For a long time, people believed that the earth was the center of the universe. This was until Nicolaus Copernicus radically transformed the traditional astronomical model of the universe. Born on 19 February 1473, Nicolaus was a polish astronomer who changed the perception in the nature of the universe. He came up with a working hypothesis that demonstrated that the sun was the center of the universe. The scientific and religious community treated the hypothesis of Nicolaus Copernicus with rejection because it disputed other hypotheses considered valid. These included the Aristotle and Ptolemy’s geocentric astronomical models that placed the earth in the center of the universe (Nowlan, 1). Nicolaus Copernicus is the father of the modern astronomical models of the solar system.
Most of the ancient society identified with these hypothetical astronomical models because they were in tandem with the religious beliefs of the time. They postulated that God had created humans in his own image and placed them on earth, the cradle of the universe (Nowlan, 1). Since most of Nicolaus' work had foundations in Aristotle and Ptolemy’s models, Nicolaus attempted not to entirely do away with these theories but rather model them in a way that made scientific sense.
Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, a region in eastern Poland, to a middle class family. This region was between the present day German and Poland hence these two nations claim that Nicolaus was their hero. Though the region was in Poland, the majority of its occupants are of German descent. Nicolaus lost his father at the young age of ten. Following his father’s death, Nicolaus’ uncle Lucas took him under his wing and sent him to school to acquire formal education (Ghosh, 25). He was enrolled at the parish school of St. John and after completion he proceeded to the University of Kraków in 1494 (Ghosh, 26). At the university, he studied science and mathematics with immense interest in astronomical science. Albert Brudzewski, a lecturer who encouraged Nicolaus to use astronomical tools and to observe the sky, aroused this interest in astronomy (Ghosh, 26).
After four years at the University of Kraków, his uncle, who was now a bishop, appointed him as cannon of the cathedral at Frauenberg. This was an administrative post with no priestly responsibilities. After this, Nicolaus Copernicus proceeded to Italy to continue with his studies. He took up medicine and law at the University of Bologna. He learnt mathematics, philosophy and Greek at the university for the next three years. During this time, he was residing at the home of a mathematics professor Domenico Maria de Novara who was quite outspoken in questioning the validity of Ptolemy’s astronomical model. It is during his stay with the professor that he started his work on his hypothesis.
The observation that Nicolaus made during the solar eclipse that occurred on eighth may 1491 also charged his hypothesis (Ghosh, 26). This motivated him to embark on a mission to explain the movement of the sun, planets and the moons. Six years later, he observed a star named Alpha Tauri eclipsing the earth’s moon (Ghosh, 26). This event confirmed his observations on the contradictions of the Ptolemy’s geocentric model of the universe.
In 1500, he took up lecturing in mathematics and astronomy (Nowlan, 2). It is during these lectures that he first hinted of his new cosmological concept. In 1503, he graduated with a doctorate in canon law and medicine from the Ferrara (Nowlan, 2). Nicolaus Copernicus established a base at Frauenberg where the Episcopal court of Bishop Watzenrode was situated. He had a room at one of the towers surrounding the town that he used as the observatory (Nowlan, 2). It is here where he did most of his astronomical studies and observations that culminated to his astronomical hypothesis.
As Copernicus continued with his studies, he became more convinced of the inaccuracy of Ptolemy’s geocentric astronomical model. Ptolemy had postulated that the planets rode on the circumference of their orbit in an epicycle with planet earth at the center of the universe. The main weakness of this theory was that the earth was a planet and its epicycle was bound to cross the epicycles of other planets. Therefore, it could not have been at the center of the universe because the relative position of the earth compared to that of other planets was not static. In addition to this, the Ptolemy model could not explain clearly the retrograde motion of the planets in the night sky.
As a remedy to this shortcoming, Copernicus came up with a hypothesis that perfectly explained the movement of the planets in their epicycles in 1513. This novel breakthrough was a simple explanation of the movement of planets around the sun that was occupying the center of the universe (Ghosh, 27). His theory of the model of the universe was heliostatic rather than geocentric. In his theory, he was able to account for the rising and the setting of the sun. He attributed this to the earth’s rotation. In addition to this, he simply and correctly explained the retrograde movement of the planets across the sky at night. The Ptolemy’s theory had attempted to explain this in an unclear and convoluted way. He also explained the movement of the stars in the night’s sky and accounted for the seasons. He attributed the seasons to the revolution of the earth.
Nicolaus Copernicus wrote a manuscript of the working cosmology theory titled ‘A Commentary on the Theories of the Motions of Heavenly Objects from Their Arrangements’ and circulated it among his friends and notably his pupil Joachim Rheticus who was instrumental in the publishing of the theory. However, Nicolaus Copernicus was modest and feared retribution from the church. In addition to this, he was a perfectionist and he did not want to publish his theory before being sure that it exquisitely elaborated and demonstrated the heliocentric model of the universe. As a result, his theory was not published until later in his life. Nicolaus Copernicus held the first printed manuscript of his theory titled ‘De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium’ in his hands for the first time a few hours before his demise (Nowlan, 3). Nicolaus Copernicus died at the age of 70.
While it is not arguable that the Copernican model of the universe was a revolutionary breakthrough in astronomy, it still had its shortcomings. The most notable one was alluding to Ptolemy’s epicycles. Both theories explained that the movement of the planets was in perfect circles. A century later, it was established that this was not correct, as the planets' orbits were elliptical rather than perfectly circular. However, Nicolaus’ theory was the first correct description of the model of the solar system and its motion and the modern astronomical models have their foundation in the Copernicus model of the universe.
Works Cited
Ghosh, Samir Kumar. Nicolaus Copernicus and his Heliocentric Theory. Santiniketan: Department of Physics, Visva Bharati University, n.d.
Nowlan, Robert A. NICOLAUS COPERNICUS. 2013.
Redd, Nola Taylor. Nicolaus Copernicus Biography: Facts & Discoveries. 19 February 2013. 10 October 2014 <http://www.space.com/15684-nicolaus-copernicus.html>.
