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, 1953.
- Grebenikov E. A. Nicolaus Copernicus. M.: Nauka, 1982.
- Dmitriev I. S. The Temptation of Saint Copernicus: The Unscientific Roots of the Scientific Revolution. St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2006.
- Idelson N. I. Sketches on the history of celestial mechanics. M.: Nauka, 1975.
- Levin A. The Man Who Moved the Earth // Popular mechanics. - 2009. - № 6.
- Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). To the four hundredth anniversary of his death. M.-L.: Publishing house. USSR Academy of Sciences, 1947.
- Engelhardt M. A. Nicolaus Copernicus. In the book: Copernicus. Galileo. Kepler. Laplace and Euler. Quetelet. Biographical narratives (F. Pavlenkov library, volume 21, pp. 5-73). Chelyabinsk, "Ural", 1997.
- Dmitriev I. S. The Temptation of Saint Copernicus: The Unscientific Roots of the Scientific Revolution. St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2006.
Ancient to explain the unevenness of movements.
Creating his heliocentric system, Copernicus relied on the mathematical and kinematic apparatus of Ptolemy’s theory, on the specific geometric and numerical patterns obtained by the latter. Thus, in Ptolemy’s model, all planets obeyed a general (albeit incomprehensible within the framework of geocentrism) law: the radius vector of any planet in the epicycle always coincided with the radius vector Earth - Sun, and the movement along the epicycle for the upper planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) and according to the deferent for the lower ones (Mercury, Venus) occurred with a single annual period for all planets. In the Copernican model this law received a simple and logical explanation.
The main and almost only work of Copernicus, the fruit of more than 40 years of his work, is "On the rotation of the celestial spheres"(lat. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium). The work was published in Nuremberg in 1543; it was printed under supervision best student Copernicus, Rhetica.
In the preface to the book, Copernicus writes:
Considering how absurd this teaching must seem, I hesitated for a long time to publish my book and thought whether it would not be better to follow the example of the Pythagoreans and others, who transmitted their teaching only to friends, spreading it only through tradition.
In structure, Copernicus’s main work almost repeats the “Almagest” in a somewhat abbreviated form (6 books instead of 13). The first book (part) talks about the spherical shape of the world and the Earth, and instead of the position about the immobility of the Earth, another axiom is placed: the Earth and other planets rotate around an axis and revolve around the Sun. This concept is argued in detail, and the “opinion of the ancients” is convincingly refuted. From a heliocentric position, he easily explains the reciprocal motion of the planets.
Copernicus gave the Earth three rotations: first - rotation of the Earth around its axis with angular velocity ω; the second (with speed ω′) - around axis mundi, which is perpendicular to the plane of the earth’s orbit and passes through its center; the third (with an oppositely directed speed ω′′) - around an axis parallel to the axis of the world and passing through the center of the Earth. The last two rotations form (with exact coincidence of ω′ and ω′′ in magnitude) a couple of spins, equivalent forward movement The Earth around the Sun in a circular orbit.
The second part of Copernicus's work provides information on spherical trigonometry and rules for calculating the apparent positions of stars, planets and the Sun in the firmament.
The third talks about the annual movement of the Earth and the so-called precession of the equinoxes, which shortens the tropical year (from equinox to equinox) compared to the sidereal year (return to the same position relative to the fixed stars) and leads to a movement of the line of intersection of the equator with the ecliptic, which changes the ecliptic longitude of the star by one degree per century. Ptolemy's theory, in principle, could not explain this precession. Copernicus gave this phenomenon elegant kinematic explanation (proving himself to be a very sophisticated mechanic): he assumed that the angular velocity ω′′ is not exactly equal to ω′, but slightly different from it; the difference between these angular velocities is manifested in the precession of the equinoxes.
The fourth part talked about the Moon, the fifth about planets in general, and the sixth about the reasons for changes in the latitudes of the planets. The book also contained a star catalog, an estimate of the sizes of the Sun and Moon, distances to them and to the planets (close to true), and the theory of eclipses. It should be specially noted that the Copernican system (unlike the Ptolemaic system) made it possible to determine the ratios of the radii of planetary orbits. This fact, as well as the fact that in the description of the motion of the planets the first and most important epicycle was thrown out, made the Copernican system simpler and more convenient than the Ptolemaic one.
The Vatican's favorable attitude towards heliocentrism in the first half of the 16th century was also due to the fact that the observations of the Sun and Moon contained in the book of Copernicus were useful for the upcoming calendar reform. Pope Clement VII even listened to a lecture on the heliocentric approach in 1533, prepared by the scientist Cardinal Wigmanstadt. Although some bishops even then came out with fierce criticism of heliocentrism as a dangerous ungodly heresy.
Assumption I: The sun is the center of the universe and, therefore, motionless. Everyone believes that this statement is absurd and absurd from a philosophical point of view, and, moreover, formally heretical, since its expressions largely contradict the Holy Scriptures, according to the literal meaning of the words, as well as the usual interpretation and understanding of the Fathers of the Church and teachers of theology.
