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	'''Nicolaus Copernicus''' (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was the first <!-- no assertion of nationality here! see section on his nationality, the discussion page and Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view --> ] to formulate a comprehensive ] ], which displaced the ] from the center of the ].<ref>A Greek mathematician, ], discussed heliocentric hypotheses as early as the third century BCE. However, there is little evidence that he ever developed his ideas beyond a very basic outline ] ; ].</ref> His epochal book, '']'' (''On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres''), published in 1543 just before his death, is often regarded as the starting point of modern ] and the defining ] that began the ]. His ], with the Sun at the center of the universe, demonstrated that the observed motions of celestial objects can be explained without putting Earth at rest in the center of the universe. His work stimulated further scientific investigations, becoming a ] in the ] that is often referred to as the ].		'''Nicolaus Copernicus''' (Polish: ''Mikolaj Kopernik'') (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was the first <!-- no assertion of nationality here! see section on his nationality, the discussion page and Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view --> ] to formulate a comprehensive ] ], which displaced the ] from the center of the ].<ref>A Greek mathematician, ], discussed heliocentric hypotheses as early as the third century BCE. However, there is little evidence that he ever developed his ideas beyond a very basic outline ] ; ].</ref> His epochal book, '']'' (''On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres''), published in 1543 just before his death, is often regarded as the starting point of modern ] and the defining ] that began the ]. His ], with the Sun at the center of the universe, demonstrated that the observed motions of celestial objects can be explained without putting Earth at rest in the center of the universe. His work stimulated further scientific investigations, becoming a ] in the ] that is often referred to as the ].

	Among the great ]s of the ], Copernicus was a ], ], ], ] ],<ref>He used ] and ], knew enough ] to translate the 7th-century ] poet ]'s verses into Latin prose (Armitage, ''The World of Copernicus'', pp. 75–77), and "there is ample evidence that he knew the ]" (], '']'', vol. II, p. 26). During his several years' studies in ], Copernicus presumably would also have learned some ]. Professor Stefan Melkowski of ] likewise asserts that Copernicus spoke both Polish and German. ( ''"O historii i o współczesności"'' ("About History and Contemporaneity"), May 2003.])</ref> ], ], ],<ref>A ] helped confirm the identity of his ] when it was discovered at ] in 2008.</ref> ], ], ], ], ] and ]. Among his many responsibilities, astronomy figured as little more than an ] — yet it was in that field that he made his mark upon the world.		Among the great ]s of the ], Copernicus was a ], ], ], ] ],<ref>He used ] and ], knew enough ] to translate the 7th-century ] poet ]'s verses into Latin prose (Armitage, ''The World of Copernicus'', pp. 75–77), and "there is ample evidence that he knew the ]" (], '']'', vol. II, p. 26). During his several years' studies in ], Copernicus presumably would also have learned some ]. Professor Stefan Melkowski of ] likewise asserts that Copernicus spoke both Polish and German. ( ''"O historii i o współczesności"'' ("About History and Contemporaneity"), May 2003.])</ref> ], ], ],<ref>A ] helped confirm the identity of his ] when it was discovered at ] in 2008.</ref> ], ], ], ], ] and ]. Among his many responsibilities, astronomy figured as little more than an ] — yet it was in that field that he made his mark upon the world.

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Nicolaus Copernicus
Portrait from Toruń, early 16th century
Born	(1473-02-19)19 February 1473, Toruń (Thorn), Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland
Died	24 May 1543(1543-05-24) (aged 70), Frombork (Frauenburg), Warmia, Kingdom of Poland
Alma mater	Kraków University, Bologna University, University of Padua, University of Ferrara
Known for	Heliocentrism
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics, astronomy, canon law, medicine

Signature

Nicolaus Copernicus (Polish: Mikolaj Kopernik) (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was the first astronomer to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe. His epochal book, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published in 1543 just before his death, is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining epiphany that began the scientific revolution. His heliocentric model, with the Sun at the center of the universe, demonstrated that the observed motions of celestial objects can be explained without putting Earth at rest in the center of the universe. His work stimulated further scientific investigations, becoming a landmark in the history of science that is often referred to as the Copernican Revolution.

Among the great polymaths of the Renaissance, Copernicus was a mathematician, astronomer, physician, quadrilingual polyglot, classical scholar, translator, artist, Catholic cleric, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat and economist. Among his many responsibilities, astronomy figured as little more than an avocation — yet it was in that field that he made his mark upon the world.

Life

Family

Copernicus' birthplace in Toruń, Poland.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in a house on St. Anne's Street (now Copernicus Street) in the city of Toruń (Thorn). That city, situated on the Vistula River, had since the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) been part of Royal Prussia, a region of the Kingdom of Poland.

