Copernican Theory

Nicholas Copernicus (Mikolaj Kopernik) was born in what is now Poland on February 19, 1473. He
grew up in a wealthy family in the city of Torun. Technically Copernicus was of German descent, so his
mother tongue was German, although the circumstances of his life indicate that he also spoke Polish.

When his father died, Copernicus was 10 years old and his uncle Lucas Watzenrode, Bishop of Warmia,
took over the education of his nephew. He sent it to the University of Krakow in 1491 and, having finished
his studies, took the vows as canon of the cathedral of Frombork. This decision allowed him to continue his
studies, as a member of the church, he had access to the most prestigious universities in Italy: Bologna,
Padua and Ferrara, where he studied astronomy, medicine and canon law, respectively.
10 great contributions of Copernicus to science
1- Heliocentric model of the universe

The most recognized and revolutionary contribution of Nicholas Copernicus is undoubtedly the
theory of heliocentrism. Up to this point, Ptolemy's model had been followed, which proposed that the earth
was the center of the universe (Geocentrism). Copernicus proposed a model of a spherical universe, in
which both the Earth and the planets and stars revolved around the Sun. This contribution of Copernicus to
science is perhaps the most revolutionary in the history of mankind, a paradigm shift for the sciences. And it
is that from that moment, the science began to be based on observations and mathematical measurements,
and is not beliefs and simple theoretical affirmations.
2- Dominance of ancient languages
The rise of the Greek Renaissance came to Copernicus early, and in Bologna he began to learn it in
1492. He translated into Latin the letters of the seventh-century Byzantine philosopher Theophilus of
Simocatta, printed in 1509, This is your only previous publication to De revolutionibus orbium coelestium . It
is important to note that Copernicus' acquisition of a good reading level was critical for his studies in
astronomy, since most of the works of Greek astronomers, including Ptolemy, had not yet been translated
into Latin, the Which were written. Moreover, it is noteworthy that this knowledge of Greek allowed him to
reinterpret Aristotle .
3- Changing the theory of gravity

The fact that the center of the universe was the earth implied that the center of gravity of the universe
was the earth; And this could be corroborated with the physical phenomena that occurred here. If the center
of gravity is no longer the earth, why then do things within the earth fall to its center? Copernicus's response
to this was one of his great contributions to the world of science: All matter has gravity, and the heavy matter
will attract and be attracted by similarly heavy matter, just as the smaller matter will be attracted to the larger
matter. In this way, the small things that are on the earth, are attracted to the earth. For example, the moon,
being smaller than the earth, revolves around it, and the earth, being smaller than the sun, does the same.
Copernicus explains his idea of gravity as follows: "All celestial bodies are centers of attraction of matter."
4- Definition of the Gregorian calendar
Copernicus helped in the revision of the Julian calendar, which was the official calendar since the
fourth century. Pope Leo X asked the astronomer to participate in the reform that took place between 1513
and 1516. Nicholas Copernicus was based on his heliocentric model of the universe to solve the problems
presented by the previous calendar, but it was not until the year 1582 that all the changes came into effect
in the Gregorian calendar. It is in this way that Copernicus contributed to establishing the precision of the
time that passes on Earth.
5- Theory of the three movements
 His model of the universe implied that Earth possesses three movements: rotation, translation and
a conical oscillation motion of its own axis. The first has a duration of one day, the second of a year, and the
third occurs also in a year progressively. This latter movement is what modern eyes may seem strange. But
it was the way in which Copernicus explains the variation of temperature in the different seasons of the year.
6- Order of alignment of the planets
The translation movement causes the order in which the celestial spheres are arranged to be the
following: The supreme and immovable sphere is the Sun, which contains all things situated in the universe.
In the farthest orbit is Saturn, then comes Jupiter and Mars is nearer. In the next orbit moves on the Earth,
then Venus and finally Mercury. The Moon revolves around the center of the Earth, and moves with the Earth,
as an epicycle.
7- The retrograde movement of the planets
This order indicates that one planet surpasses another in the speed of translation according to the
size of the circles. Thus Saturn takes about thirty years to complete a cycle; Jupiter, twelve years old; Mars,
two and a half years, and Earth, one year; Venus, nine months and Mercury, three. In this way, Copernicus
explains the retrograde movement of other celestial spheres whose time of translation is greater to the Earth,
since, by difference of speeds, the Earth surpasses several times to the other planets, but the observer
perceives of these last ones a trajectory In the opposite direction.
8- Amount of water on Earth
The astronomer proposed that the amount of water has to be less than the land. At that time it was
believed that there was ten times more water than land. It was then explained that the earth's rotation (as a
disk) was due to the fact that the center of gravity and center of magnitude did not coincide and were two
forces that sought balance and this generated movement. This also used to explain why there are mountains
and valleys, cavities and protuberances on the surface of the Earth. However, through geometry, Copernicus
demonstrated that, since the earth is a sphere, necessarily the center of gravity and the center of its mass
are coincident and, at the same time, he came to the conclusion that the quantity of water does not May be
greater than that of earth, because the heavy matter is conglomerated around the center of gravity and light
on the outside. Thus, if the amount of water exceeds the amount of land, the water would cover the entire
surface of the earth.
9- Relationship between philosophy and natural sciences
Nicholas Copernicus provided fundamental knowledge about the relationship between mathematics
and the natural world. Some historians of science seem to ignore the fundamental role of mathematics, and
it is often said that the philosophical and scientific thought of the sixteenth century is based on heliocentrism
as if it were not a natural consequence. However, it can not be ignored that heliocentrism, besides solving
an astronomical problem, was solved with a mathematical technique.
10- Theory of price increase
Copernicus became interested in monetary matters when King Sigismund I of Poland asked him to
make a proposal to reform the currency of his community. Copernicus's analysis showed that it is impossible
to have two types of currency in one government, one more valuable to foreign trade, and another less
valuable to local transactions (as Sigismund suggested). He then formulated the "quantity theory of money"
which stipulates that prices vary proportionately with the supply of money in society. He explained this before
the term "inflation" was invented In very simple terms, for Copernicus one should avoid putting too much
money into circulation, because the supply of money determines the value of the coin, the more money the
value of the coin is reduced. This is the main and direct cause for prices of goods to increase.