Nicolaus Copernicus what he did. Nicolaus Copernicus: a short biography and his discoveries. The Life of Nicolaus Copernicus
Name Nicholas Copernicus one way or another, almost everyone who studied at school heard it. However, information about him, as a rule, is placed in one or two lines, along with a couple more names of prominent scientists who strengthened the triumph of the heliocentric system of the world - and Galileo Galilei.
This triumvirate is so entrenched in the minds that it sometimes causes confusion in the minds of even high-ranking politicians. Former speaker State Duma Boris Gryzlov, defending the doubtful scientific developments of his old acquaintance and "scientific co-author" academician Petrik, threw an immediately famous phrase: “The term pseudoscience goes far into the Middle Ages. We can remember Copernicus, who was burned for saying “But the Earth is still spinning!”
Thus, the politician mixed the fate of all three scientists into one heap. Although, in fact, Nicolaus Copernicus, unlike his students, managed to happily escape the persecution of the Inquisition.
Canon "by pull"
The future creator of a new picture of the world was born on February 19, 1473 in the now Polish city of Torun, in a merchant family. Interestingly, there is no consensus even about his national origin. Despite the fact that Copernicus is considered a Pole, there is not a single document that a scientist wrote in Polish. It is known that Nikolai's mother was German, and his father, a native of Krakow, may have been a Pole, but it is not possible to establish this for sure.
Copernicus' parents died early, and Nicholas ended up in the care of his maternal uncle, a Catholic priest. Luke Watzenrode. It was thanks to his uncle that in 1491 Copernicus entered the University of Krakow, where, among other sciences, he became interested in astronomy.
Uncle Nicholas, meanwhile, became a bishop, and in every possible way contributed to the career of his nephew. In 1497 Copernicus continued his studies at the University of Bologna in Italy. Interestingly, neither in Krakow nor in Bologna did Nikolai receive any degree.
From 1500, Copernicus studied medicine at the University of Padua, after which he passed the exams and received a doctorate in canon law.
After spending three years in Italy as a practicing physician, Nicholas returned to his uncle, the bishop, under whom he took the position of secretary and confidant, while also acting as a personal physician.
The career of Copernicus, who by that time had the ecclesiastical rank of canon, was a complete success. Remaining secretary to his uncle, Nikolai managed to do astronomical research in Krakow.
The Plumber and the Plague Killer
The comfortable life ended in 1512, with the death of the bishop's uncle. Copernicus moved to the town of Frombork, where he had been nominally a canon for several years, and began his spiritual duties.
Copernicus also did not leave his scientific activity, starting to develop his own model of the world.
It must be said that Copernicus did not make a big secret of his ideas. His handwritten text "A Small Commentary on Hypotheses Relating to Celestial Motions" even circulated among friends. However, for full development new system the scientist will take almost 40 years.
The astronomical works of Copernicus became known in Europe, but at first there was no persecution of the concept he proposed. First, the astronomer himself rather carefully formulated own ideas, secondly, the church fathers for a long time could not decide whether to consider the heliocentric system of the world a heresy.
Heliocentric system of the world. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Copernicus himself, not forgetting about the main work of life, managed to be noted in other sciences: he developed a new monetary system for Poland, as a physician actively contributed to the elimination of the plague of 1519, and even designed a water supply system for houses fromborka.
Since 1531, Copernicus was engaged only in the development of his heliocentric system and medical practice. His health began to deteriorate, and in the last years of his life he was helped by students and like-minded people in his work.
AT Last year Copernicus' life was struck by paralysis, and a couple of months before his death, he fell into a coma. The scientist died in his bed on May 24, 1543, never having seen the work of his life, the book On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, published. It was first published in Nuremberg, in the same year 1543.
Life's work
It should be noted that in his criticism of the Ptolemaic picture of the world with the Earth at the center of the universe, Copernicus was far from the first. ancient authors such as Nikita of Syracuse and Philolaus believed that the earth revolved around the sun, and not vice versa. However, the authority of such luminaries of science as Ptolemy and Aristotle, was higher. The final victory of the geocentric system came when the Christian Church made it the basis of its picture of the world.