Nicolaus was named after his father, who about 1458 had moved to Toruń from Kraków, then the capital of Poland, in Lesser Poland. The father was a wealthy copper trader who had become a respected citizen of Toruń. Nicolaus' mother, Barbara Watzenrode, had been born into a wealthy merchant family that was part of the city's patrician class.

Nicolaus' father died between 1483 and 1485. After that, his maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger (1447–1512), a church canon who would later become Prince-Bishop of the Warmia, took young Nicolaus under his protection and saw to his education and future career.

Nicolaus was the youngest of four children. His brother Andreas became an Augustinian canon at Frombork (Frauenburg). His sister Barbara (named after her mother) became a Benedictine nun. His sister Katharina married Barthel Gertner, a businessman and city councilor.

Copernicus never maried or had children.

Name

Nicolaus Coppernicus' signature at the election of bishop Mauritius Ferber

Numerous variants of the name of the astronomer and his relatives are documented. During his childhood, the name of his father (and thus of the future astronomer) was recorded in Thorn as Niclas Koppernigk. At Bologna in 1496, he was registered as „Nicolaus Kopperlingk de Thorn" in the German natio. Maximilian Curtze, in the foreword of the German translation (1879) of De revolutionibus, comes to the conclusion that the family name should be spelled Koppernigk, and the astronomer with the Latinized spelling Coppernicus (with two p), as he used mostly (in 23 of 31 documents studied) two p when signing his name, especially in official documents. Late in his life, the name appears also shortened to one p, and on the title page of De revolutionibus, Rheticus had published the name as Nicolai Copernici.

The Polish version of his name is Mikołaj Kopernik. The surname means "one who works with copper", which was his father's trade.

Education

In 1491 Copernicus enrolled in the Kraków Academy (now Jagiellonian University). It was there that he probably first encountered astronomy with Professor Albert Brudzewski. Astronomy soon fascinated him, and he began collecting a large library on the subject. Copernicus' library would later be carried off as war booty by the Swedes during the Deluge; it is now at the Uppsala University Library.

After four years in Kraków, followed by a brief stay back home in Toruń, Copernicus went to study law and medicine at the universities of Bologna and Padua. Copernicus' uncle, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger, financed his education. Copernicus, however, while studying canon and civil law at Bologna, met the famous astronomer, Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara. Copernicus attended Novara's lectures and became his disciple and assistant. Copernicus' published the his first astronomical observations, made with Novara in 1497, in De revolutionibus.

In 1497, Watzenrode was ordained Bishop of Warmia, and Copernicus was named a canon at Frombork Cathedral. But Copernicus remained in Italy, where he attended the Jubilee of 1500. He also went to Rome, where he observed a lunar eclipse and gave lectures in astronomy and mathematics.

Copernicus returned to Frombork in 1501. As soon as he arrived, he obtained permission to complete his studies in Padua, where he studied medicine with Guarico and Girolamo Fracastoro, and at Ferrara where he received a doctorate in canon law in 1503. One of the subjects that Copernicus must have studied was astrology, since it was considered an important part of a medical education. However, unlike most other prominent Renaissance astronomers, he appears never to have practiced or expressed any interest in astrology.

Work

In 1503, Copernicus returned to Warmia, where he resided the rest of his life. From 1503 until 1510, he was secretary to Lucas Watzenrode and resided in the Bishop's castle at Lidzbark Warmiński (Heilsberg). It is there that he started work on his heliocentric view of the heavens.

In 1510, he moved to Frombork, a town in the north and downstream of Toruń on the Vistula Lagoon. The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia enjoyed substantial autonomy, with its own diet, army, monetary unit (the same as in the other parts of Royal Prussia) and treasury. Some time before his return to Warmia, he received a position at the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross in Wrocław (Breslau), Silesia, Bohemia, which he held for many years and only resigned for health reasons shortly before his death.

During 1516–21, Copernicus resided at Olsztyn Castle as economic administrator of Warmia, including Olsztyn (Allenstein) and Pieniężno (Mehlsack). While there, he wrote a manuscript, Locationes mansorum desertorum (Locations of Deserted Fiefs).

When Olsztyn was besieged by the Teutonic Knights during the Polish-Teutonic War (1519–1521), Copernicus was in charge of the defenses of Olsztyn and Warmia by the Royal Polish forces. He also participated in the peace negotiations.

Copernicus worked for years with the Royal Prussian diet, and with Duke Albert of Prussia, and advised Poland's King Sigismund I the Old on monetary reform. In his capacity as canon, he traveled extensively on government business and as a diplomat on behalf of the Prince-Bishop of Warmia. He participated in the discussions in the East Prussian diet about coin reform in the Prussian countries. One question that concerned the members of the diet was who had the right to mint coin. The matter required diplomacy, but was resolved successfully. Some difficulties were caused by political upheavals in Prussia at the time, including the 1525 establishment of the Duchy of Prussia as a Protestant state.

