Google Celebrates Nicolaus Copernicus and his Heliocentric Model

Want to know why Google is featuring a rotating model of our solar system today? The sun wasn't always the center of our solar system-at least according to experts in the 1500s. There was a time when the Earth was thought to be the center of the universe. Yet thanks to one Polish academic, this view was turned on its head.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on Feb. 19, 1473 in Thorn, Poland. His father was a successful copper merchant while his mother came from a powerful family of her own--her younger brother was Lucas Watzenrode the Younger, Prince-Bishop of Warmia. The youngest of four, Copernicus sought out knowledge wherever he could find it. He was educated in mathematics, astronomy and philosophy at the University of Krakow, but left his studies in 1495 when is uncle sought to install him in a vacant canonry.

That's when Copernicus's real studies began. While the appointment of the vacant position was delayed for several years, Copernicus studied law and medicine at the University of Padua. In addition, he studied canon law in Bologna and there, he made his first astronomical observation with astronomer Dominica Maria Novara da Ferrara.

After completing his studies, Copernicus served as secretary to his uncle until he died in 1512. That's when Copernicus began to make more astronomical observations, which would eventually change the way people viewed the universe. In 1514, he wrote his first treatise on a heliocentric model of the universe (a model where the sun is the center). He didn't publish his treatise, but he did continue to work on his manuscript. He eventually published the book right before his death in 1543.

The book itself wasn't popular. Only 400 copies were printed and although two popes did not oppose the manuscript, the model was not immediately adopted. Those that did read the book, though, were important and influential. Eventually, the idea of a heliocentric universe gained ground and helped fuel the scientific revolution.

So why is Google featuring Copernicus? It's his 540th birthday--so happy birthday, Copernicus. You've made the universe a better place.