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Nicolaus
Copernicus, Father of the Scientific Revolution?
John
C. Haynes, Jr.
Pensacola
State College
EUH-1001: European History II
Dr.
Brian Rucker
October
6, 2020
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In this paper, I will discuss the Polish astronomer
Nicolaus Copernicus and the role he played in ushering in the Scientific
Revolution in Europe. Copernicus was
born on February 19, 1473 in Torun, Poland to a well-to-do merchant
family. At various times during his
academic studies, he attended the University of Bologna, the University of
Padua, and finally the University of Ferrara where he earned a Doctorate in
Canon Law (History.com, 2020). During
this time period, a new spirit of scientific inquiry had begun to flourish
across Europe, particularly as new universities, centers of learning, began to
appear. Referred to as “the new
science,” this type of inquiry leaned more heavily on the “materialistic and
mathematical” (Kishlansky, et. al., 2010).
In other words, those who tried to explain the world and universe around
them began to demand the observation of the material (we would say physical)
world and to use precise mathematics to explain those observations. Following the completion of his studies,
Copernicus came to the Polish University of Krakow where he soon joined with
groups of scholars who were interested in the study of planetary motion and who
were intrigued with the puzzling questions that previous astronomers could not
adequately explain.
For centuries, astronomers followed models of planetary
motion that were established by the Greek philosopher Aristotle and refined by
the Alexandrian scientist Ptolemy.
Aristotle declared that the Earth was at the center of the heavens and
all the planets, the Sun, and the stars revolved around the Earth. This is referred to as a geocentric model of
the solar system. In the first century
BCE, Ptolemy would refine the orbits of planets to include what was called an equant. When we observe planetary orbits, some of
the planets, particularly Mars, seems to make a small loop in the night
sky. To compensate for this (called
retrograde motion by modern
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astronomers), Ptolemy
suggested these planets performed another small loop during the larger loop of
their orbit. Ptolemy kept the geocentric
model of Aristotle and both imagined the orbits as being perfect circles or
spheres (Rabin, 2019). Copernicus was
not comfortable with this idea. Like
Aristotle, he believed that the simplest explanation was best. Copernicus was not an observational
astronomer. Instead, like his peers, he
wrestled with the theoretical ideas of motion (Abdul-Alim, 2016). Copernicus worked out a model that easily
explained observed planetary motion by placing the Sun at the center of the
solar system and had the Earth and all the other planets revolve around
it. We refer to this as a Heliocentric
model of the solar system. As soon as he
did that, the complex models of Ptolemy fell away. Unfortunately, Copernicus kept the perfect
spheres for planetary orbits, so his calculations were not perfect. However, based on his changes in theory,
later astronomers would come to discover that the planets actually circled the
sun in an elliptical pattern. Copernicus
wrote a book detailing his ideas called De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium or
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs.
In addition to maintaining a heliocentric model of the solar system,
in this book Copernicus also described the positions of each planet relative to
the sun, their orbital periods, the idea that the Earth turned daily on it’s
axis, and that gradual changes in this axis accounted for seasonal changes
(Rabin, 2019). Copernicus, knowing that
his ideas would stir controversy, chose to not have his book published until
after his death. Copernicus died in
1543, and following the publishing of De Revolutionibus, conservative
thinkers, Catholic hierarchy, and governments became incensed with his
ideas. His book was banned in some
areas. However, within scientific
circles of progressive thinking astronomers, Copernicus’ ideas circulated and
were debated. It did not take
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long for the works of
those such as Galileo Galilei, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler to confirm
Copernicus’ theories, but also allowed them to expand upon the scientific
principles. In time, great thinkers such
as Isaac Newton would introduce physical laws that would confirm finally what
Copernicus first introduced.
So, is Nicolaus Copernicus the Father of the Scientific
Revolution? Today, astronomers consider
him the Father of Modern Astronomy. And
certainly, astronomy owes a great deal to his revolutionary ideas in the face
of hundreds of years of established thought.
As I previously stated, in the late 15th to early 16th
century, scientific inquiry began to grow across all of Europe. And while Copernicus’ theories did not have
an immediate impact upon science, certainly they laid the foundation for later
scientific inquiry. We could perhaps see
Galilei, Brahe, Kepler, and Newton as the Fathers of the Scientific Revolution
and reserve a special spot for Copernicus as the Grandfather of the Scientific
Revolution.
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References
-Abdul-Alim, Jamaal S.,
2016., May 30, 2016. The
Conversation. Copernicus’ revolution
and Galileo’s vision: our changing view
of the universe in pictures. https://theconversation.com/copernicus-revolution-and-galileos-vision-our-changing-view-of-the-universe-in-pictures-60103
-Editors, History,
AIPB.org, 2020. Ideas of cosmology. https://history.aip.org/exhibits/cosmology/ideas/start-of-scientific-cosmology.htm
-Editors, History.com,
2020, https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/nicolaus-copernicus
-Kishlansky, Mark, Geary,
Patrick, and O’Brien, Patricia (2010). Civilization
in the West, Vol. II.
-Rabin,
Sheila, 2019. "Nicolaus
Copernicus", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2019
Edition), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2019/entries/copernicus
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