In 1526, Copernicus wrote a study on the value of money, Monetae cudendae ratio. In it he formulated an early iteration of the theory, now called Gresham's Law, that "bad" (debased) coinage drives "good" (un-debased) coinage out of circulation—70 years before Thomas Gresham. He also formulated a version of quantity theory of money. Copernicus' recommendations on monetary reform were widely read by leaders of both Prussia and Poland in their attempts to stabilize currency.

Two years before Copernicus' death, Duke Albert summoned him to Königsberg to treat one of his counselors, who was ill. The patient recovered in about a month, and Copernicus returned to Frombork.

Throughout this period in his life, he continued to make astronomical observations and calculations, but only as his other responsibilities permitted and never in a professional capacity.

In 1551, eight years after Copernicus' death, Erasmus Reinhold would publish, under Duke Albert's sponsorship, the Prutenic Tables, a set of astronomical tables based on Copernicus' work, which astronomers and astrologers quickly adopted in place of their predecessors.

Heliocentrism

In 1514 Copernicus made available to friends his Commentariolus (Little Commentary), a six page hand-written text describing his ideas about the heliocentric hypothesis. It contained seven basic assumptions. Thereafter he continued gathering data for a more detailed work.

In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter delivered in Rome a series of lectures outlining Copernicus' theory. The lectures were heard with interest by Pope Clement VII and several Catholic cardinals.

On 1 November 1536, Archbishop of Capua Nicholas Schönberg wrote a letter to Copernicus from Rome:

Some years ago word reached me concerning your proficiency, of which everybody constantly spoke. At that time I began to have a very high regard for you... For I had learned that you had not merely mastered the discoveries of the ancient astronomers uncommonly well but had also formulated a new cosmology. In it you maintain that the earth moves; that the sun occupies the lowest, and thus the central, place in the universe... Therefore with the utmost earnestness I entreat you, most learned sir, unless I inconvenience you, to communicate this discovery of yours to scholars, and at the earliest possible moment to send me your writings on the sphere of the universe together with the tables and whatever else you have that is relevant to this subject ...

By then Copernicus' work was nearing its definitive form, and rumors about his theory had reached educated people all over Europe. Despite urgings from many quarters, Copernicus delayed publication of his book, perhaps from fear of criticism — a fear delicately expressed in the subsequent Dedication of his masterpiece to Pope Paul III. Scholars disagree on whether Copernicus' concern was limited to physical and philosophical objections from other natural philosophers, or whether he was also concerned about religious objections from theologians.

The book

Copernicus was still working on De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (even if not convinced that he wanted to publish it) when in 1539 Georg Joachim Rheticus, a Wittenberg mathematician, arrived in Frombork. Philipp Melanchthon had arranged for Rheticus to visit several astronomers and study with them.

Rheticus became Copernicus' pupil, staying with him for two years and writing a book, Narratio prima (First Account), outlining the essence of Copernicus' theory. In 1542 Rheticus published a treatise on trigonometry by Copernicus (later included in the second book of De revolutionibus).

Under strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen the favorable first general reception of his work, Copernicus finally agreed to give De revolutionibus to his close friend, Tiedemann Giese, bishop of Chełmno (Kulm), to be delivered to Rheticus for printing by Johannes Petreius at Nuremberg (Nürnberg). While Rheticus initially supervised the printing, he had to leave Nuremberg before it was completed, and he handed over the task of supervising the rest of the printing to a Lutheran theologian, Andreas Osiander.

Osiander added an unauthorised and unsigned preface, defending the work against those who might be offended by the novel hypotheses. He explained that astronomers may find different causes for observed motions, and choose whatever is easier to grasp. As long as a hypothesis allows reliable computation, it does not have to match what a philosopher might seek as the truth.

Death

Copernicus died in Frombork on 24 May 1543. Legend has it that the first printed copy of De revolutionibus was placed in his hands on the very day that he died, allowing him to take farewell of his life's work. He is reputed to have awoken from a stroke-induced coma, looked at his book, and then died peacefully.

Copernicus was reportedly buried in Frombork Cathedral, where archeologists long searched in vain for his remains. In August 2005, a team led by Jerzy Gąssowski, head of an archaeology and anthropology institute in Pułtusk, after scanning beneath the cathedral floor, discovered what they believe to be Copernicus' remains. The find came after a year of searching, and the discovery was announced only after further research, on November 3, 2008.

