Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543)Polish
Astronomer.Understood
by the Christian church and the scientific community as the father of modern
astronomy.
His
education and professional life was varied both in terms of subject and
geography; schooled in medicine, philosophy and mathematics at Cracow,
Poland; Bologna and Rome; Heilsburg in Prussia and
finally, to take up the position of residentiary
canon at Frauenberg.
Copernicus
rejected the received Ptolemaic system of the universe, founding his own system
with the sun at the centre of the solar system on the grounds that it was
improbable that such a large body as the sun would revolve around such a small
body as the earth. His reformulation provided some valuable explanations, such
as the variation of the seasons, equinoxes and the retrograde motion of planets.
Despite the defects of his system, it certainly prepared the way for Johannes
Kepler, Galileo and Isaac Newton.
Contributed
by: Richard P Whaite
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