Nicolaus Copernicus - biography.

Nicolaus Copernicus - biography. Polish astronomer Birth February 19, 1473 Death May 24, 1543 Place of Torun, Poland Birth Known for Proposing a heliocentric (sun-centered) model for the solar system, in which the Sun is stationary at the center, and Earth and the other planets orbit around it Career 1491-1494 Studied mathematics at Kraków Academy (now Jagiellonian University) 1496 Went to Italy to study astronomy and law at the University of Bologna 1497 Began observations of the Sun, Moon, and planets 1514? Wrote Commentariolus, an outline of his astronomical ideas, but did not circulate it widely 1543 Published De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), which held that Earth and the other planets orbit a centrally located Sun Did You Before Copernican theory was accepted, astronomers believed that Earth was stationary at the center of the solar system, and the Sun Know and planets revolved around it. Copernicus was best known to his contemporaries as a doctor and the Canon of Frauenburg Cathedral. Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo attempted to publicize Copernican theory in the early 1600s, and was convicted of heresy as a result. Copernican theory was not widely accepted until the late 17th century--over 100 years after Copernicus's death. Copernicus's book, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, was banned as heretical by the Catholic Church until 1835. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.