Interestingly, the work of Copernicus himself was far from accurate. Approving the heliocentric system of the world, the rotation of the Earth around its axis, the movement of the planets in orbits, for example, he believed the orbits of the planets to be perfectly round, not elliptical. As a result, even the enthusiasts of his theory were quite puzzled when, during astronomical observations, the planets turned out to be in the wrong place, which was prescribed by Copernicus' calculations. And for critics of his works, this was a gift at all.
As already mentioned, Copernicus happily escaped the persecution of the Inquisition. The Catholic Church had no time for him - she fought a desperate struggle against the Reformation. Some bishops, of course, even during the lifetime of the scientist accused him of heresy, but the matter did not come to real persecution.
Only in 1616, with Pope Paul V, the Catholic Church officially forbade adhering to and defending the Copernican theory as a heliocentric system of the world, since such an interpretation is contrary to Scripture. It is a paradox, but at the same time, according to the decision of theologians, the heliocentric model could still be used to calculate the motion of the planets.
It is also interesting that the book of Copernicus "On the rotation of celestial bodies" was included in the famous Roman Index of banned books, a kind of medieval prototype of the "black list" of banned sites on the Runet, for only 4 years, from 1616 to 1620. After that, it returned to circulation, albeit with an ideological correction - references to the heliocentric system of the world were cut out of it, while leaving the mathematical calculations that lay in its justification.
This attitude towards the work of Copernicus only spurred interest in it. The followers developed and refined the theory of the great scientist, eventually establishing it as a correct picture of the world.
The burial place of Nicolaus Copernicus became known only in 2005. On May 22, 2010, the remains of the great scientist were solemnly reburied in cathedral Frombork.
Reburial of the remains of Copernicus. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
The Catholic Church admitted its guilt in denying the correct theory of Copernicus only in 1993, when the Pope was John Paul II- countryman of Copernicus, Pole Karol Wojtyla.
Recalcitrant Bruno and humble Galileo
It is necessary to mention the fate of two followers of Nicolaus Copernicus - Giordano Bruno and Galileo Galilee.
Giordano Bruno, who not only shared the teachings of Copernicus, but also went much further than him, proclaiming the plurality of worlds in the Universe, defining the stars as distant luminaries, similar to the Sun, was very active in promoting his ideas. Moreover, he encroached on many church postulates, including the immaculate nature of the conception of the Virgin Mary. Naturally, the Inquisition began to persecute him, and in 1592 Giordano Bruno was arrested.
Giordano Bruno. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
For more than six years, the inquisitors sought to renounce the scientist, who was also a monk, but they failed to break Bruno's will. On February 17, 1600, the scientist was burned in the Square of Flowers in Rome.
Unlike the writings of Copernicus, Giordano Bruno's books remained in the Index of Banned Books until its most recent publication in 1948. 400 years after the execution of Giordano Bruno, the Catholic Church considers the execution of the scientist justified and refuses to rehabilitate him.
Galileo Galilei. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Galileo Galilei, whose works and discoveries in astronomy are unusually great, did not show stamina like Giordano Bruno. Having found himself in the hands of the Inquisition at almost the age of 70, after torture and under the threat of "sharing the fate of the heretic Bruno", Galileo in 1633 chose to renounce the heliocentric system, of which he had been a defender throughout his life. And, of course, the unfortunate old man, who narrowly escaped the auto-da-fé, did not even think of throwing the impudent “But still she spins!”
Galileo Galilei will be finally rehabilitated only in 1992, also by decision of Pope John Paul II.
The Polish scientist Nicolaus Copernicus is famous for being able to "stop the Sun and move the Earth." His doctrine of the heliocentric system of the structure of the world was an epochal discovery, which made a revolution in natural science and challenged the supporters of church dogmas. We should also not forget that this revolutionary doctrine was created in the Middle Ages, when everything advanced and progressive was perceived as a blow to religion and was persecuted by the Inquisition.
Childhood
In the Polish town of Torun, located on the picturesque banks of the Vistula River, on February 19, 1473, a son was born in the family of Nicholas Copernicus Sr. and Barbara Watzenrode, who was named Nicholas.
His father was from a wealthy merchant family, and he himself was a successful merchant, and his mother was from a well-known and wealthy burgher family: her father was the chairman of the city court, and her brothers were famous diplomats and politicians.
