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The Scientific Revolution

Nicolai Copernicus (1473-1543)

The man who began the destruction of the Ptolemaic system was Nicolai Copernicus, a Polish astronomer who spent most of his career in Danzig. He created a model of the universe that placed the sun at the center and he worked out many (though not all) the mathematical problems entailed in that change.

Copernicus studied mathematics at the University of Padua, which was one of the leading universities in Europe. He entered the Church and was actually a priest at a cathedral near Danzig for most of his life. This position, however, basically only gave him an income.

He was convinced that Ptolemy was wrong to place the Earth at the center. The system was too complex. God and Nature did not work that way. Moreover, the recovery of Greek scientific writings showed that even some ancient authorities had likewise argued that the sun was the center and not the Earth.

Copernicus moved the Earth into orbit around the sun and proceeded to solve the mathematics involved. He wrote up his ideas and his methods in a book, then carefully put the book away without having it published.

This was, after all, the early years of the Reformation. Issuing a book that so blatantly challenged the authority of the Church was a risky matter that could lead to excommunication or worse. Copernicus was no Lutheran, ready to defy the Catholic Church, so he chose to keep silent.