Gąssowski said he was "almost 100 percent sure it is Copernicus." Forensic expert Capt. Dariusz Zajdel of the Central Forensic Laboratory of the Polish Police used the skull to reconstruct a face that closely resembled the features — including a broken nose and a scar above the left eye — on a Copernicus self-portrait. The expert also determined that the skull belonged to a man who had died around age 70 — Copernicus' age at the time of his death. The grave was in poor condition, and not all the remains of the skeleton were found; missing, among other things, was the lower jaw. The DNA from the bones found in the grave matched hair samples taken from a book owned by Copernicus which was kept in the library of the University of Uppsala in Sweden.

On November 21, 2008, National Public Radio reported that confirmation had been made that the skull was indeed Copernicus'. The NPR website contains a portrait, reconstructed on the basis of the skull, of what Copernicus may have looked like.

Copernican system

Main article: Copernican heliocentrism

Predecessors

Philolaus (c. 480–385 BCE), a Greek philosopher of the Pythagorean school, described an astronomical system in which the Earth, Moon, Sun, planets, and stars all revolved about a central fire. Heraclides Ponticus (387–312 BCE) proposed that the Earth rotates on its axis. According to Archimedes, Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 BCE) wrote of heliocentric hypotheses in a book that does not survive. Plutarch wrote that Aristarchus was accused of impiety for "putting the Earth in motion".

In a manuscript of De revolutionibus, Copernicus wrote, "It is likely that ... Philolaus perceived the mobility of the earth, which also some say was the opinion of Aristarchus of Samos", but later struck out the passage and omitted it from the published book.

Ptolemy

Main article: Almagest

The prevailing theory in Europe during Copernicus' lifetime was the one that the Greek astronomer Ptolemy published in his Almagest circa 150 CE. Ptolemy's system drew on previous Greek theories in which the Earth was the stationary center of the universe. Stars were embedded in a large outer sphere which rotated rapidly, approximately daily, while each of the planets, the Sun, and the Moon were embedded in their own, smaller spheres. Ptolemy's system employed devices, including epicycles, deferents and equants, to account for observations that the paths of these bodies differed from simple, circular orbits centered on the Earth.

Copernicus

Copernicus' major theory was published in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), in the year of his death, 1543, though he had formulated the theory several decades earlier.

In his Commentariolus, Copernicus had summarized his system based on the seven assumptions:

There is no one center of all the celestial circles or spheres.

The center of the earth is not the center of the universe, but only of gravity and of the lunar sphere.

All the spheres revolve about the sun as their mid-point, and therefore the sun is the center of the universe.

The ratio of the earth's distance from the sun to the height of the firmament (outermost celestial sphere containing the stars) is so much smaller than the ratio of the earth's radius to its distance from the sun that the distance from the earth to the sun is imperceptible in comparison with the height of the firmament.

Whatever motion appears in the firmament arises not from any motion of the firmament, but from the earth's motion. The earth together with its circumjacent elements performs a complete rotation on its fixed poles in a daily motion, while the firmament and highest heaven abide unchanged.

What appear to us as motions of the sun arise not from its motion but from the motion of the earth and our sphere, with which we revolve about the sun like any other planet. The earth has, then, more than one motion.

The apparent retrograde and direct motion of the planets arises not from their motion but from the earth's. The motion of the earth alone, therefore, suffices to explain so many apparent inequalities in the heavens.

De revolutionibus itself was divided into six books:

General vision of the heliocentric theory, and a summarized exposition of his idea of the World
Mainly theoretical, presents the principles of spherical astronomy and a list of stars (as a basis for the arguments developed in the subsequent books)
Mainly dedicated to the apparent motions of the Sun and to related phenomena
Description of the Moon and its orbital motions
Concrete exposition of the new system
Concrete exposition of the new system

Copernicanism

At original publication, Copernicus' epoch-making book caused only mild controversy, and provoked no fierce sermons about contradicting Holy Scripture. It was only three years later, in 1546, that a Dominican, Giovanni Maria Tolosani, denounced the theory in an appendix to a work defending the absolute truth of Scripture. He also noted that the Master of the Sacred Palace (i.e., the Catholic Church's chief censor), Bartolomeo Spina, a friend and fellow Dominican, had planned to condemn De revolutionibus but had been prevented from doing so by his illness and death.

Arthur Koestler, in his popular book The Sleepwalkers, asserted that Copernicus' book had not been widely read on its first publication. This claim was trenchantly criticised by Edward Rosen, and has been decisively disproved by Owen Gingerich, who examined every surviving copy of the first two editions and found copious marginal notes by their owners throughout many of them. Gingerich published his conclusions in 2004 in The Book Nobody Read.

It has been much debated why it was not until six decades after Spina and Tolosani's attacks on Copernicus's work that the Catholic Church took any official action against it. Proposed reasons have included the personality of Galileo Galilei and the availability of evidence such as telescope observations.