Nicholas was the most youngest child in the Copernicus family, where besides him there was also an older brother Andrzej and two sisters - Ekaterina and Barbara. The future luminary of astronomy was only 10 years old when the plague claimed the life of his father, and six years later his mother passed away.
Under the care of an uncle
After the death of their parents, their uncle, Luka Watzenrode, took care of the orphaned children, who was quite influential person Bishop, diplomat and statesman. Uncle was an outstanding person, although he had a cruel and domineering character, but he treated his nephews with warmth and love. Luke Watzenrode was famous for his education and erudition, so he tried to instill in his nephews a desire to learn.
AT primary school, who worked at the Church of St. John, Copernicus received his primary education. 15-year-old Nikolai had to continue his studies at the cathedral school in Vlotslavsk.
On the way to a degree
In 1491, both Copernicus brothers, on the recommendation of their uncle, chose the University of Krakow for further education, the level of teaching in which was famous throughout Europe. The brothers enrolled in the Faculty of Liberal Arts, where they taught physics, mathematics, medicine, theology, astronomy, and music theory. The learning process at the university was organized in such a way as to develop students' critical thinking, the ability to compare, compare, observe and draw conclusions, in addition, the university had a good tool base. It was at this time that Copernicus became interested in such a science as astronomy, which became his hobby for life.
After studying for three years in Krakow, the brothers did not have time to get a university degree. In order to ensure a comfortable existence for his nephews, in 1495 the uncle invited them to run for canons in the Cathedral of Frombork, and for this he summoned them home to Torun. However, Copernicus failed to get this place, and the main reason was the lack of a university diploma.
In 1496, Nicolaus Copernicus and his older brother left for Italy to continue their studies at the University of Bologna. This time they chose the Faculty of Law. But the uncle did not give up his attempts to arrange the future of his nephews. When the next time the vacancies again became vacant, he, using all his influence, ensured that the young men were elected canons. The brothers received not only well-paid positions, but also official leave for 3 years to complete their studies in Italy.
In Bologna, Nicholas studied law, but did not forget about his beloved astronomy. He conducts joint observations with the famous astronomer Domenico Mario di Novara. Later, in his famous treatise, Copernicus will rely on 27 of his own observations, the first of which he made during his stay in Bologna. The three years allotted for training ended, and he had to return to his place of service in Frombork, but Copernicus never received his degree. Therefore, Nikolai and his brother received leave again to complete their studies. This time, the University of Padua, famous for its medical faculty, was chosen. It was there that Copernicus acquired the fundamental knowledge that enabled him to become a qualified physician. In 1503, Nicholas at the University of Ferrara, having passed the exams externally, received a doctorate in law.
His studies in Italy lasted almost 10 years, and by the age of 33 Copernicus had become the most educated specialist in mathematics, law, astronomy and medicine.
Priest, doctor, administrator, scientist
In 1506 he returned to his homeland. It was during this period that the comprehension and development of postulates regarding the heliocentric system of the structure of the world began.
For almost a year, Nicholas regularly performed the duties of a canon in the Cathedral of Frombork, then began working as an adviser to his uncle. Bishop Watzenrode really wanted to see his nephew as his successor, but for diplomatic and state activity he did not possess the necessary activity and ambition.
In 1512, Bishop Watzenrode died, and Copernicus had to leave Heilsberg Castle and return to the duties of a canon at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Frombork. Despite numerous spiritual duties, Copernicus does not forget about his scientific research on the structure of the Universe.
From 1516 to 1519, Nikolai worked as the manager of the capitular estates in Pieniężno and Olsztyn. After his term of office expired, he returned to Frombork in the hope of devoting full time to astronomical observations. But the war with the crusaders forced the astronomer to change his plans: he had to lead the defense of the Olsztyn fortress, since all the members of the chapter and the bishop himself fled. In 1521, Nicholas was appointed Commissar of Warmia, and in 1523, the general administrator of this region.
The scientist was a versatile person: he successfully dealt with the administrative, economic and economic affairs of the diocese, led a medical practice, according to his project a new monetary system was introduced in Poland, he participated in the construction of hydraulic and waterworks. Copernicus, as a mathematician and astronomer, was invited to take part in the reform of the Julian calendar.
