Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik) was born in Torun (=Thorn) in Poland on 19 February 1473. When his father died (between 1483 and 1485) his maternal uncle Lucas Watzenrode (64; r.1489-1512), who was later to become the Bishop of Warmia (G: Ermland), took charge of the four children. In 1488 Nicolaus was sent by his uncle to the cathedral school of Wloclawek (G: Leslau). Three years later he enrolled at the Cracow Academy (est.1364) and after four years of study he returned to Torun.
His uncle was determined that Copernicus should have a career in the Church and this was a profession that would allow security for someone wanting to pursue learning. To gain the necessary qualifications Copernicus in 1496 entered the University of Bologna (est.1088) to take a degree in canon law.
In 1497 Copernicus joined the chapter of Warmia, holding the post of canon of Frombork (G: Frauenburg) Cathedral in absentia through his vicars. In 1501 he returned to Frombork and requested a two year extension of his leave to complete his studies. The chapter approved his request and he set off for the University of Padua (est.1222) in Italy. Padua was famous for its medical school and while he was there Copernicus studied both medicine and astronomy. In the spring of 1503 he decided to obtain his doctorate in canon law but took the degree at the University of Ferrara (est.1391).
Copernicus returned to Poland and lived at Lidzbark (G: Heilsberg) Castle, the seat of his uncle the Bishop of Warmia. He served as his uncle’s secretary and personal physician and became a force in the politics of Warmia, putting to use the legal education he had received at Bologna. He also found time for astronomical observations and started work on his heliocentric (‘Sun-centred’) view of the heavens.
In 1512, on the death of his uncle, Copernicus returned to Frombork, where he would do his most important work. Around 1514 he distributed a little hand-written book, later to be called Commentariolus (‘Commentary’), to a few of his friends. In it he gave his reasons for his dissatisfaction with existing planetary astronomy. He then described the heliocentric alternative and showed how this approach allowed an unambiguous order to be assigned to the planets.
The Sun-centred astronomy as Copernicus proposed did not solve all the problems inherent in Ptolemaic astronomy. In trying to eliminate the equant and keeping the orbits circular he was forced to use epicycles to account for the movement of the planets. He still visualised the Universe in terms of spheres, but with the Sun rather than Earth at the centre of his arrangement.
Copernicus was reluctant to publish the full account of his theory; not so much that he was concerned with what the Church might say about his theory but because he was a perfectionist and even after working on it for thirty years he never thought that his work was ready: there were, as far as he was concerned, observations to be checked and rechecked.
Georg Joachim von Lauchen (1514-74), known as Rheticus (he was born in the province of Rhaetia), was a junior professor at the University of Wittenberg (est.1502). In 1539 he went to meet Copernicus and his visit extended to two years. Copernicus shared his ideas with him and in 1540 Rheticus published the Narratio Prima or ‘First Report’, which was an abridged version of Copernicus’ work.
Under strong pressure from Rheticus and having seen that the first general reception of his work had not been unfavourable, Copernicus finally agreed to publish. In 1541 De revolutionibus orbium coelestium or ‘On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres’ was ready for printing. Rheticus took it to a Nuremberg publisher who gave it to Andreas Osiander (1498-1552), a Lutheran clergyman, to supervise the printing. Osiander was nervous about possible religious reactions so he added an unsigned preface declaring the author was not maintaining that Earth truly moved round the Sun, but that this was merely a convenient hypothesis on which to base efficient mathematical models of the planetary motions. Naturally, this served to obscure Copernicus’ message. Copernicus’ reaction is unknown, for he suffered a stroke and remained comatose for several months. Tradition has it that he saw a printed copy of the book on the day of his death, 24 May 1543.
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