The Talents and Secrets of Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus is one of the greatest scientists of all time. The creator of the heliocentric model recognized that it is the Sun that is at the center of the solar system, and it is the planets, including the Earth, that revolve around it. However, some historians are more interested in the scientist’s private life than his scientific life. This is because the astronomer had his own dark secrets….
The year 2023 has been declared the Year of Copernicus. Exactly 550 years ago, the eminent astronomer who revolutionized thinking about the structure and operation of the Universe was born in Torun, Poland. He was the first thinker since ancient Greece to argue that it was the Sun that was at the center of the solar system, and that other celestial bodies revolved around a central star. His views were met with criticism at the time.
Who was Nicolaus Copernicus?
Born on February 19, 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus was the youngest child of his merchant parents Nicolaus Copernicus and Barbara (née Watzenrode), residing on St. Anne’s Street in Torun, Poland. He had an older brother, Andrew, and two sisters, Barbara and Catherine. After his father’s death when Copernicus was 10, his mother remarried to her brother, Luke Watzenrode.
