The Contributions by Nicolás Copernicus , one of the Most important scientists in history , Span many fields of knowledge, although most studies of the character commonly revolve only around heliocentric theory.
From the heliocentrismo came a radical change in the way of understanding the universe and gave rise to the so-called"Scientific Revolution,"whose implications have been fundamental to understand the modern world.
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.
His revolutionary ideas in the field of astronomy were embodied in his work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ( On the revolutions of the celestial spheres ) Written in 1530, but decided not to publish it until a few months before his death, which occurred in May 1543.
In this work can be found much of the contributions of Copernicus in physics and astronomy, although the impact of this character is not limited to these fields of knowledge.
You may also like The contributions of Kepler .
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.
CONCLUSIONS
As it has been seen, with his model of the universe, Nicholas Copernicus revolutionized the way of seeing the sky. However, his studies also implied observing the reality in a different way, since the man ceased to feel the center cosmos and happened to be a more creation of the divinity.
The fundamental change that was generated at the social level was that both his astronomical advances as the mathematicians led to the scientific revolution that would end up separating the church from the academy during the modern era.
Not to mention the influence that his research has had on the most renowned scientists to date.
References
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