The scientist who stopped the sun and moved the earth
After 1531, Copernicus, who was about 60 years old, resigned all his administrative posts. He was engaged only in medicine and astronomical research.
By this time, he was already absolutely convinced of the heliocentric structure of the world, which he outlined in the manuscript "Small Commentary on Hypotheses Relating to Celestial Motions." His hypotheses refuted the theory of the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy, which had existed for almost 1500 years. According to this theory, the Earth rested motionless in the center of the Universe, and all the planets, including the Sun, revolved around it. Although the teachings of Ptolemy could not explain many astronomical phenomena, but the church for many centuries supported the inviolability of this theory, since it suited it quite well. But Copernicus could not be content with hypotheses alone, he needed more compelling arguments, but it was very difficult to prove the correctness of his theory in practice at that time: there were no telescopes, and astronomical instruments were primitive. The scientist, observing the firmament, drew conclusions about the incorrectness of Ptolemy's theory, and using mathematical calculations convincingly proved that all the planets, including the Earth, revolve around the Sun. The church could not accept the teachings of Copernicus, because this destroyed the theory of the divine origin of the universe. The result of his 40 years of research, Nicolaus Copernicus outlined in the work “On the rotation of the celestial spheres”, which, thanks to the efforts of his student Joachim Rethik and like-minded Tiedemann Giese, was published in Nuremberg in May 1543. The scientist himself at that time was already ill: he suffered a stroke, as a result of which the right half of the body was paralyzed. On May 24, 1543, after another hemorrhage, the great Polish astronomer died. They say that already on his deathbed, Copernicus still managed to see his book printed.
The great scientist during his lifetime was not persecuted by the Inquisition, but his theory was declared by them as heresy, and the book was banned.
The world fundamental science is based on conjectures, theories and works of scientists who were sent from above to become pioneers. Such a unique person to the world was the Polish canon Nicholas Copernicus (1473 - 1543). The guesses and predictions of the thinker, formalized for more than half a century in only a few fundamental scientific works, led many talented followers and popularizers of his theories to the medieval fire of the Inquisition. He was born in the 15th century, too early for the alchemists and pseudoscientists to recklessly admit the correctness of his scientific conclusions.
The breadth of his scientific outlook is truly unimaginable. The main works and discoveries made in the field of economics, mathematics and astronomy. At the University of Krakow, where he entered in 1491, the main emphasis, of course, was on medicine and theology. But young Nikolai immediately found a branch of science that he liked - astronomy. He failed to obtain a degree in Krakow, and from 1497 he continued his education at the University of Bologna. Domenico Novara supervised his astronomical observations. Copernicus was lucky to have a mentor in Bologna - he was lectured by the father of the European medieval mathematical school, Scipio del Ferro.
The same period includes works devoted to another field of science - economics. Treatise on Coins (1519), Monetae cudendae ratio (1528).
Fortress of Copernicus
Copernicus completed his education in 1503 at the University of Padua. In those years, the worldview of a young admirer of astronomy began to take shape, which he could safely engage in, turning the northwestern tower of the Frombork fortress in the Baltic into an observatory.
The scientific works of Nicholas, dated to the beginning of the 16th century, were devoted to a new theory of the construction of the world - heliocentric. It was first presented in the monograph "Small commentary ..." (lat. Commentariolus). In 1539, a student of Copernicus, Georg von Rethik, in a simple and understandable language, spoke in his book about the meaning of the discovery of a mentor. The main book, on which Copernicus worked for more than forty years, was called "On the rotation of celestial bodies." He constantly made corrections to it, based on increasingly accurate astronomical calculations.
Having read Ptolemy's reflections on the structure of the world for the first time, Copernicus immediately noticed that the conclusions of the scientific ancient thinker are very controversial, and the way of presentation is very complicated and incomprehensible to a simple reader. The conclusion of Copernicus was unequivocal - the center of the system is the Sun, around which the Earth and all the planets known at that time revolve. Some elements of Ptolemy's theory still had to be recognized - the Pole could not know what the orbits of the planets were.