In March 1616, in connection with the Galileo affair, the Roman Catholic Church's Congregation of the Index issued a decree suspending De revolutionibus until it could be "corrected," on the grounds that the supposedly Pythagorean doctrine that the Earth moves and the Sun doesn't was "false and altogether opposed to Holy Scripture." The same decree also prohibited any work that defended the mobility of the Earth or the immobility of the Sun, or that attempted to reconcile these assertions with Scripture.

On the orders of Pope Paul V, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine gave Galileo prior notice that the decree was about to be issued, and warned him that he could not "hold or defend" the Copernican doctrine. The corrections to De revolutionibus, which omitted or altered nine sentences, were issued four years later, in 1620.

In 1633 Galileo Galilei was convicted of grave suspicion of heresy for "following the position of Copernicus, which is contrary to the true sense and authority of Holy Scripture," and was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.

The Catholic Church's 1758 Index of Prohibited Books omitted the general prohibition of works defending heliocentrism, but retained the specific prohibitions of the original uncensored versions of De revolutionibus and Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. Those prohibitions were finally dropped from the 1835 Index.

Ethnicity and nationality

Ethnicity

File:Kopernik.PNG

Polish coins with Copernicus' likeness

File:1000 zl a 1982.jpg

Polish banknote with likeness of "MIKOŁAJ KOPERNIK"

*Kopernik* bust in Kraków's Jordan Park, Poland.

It remains a matter of dispute whether an ethnicity and nationality should be ascribed to Nicolaus Copernicus retrospectively and, if so, whether he should be regarded as a Pole or a German.

His father has been described as a Pole, and his mother was most likely of German origin. The family came originally from the Silesian village of the same name (Coprnik, Copernik, Copirnik, Copernic, Kopernic, today Koperniki) near Nysa. In the 14th century, members of the family had begun moving to Silesian and later to Polish cities — to Kraków (1367) and Lwów (1439) — and to Toruń (1400) in the State of the Teutonic Order.

The astronomer's father (probably the son of Jan) came from the Kraków line. He appears in records for the first time in 1448 as a well-to-do merchant who dealt in copper, selling it mostly in Danzig (Gdańsk). In August 1454, during the Pomeranian cities' struggle for independence from the Teutonic Knights, he mediated negotiations between Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki and the cities over repayment of a loan for the Thirteen Years' War (1454–66) between the Poles and the Teutonic Knights. Around 1458, the future astronomer's father moved from Poland's capital, Cracow, to Thorn. A few years later (before 1464) he married Barbara, daughter of a wealthy Thorn patrician and city councillor, Lucas Watzenrode the Elder.

The Watzenrodes had likewise come from Silesia, from the Świdnica region, and had settled in Thorn after 1360. The astronomer's grandfather, Lucas Watzenrode the Elder, was a decided opponent of the Teutonic Knights. In 1453 he was the delegate from Thorn at the Graudenz (Grudziądz) conference that planned an uprising against the Teutonic Knights. During the Thirteen Years' War that ensued the following year, he actively supported the cities' struggle against the Teutonic Knights with substantial monetary subsidies, with political activity in Torun and Gdansk, and by personally fighting in battles at Łasin and Marienburg.

Lucas Watzenrode the Elder died in 1462, leaving three children: Lucas Watzenrode the Younger, future Prince-Bishop of Warmia and the astronomer's patron; Barbara, the astronomer's mother; and Christina, who in 1459 married the merchant and mayor of Thorn, Tiedeman von Allen. Through the Watzenrodes' extensive family relationships by marriage, the future astronomer was related to wealthy burgher families of Kraków, Toruń, Gdańsk and Elbląg, and to prominent noble families of Royal Prussia: the Działyński, Kościelecki and Konopacki families.

Nationality

Nationality did not yet play as important a role in Copernicus' time as it would later, and people generally did not think of themselves primarily as Polish or German. Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia Americana, The Columbia Encyclopedia, The Oxford World Encyclopedia, and the Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia identify Copernicus as Polish. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states: "Thus the child of a German family was a subject of the Polish crown."

Copernicium

On July 14, 2009, the discoverers of chemical element 112 proposed that it be given the permanent name Copernicium and symbol Cp "to honor an outstanding scientist who changed our view of the world". This proposal has been submitted to IUPAC for discussion by the scientific community; if the name is approved, it will replace the temporary name "ununbium".