Assumption II: The Earth is not the center of the universe, it is not motionless and moves as a whole (body) and, moreover, makes a daily revolution. Everyone believes that this position deserves the same philosophical condemnation; from the point of view of theological truth, it is at least mistaken in faith.
Original text (Latin)
Propositio I: Sol est centrum et omnino immobilis motu locali. Censura: omnes dixerunt dictam propositionem esse stultam et absurdam in philosophia et formaliter hereticam, quatenus contradicit expresse sententiis sacrae Scripturae in multis locis, secundum proprietatem verborum et secundum expositionem et sensum SS, Patrum et theologorum doctorum.
Propositio II: Terra non est centrum mundi nec immobilis, sed secundum se totam movetur etiam motu diurno. Censura: omnes dixerunt hanc propositionem recipere eandem censuram in philosophia et spectando veritatem theologicam ad minus esse in fide erroneam..
The most famous consequence of this decision in the 17th century was the trial of Galileo (1633), who violated the church ban in his book “Dialogues on the Two Chief Systems of the World.”
Contrary to popular belief, the book of Copernicus itself " De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium"was formally banned by the Inquisition for only 4 years, but was subject to censorship. In 1616 it was included in the Roman Index of Forbidden Books with the notation "until correction". The required censorship amendments that the owners of the book needed to make to allow further use were made public in 1620. These corrections mainly concerned statements that suggested that heliocentrism was not just a mathematical model, but a reflection of reality. Many copies of the first one survive (Nuremberg 1618, during the formal operation of the ban. The book was excluded from the Roman Index of Prohibited Books in 1835.
Other advances in astronomy
Copernicus was one of the first to express the idea of universal gravitation. His book (Part I, Chapter IX) says:
I think that heaviness is nothing more than a certain desire with which the Divine Architect bestowed upon the particles of matter so that they would unite in the shape of a ball. This property is probably possessed by the Sun, Moon and planets; These luminaries owe their spherical shape to him.
Contrary to popular belief, Copernicus did not predict that Venus and Mercury had lunar-like phases.
Economy
Copernicus drew attention to a pattern known as the Copernicus-Gresham Law (also independently discovered by the English banker Thomas Gresham). According to this principle, money that is more stable in its exchange rate (for example, gold) will be forced out of circulation, as people will accumulate savings in it, and “worse” (for example, copper) money will participate in real circulation. It should be noted that this effect is observed only if the state has established a fixed exchange rate for gold to copper (or silver). In conditions of truly free exchange of gold for copper (silver) and back, no money is “good” or “bad” and, as a result, is not crowded out of the market by one another.
Name Nicolaus Copernicus Almost everyone who studied at school heard it one way or another. However, information about him, as a rule, is placed in one or two lines, along with a couple more names of outstanding scientists who strengthened the triumph of the heliocentric system of the world - and Galileo Galilei.
This triumvirate is so entrenched in the minds that it sometimes causes confusion in the minds of even high-ranking politicians. Former Speaker State Duma Boris Gryzlov, defending doubts scientific developments his longtime acquaintance and “scientific co-author” academician Petrika, threw it immediately famous phrase: “The term pseudoscience goes back to the Middle Ages. We can remember Copernicus, who was burned because he said, “But the Earth still turns!”
Thus, the politician mixed the fates of all three scientists into one pile. Although in fact, Nicolaus Copernicus, unlike his students, managed to happily escape the persecution of the Inquisition.
Canon "through connections"
The future creator of a new picture of the world was born on February 19, 1473 in the now Polish city of Torun, into a merchant family. Interestingly, there is no consensus even about his national origin. Despite the fact that Copernicus is considered a Pole, there is not a single document that the scientist wrote in Polish. It is known that Nikolai’s mother was German, and his father, a native of Krakow, may have been Pole, but it is not possible to establish this for sure.
Copernicus's parents died early, and Nicholas found himself in the care of his maternal uncle, a Catholic priest. Luke Watzenrode. It was thanks to his uncle that in 1491 Copernicus entered the University of Krakow, where, among other sciences, he became interested in astronomy.
Nicholas's uncle, meanwhile, became a bishop, and in every possible way contributed to his nephew's career. In 1497, Copernicus continued his studies at the University of Bologna in Italy. It is interesting that Nikolai did not receive any academic degree either in Krakow or Bologna.
Since 1500, Copernicus studied medicine at the University of Padua, after which he passed the exams and received the degree of Doctor of Canon Law.
After spending three years in Italy as a practicing physician, Nikolai returned to his uncle, the bishop, under whom he took the position of secretary and confidant, while simultaneously serving as a personal physician.
The career of Copernicus, who by that time was ecclesiastical rank canon, it was a complete success. While remaining his uncle's secretary, Nikolai managed to engage in astronomical research in Krakow.
The Plumber and the Plague Winner
The comfortable life ended in 1512, along with the death of his uncle, the bishop. Copernicus moved to the town of Frombork, where he had been nominally listed as a canon for several years, and began his spiritual duties.
His scientific activity Copernicus also did not give up, starting to develop his model of the world.