The work on the fundamental postulates of the heliocentric system was first published by Georg Retik in Nuremberg in 1543 under the title "On the rotation of the celestial spheres." Fearing persecution by the Inquisition, the theologian Andreas Osiander, the publisher of the book, wrote a preface to it. He called the theory a special technique of a mathematical nature, designed to simplify the process of astronomical calculations. The monograph of Copernicus as a whole resembles Ptolemy's Almagest, only there are fewer books - six instead of thirteen. Copernicus easily substantiated that the planets move back, that is, in circular orbits.
The mathematical part of the book contains information about the calculation of the location of the stars, the Sun and planets in the sky. The principles of the Earth's orbit around the Sun are described by Copernicus using the rule of precession of the equinoxes. Ptolemy could not explain it, but Copernicus absolutely accurately speaks about this from the point of view of kinematics. Mentions in his work Copernicus about the principles and laws of motion of the Moon and planets, considers the nature and causes of solar eclipses.
Finally, the theory of the heliocentric theory of the world of Nicolaus Copernicus was formed in the form of seven postulates, which completely swept aside the geocentric system. She had a great influence on the formation of the worldview of the descendants of Copernicus in the study of the astronomical picture of the world.
Five hundred years of recognition
Active scientific activity of Copernicus continued until 1531. He concentrated on medicine, and as far as possible tried to finally prepare his scientific theory for publication. Historians and biographers of Copernicus do not agree on the question of whether he managed to see the book printed. On May 24, 1543, he died in a coma after a severe stroke. The remains of the grave of a brilliant Pole were discovered in Frombork Cathedral in 2005, identified and reburied with grandiose honors in the same place on May 20, 2010. Only in 1854, Jan Baranovsky published complete collection writings of Copernicus in Polish and Latin.
Nicolaus Copernicus is immortalized by descendants in hundreds of monuments and names. The transuranium element of Mendeleev's Periodic Table No. 112 is called "copernicium". In the vastness of the universe lives a small planet (1322) Copernicus.
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in the Polish city of Torun, his father was a merchant who came from Germany. The future scientist was orphaned early, he was brought up in the house of his uncle, bishop and famous Polish humanist Lukasz Wachenrode.
In 1490, Copernicus graduated from the University of Krakow, after which he became a canon of the cathedral in the fishing town of Frombork. In 1496 he went on a long journey through Italy. Copernicus studied at the universities of Bologna, Ferrara and Padua, studied medicine and ecclesiastical law, and became a master of arts. In Bologna, the young scientist became interested in astronomy, which determined his fate.
In 1503, Nicolaus Copernicus returned to his homeland a comprehensively educated man, he first settled in Lidzbark, where he served as his uncle's secretary. After the death of his uncle, Copernicus moved to Frombork, where he did research for the rest of his life.
Social activity
Nicolaus Copernicus took an active part in the administration of the area in which he lived. He was in charge of economic and financial affairs, fought for its independence. Among his contemporaries, Copernicus was known as a statesman, a talented physician and an expert in astronomy.
When the Lutheran Council organized a calendar reform commission, Copernicus was invited to Rome. The scientist proved the prematureness of such a reform, since at that time the length of the year was not yet known exactly.
Astronomical observations and heliocentric theory
The creation of the heliocentric system was the result of many years of work by Nicolaus Copernicus. For about one and a half millennia, there was a system for organizing the world, proposed by the ancient Greek scientist Claudius Ptolemy. It was believed that the Earth is at the center of the universe, and other planets and the Sun revolve around it. This theory could not explain many of the phenomena observed by astronomers, but it was in good agreement with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Copernicus observed the movement of celestial bodies and came to the conclusion that the Ptolemaic theory was wrong. In order to prove that all the planets revolve around the Sun, and the Earth is just one of them, Copernicus carried out complex mathematical calculations and spent more than 30 years of hard work. Although the scientist mistakenly believed that all the stars are motionless and are on the surface of a huge sphere, he managed to explain the apparent movement of the Sun and the rotation of the firmament.
