Father of Modern Astronomy

Nicolaus Copernicus

Born: February 19, 1473, Toruń, Poland

Died: May 24, 1543, Frombork, Poland

Known for — Heliocentrism -Copernicus’ Law

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe.

In Copernicus’ time most astronomers believed the theory the Greek astronomer Ptolomy had developed more than 1,000 years earlier. Ptolomy said the Earth was the center of the universe and was motionless. He believed all other heavenly bodies moved in complicated patterns around the Earth. Copernicus felt that Ptolomy’s theory was incorrect. Sometime between 1507 and 1515, he first circulated the principles of his heliocentric or Sun-centered astronomy. Copernicus’ observations of the heavens were made with the naked eye

while still studying law, he decided to pursue a medical degree at the University of Padua, and in 1503 he was awarded both a doctorate in canon law and a license to practice medicine.

The late science writer Isaac Asimov observed that “the revolution [in astronomy] initiated by Copernicus entailed not just a shift in axioms but eventually involved a whole new approach to nature.”

Copernicus wanted to correct the science of astronomy, even though that might invite the wrath of the most powerful intellectual elite. He recognized the power of truth and refuted the “self-evident” philosophy that had been adopted by those unwilling to question it. Perhaps the lesson of Copernicus is to be valiant for truth rather than comfortable with falsehood.

On 31 March 1513 he bought from the chapter’s workshops 800 building stones and a barrel of lime for the purpose of constructing a roofless little tower, in which he deployed three astronomical instruments. He used the parallactic instrument mainly for observing the moon; the quadrant for the sun; and the astrolabe, or armillary sphere, for the stars.