Notes

A Greek mathematician, Aristarchus of Samos, discussed heliocentric hypotheses as early as the third century BCE. However, there is little evidence that he ever developed his ideas beyond a very basic outline (Dreyer, 1953, pp. 135–48; Linton, 2004, p. 39).
He used Latin and German, knew enough Greek to translate the 7th-century Byzantine poet Theophylact Simocatta's verses into Latin prose (Armitage, The World of Copernicus, pp. 75–77), and "there is ample evidence that he knew the Polish language" (Norman Davies, God's Playground, vol. II, p. 26). During his several years' studies in Italy, Copernicus presumably would also have learned some Italian. Professor Stefan Melkowski of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń likewise asserts that Copernicus spoke both Polish and German. ( "O historii i o współczesności" ("About History and Contemporaneity"), May 2003.])
A self-portrait helped confirm the identity of his cranium when it was discovered at Frombork Cathedral in 2008.
Barbara Bieńkowska, The Scientific World of Copernicus: On the Occasion of the 500th Anniversary of His Birth, 1473–1973, 1973, p. 137: "His country was the province of ancient Royal Prussia, composed of his native Toruń and Warmia, both components of the Polish state since 1454."
Jean W. Sedlar, East Central Europe in the Middle Ages 1000-1500, 1994, pp. 281–82 : "The Prussians themselves viewed their territory as united to Poland only through the king's person. ... Social and ethnic differences reinforced this separateness."
Documents of the city of Thorn mention Niclas Koppernigk around 1480. See Nicolaus Copernicus Gesamtausgabe: Urkunden, Akten und Nachrichten: Texte und Übersetzungen, ISBN 3-05-003009-7, page 23 (online) or Marian Biskup: Regesta Copernicana (calendar of Copernicus' Papers), Ossolineum, 1973, page 32 (online) or others (Auflistung) .
Maximilian Curtze: Ueber die Orthographie des Namens Coppernicus, 1879, at German Wikisource .
Melkowski, Stefan (2003). "O historii i o współczesności" (in Polish). Retrieved 2007-04-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Rabin (2005).
Gingerich (2004, pp. 187–89, 201); Koyré (1973, p. 94); Kuhn (1957, p. 93); Rosen (2004, p. 123); Rabin (2005). Robbins (1964, p.x), however, includes Copernicus amongst a list of Renaissance astronomers who "either practised astrology themselves or countenanced its practice."
Repcheck (2007), p. 51.
Sedlar (1994).
Repcheck (2007), p. 66.
Copernicus, Nicolaus, Minor Works (Edward Rosen, translator), Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992, pp. 176–215.
Oliver Volckart, "Early Beginnings of the Quantity Theory of Money and Their Context in Polish and Prussian Monetary Policies, c. 1520–1550", The Economic History Review, New Series 50 (August 1997)3: 430–49.
Koyré (1973, p. 80); Armitage (1951, pp. 52–53).
Kuhn (1957, pp. 187–88).
Schönberg, Nicholas, Letter to Nicolaus Copernicus, translated by Edward Rosen
Koyré (1973, pp.27, 90) and Rosen (1995, pp.64,184) take the view that Copernicus was indeed concerned about possible objections from theologians, while Lindberg and Numbers (1986) argue against it. Koestler (1963) also denies it. Indirect evidence that Copernicus was concerned about objections from theologians comes from a letter written to him by Andreas Osiander in 1541, in which Osiander advises Copernicus to adopt a proposal by which he says "you will be able to appease the Peripatetics and theologians whose opposition you fear." (Koyré, 1973, pp.35, 90)
Dreyer (1953, p.319).
^ "Scientists say Copernicus' remains found". The Associated Press-Kansas City.com. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
"Polish tests 'confirm Copernicus'". Europe. BBC News. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
"Czy tak wyglądał Mikołaj Kopernik?". In Polish. Retrieved 2007-04-22. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
"Polish tests 'confirm Copernicus'". Retrieved 2008-11-20.
16th-century skeleton identified as astronomer Copernicus The Guardian, November 21, 2008
Bogdanowicz W, Allen M, Branicki W, Lembring M, Gajewska M, Kupiec T. (2009). Genetic identification of putative remains of the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 106:12279–12282 PMID 19584252 doi:10.1073/pnas.0901848106
Gingerich O. (2009). The Copernicus grave mystery. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 106:12215–12216 PMID 19622737 doi:10.1073/pnas.0907491106
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97250330
Dreyer (1953, pp. 40–52); Linton (2004, p. 20).
Dreyer (1953, pp. 123–35); Linton (2004, p. 24).
Archimedes refers to Aristarchus's book in The Sand Reckoner. Heath's (1913, p.302) translation of the relevant passage reads: "You are aware that 'universe' is the name given by most astronomers to the sphere the center of which is the center of the Earth, while its radius is equal to the straight line between the center of the Sun and the center of the Earth. This is the common account as you have heard from astronomers. But Aristarchus has brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses, wherein it appears, as a consequence of the assumptions made, that the universe is many times greater than the 'universe' just mentioned. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, that the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle, the Sun lying in the middle of the orbit, and that the sphere of the fixed stars, situated about the same center as the Sun, is so great that the circle in which he supposes the Earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface." The bracketed insertion is in Heath's translation.
