Profile of the Day: Nicolaus Copernicus
Do you have any astronomers in your family tree? On February 19, 1473, Renaissance mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland.
Image: Nicolaus Copernicus / New York Public Library
In one of the most significant astronomical breakthroughs in history, Copernicus formulated a heliocentric model of the universe, which placed the Sun, rather than the Earth, at the center. Just before his death, he published his findings in De revolutionbus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of Celestial Spheres). His work caused immediate controversy and incensed the Roman Catholic Church, who declared his findings heretical.
Nevertheless, the publication of Copernicus’s findings triggered the Copernican Revolution and ushered in a new era of science.
Copernicus died on May 24, 1543 at the age of 70.
Explore Nicolaus Copernicus’s family tree on Geni and share how you’re connected!