The Makers of Science: VI

The Makers of Science

By F. S. Harris, Director Utah Agricultural Experiment Station

VI — Copernicus

Copernicus furnishes an example of a man who by diligent

study gave to the world one of the most important discoveries

of all time in spite of the fact that he possessed no unusual

mental endowments. His intellectual prowess cannot be com-

pared to that of Newton who lived a century later nor to some

of the earlier scholars; but a life of painstaking investigation

enabled him to completely demonstrate that the old Ptolemaic

idea of the solar system is wrong. So great was the contribution

of this Polish monk that the real dawn of modern science is

usually considered to date from 1543, the year he published his

life's work.

Copernicus was born at Thorn, in Polish Prussia, in 1473.

His real name was Nicolas Copernik which was Latinized to the

name that is usually applied to him. He was brought up under

the guardianship of his uncle Lucas, Prince-bishop of the Prus-

sian diocese of Ermland. He entered Cracow University the

year before Columbus discovered America. Here he studied

mathematics, optics, and perspective, and later was graduated

as doctor of arts and medicine; in the meantime he was also

preparing for the ecclesiastical profession.

Not many details of his life are recorded, but he is known

to have been an assistant at Cracow and to have studied mathe-

matics at Bologna. In 1500 he lectured in mathematics and

astronomy at Rome. About this time he observed an eclipse of

the moon. The following year he began the study of medicine

at Padua, going into the orders at about the same time. On his

return home he took charge of the principal church in his native

home and became canon, although he was never made a priest.

Here at Frauenburg, near the mouth of the Vistula, he lived

the rest of his life in comparative quiet, seldom taking any im-

portant part in the life of the times. One exception to this,

however, was a report he made to the government on coinage.

There seems to have been nothing unusual in his life. He

was just a quiet, patient, God-fearing student who through his

scholarly habits drew to himeslf several earnest pupils whom he

instructed mainly through conversation. He compiled tables

on the movements of the planets, thinking to improve the

Ptolemaic system which was universally believed in at the time.

398 IMPROVEMENT ERA

This system considered the earth to be the center of the universe

with all the other heavenly bodies revolving around it. His

studies, however, gradually forced him to the idea that the

earth moved around the sun; this was a complete change from

any idea that had previously been held.

To our way of looking at things today this may not have

been much of a step, but the havoc it wrought is shown by the

bitter strife that lasted through several generations after the an-

nouncement of the Copernican theory. Although Copernicus

definitely proved his points, it remained for Kepler, Galileo, and

Newton to give a complete explanation of the movements of

heavenly bodies and the reasons for these movements.

Copernicus did not live to feel the persecution that was

heaped on those who adhered to his teachings. After thirty-six

years of study he wrote his life's thesis entitled De Revolution-

ibus Orbium Caelestium which he dedicated to the Pope. The

expense of printing the book was paid by a Cardinal. The first

printed copy of the book came to him just a few hours before

his death, enabling him to die happy in the thought that his

work was finished.

The work, being dedicated to the Pope, was at first well

received by the Catholics but not by the Protestants. Martin

Luther denounced the author as "an arrogant fool who wrote in

defiance of scripture." Later, even the Catholics denounced the

teachings as heresy and persecuted all who adhered to them.

That Copernicus expected criticism is shown from the following

statement in the dedication:

"If there be some babblers who, through ignorance of all

mathematics, take upon them to judge of these things and dare

to blame and cavil at my work, because of some passage of

scripture which they have wrested to their own purpose, I re-

gard them not, and will not scruple to hold their judgment in

contempt."

In brief, the life work of Copernicus was to place the sun

in its true place as the center of the solar system, instead of the

earth, and to greatly simplify by this one step the theory of

planetary motion. There are many defects in his system; but

as one biographer said: "His chief merit is that he dared to

look at facts of nature with his own eyes, unhampered by the

prejudice of centuries. A system venerable with age, and sup-

ported by great names, was universally believed, and had been

believed for centuries. To doubt this system and to seek after

a better one at a time when all men's minds were governed by

tradition — this required a great mind and a high character.

Such a mind and such a character had this monk of Frauen-

burg."