NICOLAUS COPERNICUSBy Michelle Aranda & Mariana Cervantes

Born February 19 , 1473 in Torun, a

town under Polish crown.

Went to live with uncle Lucas Watzenrode, who became

bishop of Warmia after father’s death

Studied mathematics,

medicine, canon law at the

universities Cracow, Bologna, Rome, Padua, and

Ferrara.

LIFE

Copernicus's uncle arranged an

election for him as canon of the

chapter of Frombork

Due to his involvement in

the church, Copernicus

delayed publication of his

ideas.

Between 1510 and 1514 he wrote an

essay that introduced his

new idea of the heliocentric

universe

LIFE

Contributions To Astronomy

• During Copernicus’ time Aristotle’s ideas of the geocentric system were followed by some Greek astronomers.

• Pythagoreans believed the earth moved around a central fire that was not the sun.

• Copernicus was not the first to support the heliocentric system theory, but he was the first to include a complete system that combined mathematics, physics, and cosmology.

• His only astronomical writings were the Letter against Werner, On the Revolutions, and Commentariolus

Contributions To Astronomy

• Stated the earth is only the center of gravity and center of the moon's orbit.

• All the spheres encircle the sun• Universe is larger than it was believed to be• Earth's distance to sun is extremely small in

comparison to size of the universe• Movement of sky and sun due to Earth’s

movement• Never published during Copernicus's lifetime

The Commentariolus

On the Revolutions• Consisted of six books• First book talked about heliocentric universe and

stated order of planets.• Second book further elaborated on first book• Third book talked about solar theory and

equinoxes • Fourth book was about moon’s motions• Book five dealt with planetary longitude• Book six was about planetary latitude

Overall Copernicus’ writings and contributions to astronomy and society as a whole were very important.

Although he was not the first to come up with the idea of a heliocentric system, he was the first to combine

mathematics, physics and cosmology to support his model. Even if his contributions are not seen as

revolutionary, they were in fact a large factor in the advancement of astronomy and the view of the universe

and space.

REFERENCES

• http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Copernicus.html

• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/copernicus/• http://www.outerspaceuniverse.org/pioneer-a

stronomers-in-history-a-biography-of-nicolaus-copernicus.html