Nikolai Copernicus, whose short biography will be considered in this article, is an outstanding scientist. He is not only the great astronomer who created the heliocentric
system of the world. Copernicus was a good mechanic, mathematician, canon, and also the person who laid the foundation for a real
scientific revolution, the first in the history of earthly civilization. At his disposal, the scientist had only primitive tools, made by him personally. But this did not stop him from making a series of discoveries for his thirty-year observation of the celestial sphere.
Copernicus, whose brief biography demonstrates the great power of the mind of an ordinary person, was born into a merchant family in 1473 in the city of Torun (Poland). His father died early, so the boy was raised by his uncle - Bishop Lukas Vachenrode. Studied a future scientist at the University of Cracow , in Bologna and Padua studied astronomy, medicine, law. After training, he was elected canon, worked as a doctor and secretary of his uncle at his residence (Lidzbark).
Copernicus, whose brief biography is not only white stripes, had an inquiring mind and was able to observe. After the death of his teacher, he moved to Frombork, where he settled in a secluded tower, which has survived to this day. Nikolai set up an observatory in his house, so we can say that he made his discoveries exclusively in his home environment. In addition, he served as a canon, treated patients free of charge, developed a monetary system, which was subsequently introduced in Poland, and built a hydraulic machine. In this place, the great astronomer was his whole future life. But this did not prevent him from actively participating in the life of his country: more than once he was entrusted with important tasks, which he coped with fame. For example, he negotiated between the warring monarchs, corresponded with the best minds of that time.
Nikolai Copernicus made revolutionary discoveries of his time. At first, he only wanted to improve the heliocentric system developed by Ptolemy, which he described in the Almagest. However, his work was significantly different: Nicholas more accurately determined the routes of motion of celestial bodies, and also made his comments to it. Thus, the Polish astronomer turned the Earth from the center of the universe, as previously thought, into one of the ordinary planets of the solar system. His tables were significantly more accurate than the Ptolemaic ones, which had a positive effect on the development of navigation. He outlined all his observations and calculations in his work On the Reversals of the Celestial Spheres, a small volume, but with a very important content.
Copernicus, whose brief biography cannot but delight contemporaries, published his work only in 1543, almost before his death. This saved him from the persecution that his followers and students later suffered. He quietly left this world and was buried in the church of St. John in the city of Thorne.
The Catholic Church for a long time considered the work of Nicholas a heresy and did not recognize it. However, the teachings with a revolutionary character were continued and further opened by Galileo Galilei. Copernicus, whose brief biography is outlined above, was not awarded a monument until the nineteenth century. But now they are available not only in Krakow, Warsaw, Thorne, Regensburg, but around the world.