Nicolás COPÉRNICO: most important contributions

In today's lesson we are going to talk about the most important contributions of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) who with his heliocentric theory, published posthumously, he revolutionized the way we view the universe, disproved the widely defended geocentric theory, and defined the foundations of modern astronomy.

Likewise, as a prototype of a Renaissance man, he not only stood out in astronomy, but his contributions to mathematics or economics were also important. If you want to know more about one of the most important scientists in modern history, keep reading because in a PROFESSOR We explain the most important contributions of Copernicus, so that you know the legacy of this Renaissance scientist.

Index

1. Who was Copernicus and what was his contribution?
2. What was the main theory of Copernicus? The heliocentric theory
3. Other important contributions of Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in 1473 in Thorn (Prussia-Poland), in the bosom of a wealthy family. From a very young age he demonstrated his talent and, after the death of his father, his uncle (Lucas Watzenrode, Bishop of Warmia) took charge of his education: first he studied mathematics at the Krakow University (1491) and then completed his life-long training (law, philosophy, medicine, Greek, and astronomy) in the University of Bologna (1496-1499), in Rome (1500), onPadua (1501-1507) and in Ferrara (1503).

Similarly, under the auspices of his uncle, he developed his career as canon in Frombork Cathedral and in the Diocese of Warmia. Likewise, he practiced medicine and excelled in the field of astronomy with his work On the turns of the celestial orbs (1531/32).

In addition, we must bear in mind that the life of Copernicus developed in full Renaissance. A period that stood out for being a time of cultural change, of rupture with the precepts of the Middle Ages and that was characterized by the development of the science, philosophy and reason, for the revaluation of the individual and for the recovery of classical sources. Precisely, our protagonist was one of the personalities who participated most actively in this change through endless contributions.

When we talk about the development of heliocentric theoryWe must point out that the first to defend it was not Copernicus, but rather that it has its roots in Ancient Greece. Thus the astronomer Aristarco de Samos (S. IV- III a. C.) he was the first to affirm that the planets revolved around the Sun.

However, after centuries of forgetting Aristarco's proposal, it was in the 16th century that Nicolás Copernicus, thank you to the knowledge of him of the Greek, he recovered and developed during twenty-five years the heliocentric theory, published in his work On the turns of the celestial orbs (1531/32). Thus breaking with 2000 years of geocentric theory defended by the Church and which was the basis for the subsequent imposition of its astronomical model with figures such as Galileo, Kleper and Newton.

“For that reason I have taken the trouble to read the books of all the philosophers that I have been able to obtain, to find out if any of them had ever thought that the movements of the spheres of the world are different from those admitted by those who teach mathematics in the schools. And I first found in Cicero that Niceto thought that the Earth moved. Later I also found in Plutarco that some others had the same idea”

Main astronomical contributions of Copernicus

1. The center of the universe is the Sun.
2. The celestial bodies revolve around the Sun through circular orbits and in a regular-perpetual way.
3. The planets have three types of movements: daily or diurnal rotation, the annual revolution and annual inclination on their axis.
4. The universe and the Earth are spherical.
5. The stars remain fixed.
6. A new order of the planets that revolve around the Sun is established based on their proximity: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
7. The dimensions of the universe are greater and the distance between the Sun and the Earth also.
8. Change in the theory of gravity: the center of gravity is not the Earth, but all matter has gravity: all celestial bodies are centers of attraction and the smallest bodies are attracted by the bigger.

“All matter has gravity, and heavy matters will attract and will be attracted to similarly heavy matters, in the way that smaller matters will be attracted to larger ones ”

Although the greatest contributions of Copernicus are framed within astronomy and theory heliocentric, we also find other contributions that have gone more unnoticed, but just as interesting:

Calendar reform

Until the 16th century the official calendar was Julian calendar, which had an error: a mismatch of 11 minutes less per year which, in turn, led to a lag of 10 days between the calendar day and the actual day of the spring equinox = Easter happened to be celebrated in summer.

Thus, to solve this error, the pope Gregory XIII, he asked a group of scientists to fix the mismatch. Among those scholars was Copernicus, who relied on his astronomical knowledge to assist in this reform. Finally, the error was solved by establishing leap years every four years in the years whose number is a multiple of 100.

The theory of prices

At the behest of the king Sigismund I of Poland, Copernicus began a study to carry out a monetary reform. Thus, our protagonist established that you cannot have two types of currency in circulation (one for the international market and the other for the local one) and developed his price theory; you should avoid putting a lot of currency into circulation, the price varies depending on the money in circulation (supply of money in society) and the more money there is in circulation, the more the price.

Translation of classical authors

Thanks to his knowledge of Greek, he was able to access the authors who in the classical world defended heliocentrism and, in addition, he translated the letters of the philosopher Simocatta theophylact (S. VII d. C.) in 1509 and the work of the geocentric astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (S.I-II d. C.).

If you want to read more articles similar to Copernicus: most important contributions, we recommend that you enter our category of Philosophy.

• Copernicus, N. Nicolaus Copernicus.
• Copernicus, N. (1974). On the revolutions of the celestial orbs (No. 080 S4 v. 158).