It must be said that Copernicus did not make a big secret of his ideas. His handwritten text “Small Commentary on Hypotheses Relating to Celestial Movements” even circulated among his friends. However, for full development new system it will take the scientist almost 40 years.
The astronomical works of Copernicus became known in Europe, but at first there was no persecution of the concept he proposed. Firstly, the astronomer himself rather carefully formulated own ideas, secondly, the church fathers for a long time could not decide whether to consider the heliocentric system of the world a heresy.
Heliocentric system of the world. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Copernicus himself, without forgetting about the main work of his life, managed to make his mark in other sciences: he developed a new coin system for Poland, as a physician he actively contributed to the elimination of the plague epidemic of 1519 and even designed a water supply system for houses Frombork.
Since 1531, Copernicus was only concerned with the development of his heliocentric system and medical practice. His health began to deteriorate, and in the last years of his life he was helped in his work by students and like-minded people.
IN Last year Copernicus's life was struck by paralysis, and a couple of months before his death he fell into a coma. The scientist died in his bed on May 24, 1543, without ever seeing the work of his whole life published - the book “On the Rotation of the Celestial Spheres.” It was first published in Nuremberg, in the same year 1543.
Life's work
It should be noted that in his criticism of the Ptolemaic picture of the world with the Earth at the center of the Universe, Copernicus was far from the first. Ancient authors such as Nikita Syracuse And Philolaus, believed that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and not vice versa. However, the authority of such luminaries of science as Ptolemy And Aristotle, turned out to be higher. The geocentric system finally won when the Christian Church made it the basis of its picture of the world.
Interestingly, the work of Copernicus himself was far from accurate. Affirming the heliocentric system of the world, the rotation of the Earth around its axis, the movement of planets in orbits, he, for example, believed that the orbits of the planets were perfectly round, not elliptical. As a result, even enthusiasts of his theory were quite puzzled when, astronomical observations the planets ended up in places other than those predicted by Copernicus’ calculations. And for critics of his works it was a gift.
As already mentioned, Copernicus happily escaped persecution by the Inquisition. The Catholic Church had no time for him - it waged a desperate struggle against the Reformation. Some bishops, of course, even during the scientist’s lifetime accused him of heresy, but it did not lead to real persecution.
Only in 1616, with Pope Paul V, Catholic Church officially forbade the adherence to and defense of the Copernican theory as a heliocentric system of the world, since such an interpretation contradicts Scripture. It’s a paradox, but at the same time, according to the theologians, the heliocentric model could still be used to calculate the motion of the planets.
It is also interesting that Copernicus’ book “On the Rotation of the Celestial Bodies” was included in the famous Roman Index of Prohibited Books, a kind of medieval prototype of the “black list” of prohibited Runet sites, for only 4 years, from 1616 to 1620. After that, it returned to circulation, albeit with ideological changes - references to the heliocentric system of the world were cut out of it, while leaving the mathematical calculations that underlay it.
This attitude towards the work of Copernicus only spurred interest in it. Followers developed and refined the theory of the great scientist, ultimately establishing it as the correct picture of the world.
The burial place of Nicolaus Copernicus became known only in 2005. On May 22, 2010, the remains of the great scientist were solemnly reburied in cathedral Fromborka.
Reburial of the remains of Copernicus. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The Catholic Church admitted its guilt in denying the correct theory of Copernicus only in 1993, when the Pope was John Paul II- fellow countryman of Copernicus, Pole Karol Wojtyla.
Rebellious Bruno and humble Galileo
It is also necessary to mention the fate of two followers of Nicolaus Copernicus - Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilei.
Giordano Bruno, who not only shared the teachings of Copernicus, but also went much further than him, proclaiming the plurality of worlds in the Universe, defining the stars as distant bodies similar to the Sun, was very active in promoting his ideas. Moreover, he encroached on many church postulates, including the immaculate nature of the conception of the Virgin Mary. Naturally, the Inquisition began to persecute him, and in 1592 Giordano Bruno was arrested.
Giordano Bruno. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
For more than six years, the inquisitors sought the renunciation of the scientist, who was also a monk, but they failed to break Bruno’s will. On February 17, 1600, the scientist was burned in the Square of Flowers in Rome.
Unlike the works of Copernicus, the books of Giordano Bruno remained in the Index of Prohibited Books until its most recent publication in 1948. 400 years after the execution of Giordano Bruno, the Catholic Church considers the execution of the scientist justified and refuses to rehabilitate him.
Galileo Galilei. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Galileo Galilei, whose works and discoveries in astronomy were unusually great, did not show the stamina of Giordano Bruno. Finding himself in the hands of the Inquisition at almost 70 years of age, after torture and under the threat of “sharing the fate of the heretic Bruno,” Galileo in 1633 chose to renounce the heliocentric system, of which he had been a defender throughout his life. And, of course, it never occurred to the unfortunate old man, who barely escaped the auto-da-fé, to throw the daring “But still she’s spinning!” in the face of his tormentors!
Galileo Galilei will be finally rehabilitated only in 1992, also by the decision of Pope John Paul II.
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