Biography
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish canon and astronomer who placed the Sun, not the Earth, at the centre of the planetary system. Published as he lay dying in 1543, his De revolutionibus began the slow overthrow of the geocentric cosmos and opened the Scientific Revolution.
Scientific contributions
- Proposed the heliocentric model of the Solar System
- Published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543)
- Reordered the planets by their true distances from the Sun
Major publications
Theories developed
Related scientists
Knowledge connections
- StudiesThe Milky Way
- Influenced byAl-Battani
- Influenced byNasir al-Din al-Tusi
- Part ofRenaissance Astronomy
- InfluencedGalileo Galilei
- InfluencedJohannes Kepler
- PublishedDe revolutionibus orbium coelestium
- DevelopedThe Heliocentric Model
- Associated withThe Copernican Revolution
Sources & references
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica
General reference for the history of astronomy, biographies, and cultural context.
- IAUInternational Astronomical Union
Official naming, definitions, constellation boundaries, and astronomical nomenclature.