Copernicus Life

Timeline created by breanna in Science and Technology

Timeline Text view

Event Date:	Event Title:	Event Description:
02/19/1473	Birthdate	Born in the City of Thorn
01/01/1483	Dad Died	Uncle took him in
01/01/1496	Signed into the German Natio	A German-language correspondence between Copernicus and Duke Albert of Prussia has survived. Some German scholars assert that German should be considered Copernicus’ native language because Toruń was predominantly German-speaking, because a German-language correspondence has survived to illustrate his proficiency, and because, while studying law at Bologna in 1496, he signed into the German natio (Natio Germanorum), a student organization for German-speakers of all ethnicities, kingdoms
01/01/1510	Moved to Frombork
03/29/1512	Uncle Died
04/01/1512	Participated in the election of Fabian of Lossainen as Prince-Bishop of Warmia
01/01/1514	Heliocentric Model Proposed	Nicolai Copernici de hypothesibus motuum coelestium a se constitutis commentariolus was the name of this model. It was not released in full print until 1878
01/01/1526	Wrote Monetae cudendae ratio	A study of the value of money
01/01/1532	Copernicus had basically completed his work on the manuscript of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium	But despite urging by his closest friends, he resisted openly publishing his views, not wishing—as he confessed—to risk the scorn "to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses."
01/01/1532	Nearly completed De revolutionibus orbium coelestium	But despite urging by his closest friends, he resisted openly publishing his views, not wishing—as he confessed—to risk the scorn "to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses."
01/01/1533	Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter delivered a series of lectures in Rome outlining Copernicus' theory	Pope Clement VII and several Catholic cardinals heard the lectures and were interested in the theory.
11/01/1536	Nikolaus Cardinal von Schönberg, Archbishop of Capua, wrote to Copernicus from Rome	Some years ago word reached me concerning your proficiency, of which everybody constantly spoke. At that time I began to have a very high regard for you... For I had learned that you had not merely mastered the discoveries of the ancient astronomers uncommonly well but had also formulated a new cosmology. In it you maintain that the earth moves; that the sun occupies the lowest, and thus the central, place in the universe... Therefore with the utmost earnestness I entreat you, most learned sir,
01/01/1539	Georg Joachim Rheticus, a Wittenberg mathematician, arrived in Frombork	Copernicus was still working on De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (even if not convinced that he wanted to publish it) when in 1539 Georg Joachim Rheticus, a Wittenberg mathematician, arrived in Frombork. Philipp Melanchthon, a close theological ally of Martin Luther, had arranged for Rheticus to visit several astronomers and study with them.
03/11/1542	Rheticus published a treatise on trigonometry by Copernicus	Later included in the second book of De revolutionibus
01/01/1543	Copernicus' "Commentariolus" summarized his heliocentric theory	It listed the "assumptions" upon which the theory was based as follows: 1. There is no one center of all the celestial circles or spheres. 2. The center of the earth is not the center of the universe, but only of gravity and of the lunar sphere. 3. All the spheres revolve about the sun as their mid-point, and therefore the sun is the center of the universe. 4. The ratio of the earth's distance from the sun to the height of the firmament (outermost celestial sphere containing
05/24/1543	Death	Died in Frauenbuerg.Legend has it that the first printed copy of De revolutionibus was placed in his hands on the very day that he died, allowing him to take farewell of his life's work. He is reputed to have awoken from a stroke-induced coma, looked at his book, and then died peacefully.
Timespan Dates:	Timespan Title:	Timespan Description:
02/19/1473 to 05/24/1543	Historical Events