Stopped the Sun and moved the Earth  Born 19 February 1473  Died 24 May 1543

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473, in Torun, Poland. He belonged to a family of merchants. Hist unlce, the bishop and ruler of Ermland, was the person to whom Copernicus owed his education, career and security. Copernicus studied at the University of Cracow from 1491 to While he did not attend any classes in astronomy, it was during his student years there that Copernicus began to collect books on mathematics and astronomy (the study of the universe). Copernicus returned to Torun in In 1494, through the efforts of his uncle, he became a canon (priest) at Frauenburg, remainin in that office for the remainder of his life. Copernicus then set out for Bologna, Italy, to study canon law.

The father died in 1483 and the children’s maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenroode (1447 – 1512) took them under his protection. Watzenrode was a very successful cleric. He was to become bishop of Warmia (Ermland in German) in 1489 and he both facilitated his nephew’s advancement in the church and directed his education. In 1491 Copernicus enrolled in the University of Cracow. There is no record of his haveing obtained a degree, which was not unusual at the time as he did not need a bachelor’s degree for his ecclesiastical career or even to study for a higher degree. But the University of Cracow ofered courses in mathematics, astronomy and astrolog, and Copernicus’s interest was sparked, which is attested to by his acquisition of books in these subjects while at Cracow.

Nicolaus Copernicus is one of those who made Poland and Poles proud. He is best known for the astronomical theory that the Sun was near the center of the universe and that the Earth and other planets rotated around the center. He also stated that the Earth spinning on its axis, rotates once daily and makes a full revolution around the Sun in a year. Copernicus did not believe that the Earth and other planets were infuenced by or revolved due to the Sun, instead he believed that the Sun was located near the center of the universe. It was this center of the universe which influenced those bodies and caused them to revolve. This theory is called the heliocentric or sun-center theory of the universe.

He infuenced the world by spreading intellectual independence by going against the church, provoking other scientists such as Galileo to question the churches power in science and finally started the scientific revolution. He stopped the Sun and moved the Earth.