Tassoul, Jean-Louis & Monique (2004). Concise History of Solar and Stellar Physics. Princeton University.
Dreyer (1953, pp. 314–15).
Photograph of a portrait of Copernicus by an unknown painter. The original was looted—possibly destroyed—by the Germans in World War II. Jan Świeczyński, Katalog skradzionych i zaginionych dóbr kultury (Catalog of Stolen and Missing Cultural Property), Warsaw, Ośrodek Informacyjno-Koordynacyjny Ochrony Obiektów Muzealnych (Center of Information and Coordination for the Safeguarding of Museum Objects), 1988.
Rosen (2004, pp. 58–59).
Rosen (1995, pp.151–59)
Rosen (1995, p.158)
Koestler (1959, p.191)
Rosen (1995, pp.187–192), originally published in 1967 in Saggi su Galileo Galilei . Rosen is particularly scathing about this and other statements in The Sleepwalkers which he criticises as inaccurate.
Gingerich (2004), DeMarco (2004)
In fact, in the Pythagorean cosmological system the Sun was not motionless.
Decree of the General Congregation of the Index, March 5, 1616, translated from the Latin by Finocchiaro (1989, pp.148-149). An on-line copy of Finocchiaro's translation has been made available by Gagné (2005).
Fantoli (2005, pp.118–19); Finocchiaro (1989, pp.148, 153). On-line copies of Finocchiaro's translations of the relevant documents, Inquisition Minutes of 25 February, 1616 and Cardinal Bellarmine's certificate of 26 May, 1616, have been made available by Gagné (2005). This notice of the decree would not have prevented Galileo from discussing heliocentrism solely as a mathematical hypothesis, but a stronger formal injunction (Finocchiaro, 1989, p.147-148) not to teach it "in any way whatever, either orally or in writing", allegedly issued to him by the Commissary of the Holy Office, Father Michelangelo Segizzi, would certainly have done so (Fantoli, 2005, pp.119–20, 137). There has been much controversy over whether the copy of this injunction in the Vatican archives is authentic; if so, whether it was ever issued; and if so, whether it was legally valid (Fantoli, 2005, pp.120–43).
Catholic Encyclopedia.
From the Inquisition's sentence of June 22, 1633 (de Santillana, 1976, pp.306-10; Finocchiaro 1989, pp. 287-91)
Heilbron (2005, p. 307); Coyne (2005, p. 347).
McMullin (2005, p. 6); Coyne (2005, pp. 346-47).
"... as there were no natural geographical boundaries, especially in the east. Accordingly, it remains a matter of dispute to this day whether the astronomer Copernicus should be regarded as a German or a Pole." Stuart Parkes, Understanding Contemporary Germany, Routledge, 1997, p. xxi.
John David North, Cosmos: An Illustrated History of Astronomy and Cosmology, University of Chicago Press, 2008, p. 305.
Rudnicki, Konrad (2006). "The Genuine Copernican Cosmological Principle". Southern Cross Review: note 2. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |quotes= ignored (help)
Jerzy Dobrzycki and Leszek Hajdukiewicz, "Kopernik, Mikołaj", Polski słownik biograficzny, vol. XIV, 1969, p. 3.
Barbara Bieńkowska, The Scientific World of Copernicus, Springer, 1973
Eugeniusz Rybka for Polska Akademia Nauk (the Polish Academy of Sciences), The Review of the Polish Academy of Sciences: Nicolaus Copernicus' Relationship with Cracow, Ossolineum, 1973, p. 23.
Marian Biskup, Regesta Copernicana (calendar of Copernicus' papers), Ossolineum, 1973, p. 16.
Josh Sakolsky, Copernicus and Modern Astronomy, Rosen Publishing Group, 2005, p. 8.
Jerzy Dobrzycki and Leszek Hajdukiewicz, "Kopernik, Mikołaj", Polski słownik biograficzny, vol. XIV, 1969, pp. 3-4.
Czesław Miłosz, The History of Polish Literature, University of California Press, 1983, p. 38.
The Head Office of State Archives, Poland, "Copernicus' Biography", accessed 5/22/09,
Jerzy Dobrzycki and Leszek Hajdukiewicz, "Kopernik, Mikołaj", Polski słownik biograficzny, vol. XIV, 1969, p. 4.
Jeremi Wasiutyński, The Solar Mystery: An Inquiry Into the Temporal and the Eternal Background of the Rise of Modern Civilization, Solum Forlag, 2003, p. 29.
Dobrzycki and Hajdukiewicz, Polski słownik biograficzny, vol. XIV, 1969, p. 4.
Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland. .
"Copernicus, Nicolaus". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
"Copernicus, Nicolaus", Encyclopedia Americana, 1986, vol. 7, pp. 755–56.
"Nicholas Copernicus", The Columbia Encyclopedia, sixth edition, 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 18 July 2009.
"Copernicus, Nicolaus", The Oxford World Encyclopedia, Oxford University Press, 1998.
"Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. Microsoft. 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-21.
"Nicolaus Copernicus". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
July 14, 2009 - Element 112 shall be named “copernicium”, www.gsi.de

