Kopernik

Kopernik, known in Latin as Nicolaus Copernicus and in Polish as Mikołaj Kopernik, was a Renaissance-era mathematician and astronomer who formulated a heliocentric model of the solar system. Born in 1473 in Toruń, then part of the Kingdom of Poland, he spent much of his life in Royal Prussia and at Frombork, where he died in 1543. His work proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, occupied the center of the known celestial arrangements, with the Earth and other planets orbiting it.

Kopernik studied at the University of Kraków (Jagiellonian University) and pursued studies in Italy, including Padua and Bologna, focusing on mathematics, astronomy, law, and medicine. He held several official religious and administrative positions and carried out astronomical observations during the later part of his life.

In 1543, Copernicus published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), completing propositions put forth in earlier manuscripts. The treatise argued for a heliocentric model and introduced explanations for the apparent retrograde motion of planets through orbital motion around the Sun.

Copernicus's ideas initiated the Copernican Revolution, influencing later figures such as Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. His work altered the prevailing view of humanity's place in the cosmos and laid the foundation for modern astronomy, while remaining controversial within the Catholic Church for many years after publication.