Saturday, February 19, 2022

Feb. 19: Nicolaus Copernicus, German/Polish astronomer

BORN FEBRUARY 19:

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) German/Polish astronomer. Until his time, the accepted "truth" was that the earth was the center of the universe (after all, didn't God choose to put humans here?) and all celestial bodies revolved around it. But as observation of planetary motion became more refined, anomalies appeared. Copernicus resolved this by creating a model that placed the sun at the center of our solar system (heliocentrism). He published his findings in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) just before his death in 1543; it was a revolution in more ways than one. Galileo and others took up the charge and today everything is in its right place.


Navigation:


Please leave a comment - I can't WAIT to hear from you!