References

Armitage, Angus (1951). The World of Copernicus. New York, NY: Mentor Books. ISBN 0-8464-0979-8.
Barbara Bieńkowska (1973). The Scientific World of Copernicus: On the Occasion of the 500th Anniversary of His Birth, 1473–1973. Springer. ISBN 9027703531.
Coyne, George V., S.J. (2005). The Church's Most Recent Attempt to Dispel the Galileo Myth. In McMullin (2005, pp.340–59).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Davies, Norman, God's Playground: A History of Poland, 2 vols., New York, Columbia University Press, 1982, ISBN 0-231-04327-9.
DeMarco, Peter (2004-04-13). "Book quest took him around the globe". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
Dobrzycki, Jerzy, and Leszek Hajdukiewicz, "Kopernik, Mikołaj," Polski słownik biograficzny (Polish Biographical Dictionary), vol. XIV, Wrocław, Polish Academy of Sciences, 1969, pp. 3–16.
Dreyer, J.L.E. (1953). A History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler. New York, NY: Dover Publications.
Fantoli, Annibale (2005). The Disputed Injunction and its Role in Galileo's Trial. In McMullin (2005, pp.117–49).
Finocchiaro, Maurice A. (1989). The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-06662-6.
Gagné, Marc (2005). "Texts from The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History edited and translated by Maurice A. Finocchiaro". West Chester University course ESS 362/562 in History of Astronomy. Retrieved 2008-01-15. (Extracts from Finocchiaro (1989))
Gingerich, Owen (2004). The Book Nobody Read. London: William Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-01315-3.
Goodman, David C. (1991). The Rise of Scientific Europe, 1500-1800. Hodder Arnold H&S. ISBN 0-340-55861-X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Heath, Sir Thomas (1913). Aristarchus of Samos, the ancient Copernicus ; a history of Greek astronomy to Aristarchus, together with Aristarchus's Treatise on the sizes and distances of the sun and moon : a new Greek text with translation and notes. London: Oxford University Press.
Heilbron, John L. (2005). Censorship of Astronomy in Italy after Galileo. In McMullin (2005, pp.279–322).
Koestler, Arthur (1963) . The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap. ISBN 0448001594. Original edition published by Hutchinson (1959, London)
Koeppen, Hans; et al. (1973). Nicolaus Copernicus zum 500. Geburtstag. Böhlau Verlag. ISBN 3-412-83573-2. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)

Koyré, Alexandre (1973). The Astronomical Revolution: Copernicus – Kepler – Borelli. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0504-1.
Kuhn, Thomas (1957). The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. OCLC 535467.
Lindberg, David C. and Numbers, Ronald L. "Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the Encounter between Christianity and Science". American Scientific Affiliation article. Retrieved 2007-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Paper originally published in Church History (Vol. 55, No. 3, Sept. 1986).
Linton, Christopher M. (2004). From Eudoxus to Einstein—A History of Mathematical Astronomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-82750-8.
Manetho; Ptolemy (1964) . Manetho Ptolemy Tetrabiblos. Loeb Classical Library edition, translated by W.G.Waddell and F.E.Robbins Ph.D. London: William Heinemann.
McMullin, Ernan, ed. (2005). The Church and Galileo. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. ISBN 0-268-03483-4. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Rabin, Sheila (2005). "Copernicus". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2005 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Retrieved 2008-05-26.
Ptolemy, Claudius (1964) . Tetrabiblos. Loeb Classical Library edition, translated by F.E.Robbins Ph.D. London: William Heinemann.
Repcheck, Jack (2007). Copernicus' Secret: How the Scientific Revolution Began. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-8951-X.
Rosen, Edward (1995). Copernicus and his Successors. London: Hambledon Press. ISBN 1 85285 071 X.
Rosen, Edward (translator) (2004) . Three Copernican Treatises:The Commentariolus of Copernicus; The Letter against Werner; The Narratio Prima of Rheticus (Second Edition, revised ed.). New York, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 0486436055. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
Russell, Jeffrey Burton (1997) . Inventing the Flat Earth—Columbus and Modern Historians. New York, NY: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-95904-X.
de Santillana, Giorgio (1976—Midway reprint) . The Crime of Galileo. Chicago, Ill: Universtiy of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-73481-1. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
Sedlar, Jean W. (1994). East Central Europe in the Middle Ages 1000-1500. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295972904.