The results of the observations were summarized in the work of Nicolaus Copernicus "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres", published in 1543. In it, he developed new philosophical ideas and focused on improving the mathematical theory that described the movement of celestial bodies. The revolutionary nature of the scientist's views was realized by the Catholic Church later, when in 1616 his work was included in the Index of Forbidden Books.
It was Copernicus who first stated that the Earth is not in the center of the Universe, but is a planet and revolves around the Sun. Despite the fact that this theory has gained many supporters among scientists, it has faced sharp opposition from the church. Most likely, the Copernicus family came from the village of Copernicus, located in Upper Silesia. At the end of the XIV century, the ancestors of Nicholas moved to Krakow. The father of the great astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, was a wealthy merchant who moved to Torun. There he married Barbara Wachenrod, the daughter of a rich Torun patrician, who bore him four children - Andrzej, Barbara, Katarzyna and Nikolai.
The boy's carefree childhood ended immediately after the death of his father. The mother's brother, Lukasz Wachenrode, at that time the canon of the chapter in Wloclawek, the main city of the Polish province of Kuyavia, took care of the orphaned family. He was the one who took care of future fate his nephew. Wachenrode believed that it was best for Nicholas to choose a spiritual career and, in order to make it easier for the boy to receive a high church position in the future, he provided him with an appropriate education. After graduating from the cathedral school, Nikolai entered the Faculty of Liberal Arts at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, where he thoroughly became acquainted with geometry, arithmetic and astronomy.
Krakow University at that time experienced a period of its highest prosperity. It is possible that already during his studies in Krakow, Copernicus became convinced of the need for fundamental changes in the theory of the universe. He got acquainted with the works of Wojciech Brudzewski, one of the most prominent astronomers in Krakow, who, although he did not doubt the correctness of the theory of Claudius Ptolemy, however, noticed some contradictions in it. Copernicus continued his studies at the universities of Bologna, Padua and Ferrara, attending lectures on canon law and medicine in accordance with the will of his uncle. However, the study of law did not attract him too much, and he was not able to complete it in a predetermined period.
He was much more interested in astronomy, as well as the writings of ancient philosophers. In Bologna, Copernicus became close to the Italian astronomer Domenico di Novara, with whom he observed the movement of the moon. It was then that he became convinced that the old astronomical theory incorrectly explains the movement of celestial bodies. Copernicus received a doctorate in canon law. Lukasz Wachenrode, then Bishop of Warmia, appointed his beloved nephew as his secretary, adviser and personal physician, and Nicholas settled in the bishop's palace in Lidzbark. Despite being busy, he found time for scientific work- in particular, he wrote a short study "Small Commentary", where he first outlined a new theory of the structure of the world. However, to confirm it, evidence was needed, and this required long and systematic observations of the sky.
Copernicus left Lidzbark and assumed the duties of a canon in Frombork, where he spent the most fruitful years of his life. In keeping with the spirit of the Renaissance, Copernicus possessed varied knowledge in many fields. He talked about poetry, processed maps of Poland and Lithuania, as well as Warmia and the western part of the Vistula floodplain. In addition to astronomy, the learned canon was interested in mathematics, philosophy and economics (). Copernicus prepared a draft monetary reform, which he outlined in a treatise. In it, he formulated a rule stating that the worst coin forces the best coin out of circulation.
The scientist noticed that the best coins were withdrawn and melted down for the worst, containing less silver, and the income from this went to the cities that had the right to mint coins. To prevent the falsification of money, Copernicus proposed the introduction of a single coin throughout Prussia, and also proposed methods for protecting money from devaluation. Treatise on the coin was not the only economic work of Copernicus.
At the request of the Warmian Chapter, who was trying to find out the causes of the difficulties of the villagers, the scientist analyzed the prices of bread. The result of these studies was the work. It followed that the prices of bread were too low compared to the prices of other commodities. Copernicus believed that the cost of bread should correspond to the cost of labor and the actual cost of purchased raw materials. To do this, he calculated the cost of the baking process and compiled a table of fair prices for baking.
Most likely, Nicolaus Copernicus was not ordained, but had only a lower consecration. He never applied for a higher church position, but many times he performed various responsible duties - for several years he was the manager of the property of the chapter and was even forced to temporarily settle in Olsztyn. When the Polish-Teutonic War began, he was again called to this post and instructed to prepare the city for defense against the attack of the Teutonic Knights. The measures taken by him turned out to be so effective that the crusaders, led by the Grand Master Albrecht of Brandenburg, failed to occupy Olydtyn.
