a polish scientist, founder of modern astronomy. At first he studied in Krakow, then he continued his education in Italian universities. He came back to his country as a very educated man. He turned one of the towers of the fortified wall in Frayenburg into an observatory, from where he observed the motion of the celestial bodies. Still very young, he was convinced that the geocentric system of Ptolomei was false. After many years of work, observations and calculations, he published his work “For the motion of celestial spheres”. In it Kopernik explained the heliocentric system, according to which the Earth is an ordinary planet and rotates around the Sun together with the other planets. Geniously simple is Copernicus explanation that we perceive the motion of the far-away celestial bodies the same way as the moving of different objects on the Earth, when we ourselves are in motion. The doctrine about the Solar System put an end to the religious believes and gave science an opportunity to scientifically explain natural phenomena.ceive the motion of the far-away celestial bodies the same way as the moving of different objects on the Earth, when we ourselves are in motion. The doctrine about the Solar System put an end to the religious believes and gave science an opportunity to scientifically explain natural phenomena.
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The ”geometry lab“ in Krakow, where
Kopernik began his research. Here he studied astronomy under the guidance of the famous polish astronomer Voitseh Brydzelewski. |
A picture,showing the heliocentric system of Kopernik, taken from the book of Andreas Celerius ”Harmony of the Macrocosms“ from 1660. When we look at this ordinary scheme, we should not forget that a lot of people have been burnt because of such ”erratic“ ideas. |
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