On behalf of the chapter, Copernicus writes a letter to King Sigismund I the Old with assurances of loyalty and a request for military assistance. The Chapter of Warmia appreciated the merits of the energetic canon and appointed him commissar of Warmia. As early as the 3rd century BC, Greek philosophers assumed that the earth could be spherical and revolve around its own axis. In antiquity, these views did not receive recognition, since they contradicted the teachings of Aristotle, which at that time was recognized as the only correct one. Almost until the end of the 15th century, the opinion prevailed that the Earth was a flat disk located in the center of the Universe, around which the Sun, Moon and planets revolve.
The Bible clearly spoke about the location of the Earth in the center of space. Nicolaus Copernicus created a completely different image of the world around him. He pointed out that the central star is the Sun, and it is it, and not the Earth, that is the center of the universe. Earth turned out to be just one of the planets of a huge system. The heliocentric system explained all the hitherto incomprehensible astronomical phenomena - the change of day and night, the rise and fall of the moon, and the movement of the planets. Copernicus was a theoretician, and mathematical calculations were decisive for his discovery. The astronomer did not have any precise instruments - all his instruments were made of spruce wood.
To observe the height of the Sun, the scientist used the solar quadrant, and to determine the position of the Moon and planets, Copernicus used the armillary sphere, which consisted of six wooden rings. With the help of a parallactic triangle of three bars forming an isosceles triangle with a variable base, the astronomer could measure the distances between the Earth and the Moon. Some instruments for observation Copernicus invented and made independently. For example, on the parapet of the castle gallery in Olsztyn, a scientist placed a mirror that reflected a sunbeam on the opposite wall, on which lines with marked degrees were drawn - with the help of such an astronomical table, the scientist studied the phenomenon of the equinox. He observed eclipses of the Sun with the same original method - he drilled a small hole in the shutter of his workshop, through which the sun's rays entered the darkened room and created a picture of the phenomenon on the opposite wall.
Despite the fact that Copernicus had very simple instruments, his observations and measurements were so accurate that they surprised many scientists in later times.
But such a device as an anemometer was invented after Copernicus, in the 19th century. The device is used in different areas life, more often in metrology, construction, Food Industry. In the last few years, you can notice an increase in the number of devices in the Russian markets, for example, you can buy an anemometer in St. Petersburg. An anemometer is used to determine the flow rate of air or gas.
Copernicus was slow to publish his theses. He knew that his discovery would meet resistance from his contemporaries. Only before his death, the scientist succumbed to the persuasion of his friends and agreed to publish his work. Georg Joachim von Lauchen, a professor at the University of Wittenberg, who took the name Rhetik, lived in Frombork and was interested in the theory of Copernicus.
It was he who handed over the manuscript to the printing house in Nuremberg. At first, she did not officially condemn the new theory, so as not to give it fame. Written in Latin and provided with complex calculations, the study was understandable only to the initiated. Only at the end of the 16th century, thanks to the Italian scientist Giordano Bruno, the world realized the turning point in the teachings of Copernicus. Discussions began that went far beyond mathematical problems and concerned more questions religion and philosophy.
Supporters of the new system of the structure of the universe found themselves in conflict with the church. For supporting the theory of Copernicus, Giordano Bruno burned at the stake. Pope Paul V added "On Conversions", as well as all other writings that develop and promote the teachings of Copernicus, to the list of banned books. The repetition of the fate of Giordano Bruno was able to avoid the astronomer Johannes Kepler, who at the end of the 17th century confirmed the correctness of the heliocentric system by discovering the laws of planetary motion. The theory of Copernicus was promoted by the philosopher and astronomer Galileo.
The Tribunal of the Inquisition recognized Galileo's views as inconsistent with church postulates, and under the threat of torture, the 69-year-old scientist was forced to publicly renounce the teachings of Copernicus. Galileo lived in isolation until the end of his days under the supervision of the Inquisition. Only Pope John Paul II officially declared that the church was wrong in condemning Galileo.