Google Doodle Displays Nicolaus Copernicus 540th Birthday
Nicolaus Copernicus, world famous mathematician, astronomer, and the man who transformed our understanding of the solar system and is best known for his theory that the sun is the center of the universe and not the Earth is the subject of Tuesday's Google doodle.
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on 19 February 1473 in the city of Thorn, in the province of Royal Prussia, in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. Copernicus completed his matriculation in 1491-92 and began his studies at the Department of Arts during the heyday of the Krakow astronomical-mathematical school, which laid the foundations for his subsequent mathematical achievements. Copernicus became a pupil of the famous Albert Brudzewski, who was the first to state that the Moon moves in an ellipse and always shows its same side to the Earth, and was as established name in astronomy during the time. Nicolaus Copernicus did not graduate from the college, and later enrolled at a university in Bolgona, Italy. Beginnng of the Theory of Heliocentricism
He stayed in Italy until 1503, at which point he returned to Warmia, to live with his uncle, who enjoyed the title Prince-Bishopric of Warmia. Copernicus was his uncle's secretary and physician and resided in the Bishop's castle at Lidzbark (Heilsberg). This is where he began work on his heliocentric theory. Heliocentricism is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun at the centre of the Solar System.
Though Heliocentricism has now been proven and is widely accepted, it wasn't the case during Copernicus's time, when many, including most religious institutions and leaders, believed that the Earth was at the centre of the Universe. This belief has been termed Geocentrism. Copernicus published the first draft of his heliocentric theories some time before 1514. This was shared with a small group of friends under the title "Commentariolus" ("Little Commentary"). He spent the next several years improving upon this theory via observing astronomical bodies and mathematical calculations. By 1532 Copernicus had all but completed his work and had consolidated his observations in a manuscript titled De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. However, he refused to have this published and shared beyond his inner circle as he did not want to risk the scorn "to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses." In 1539, Georg Joachim Rheticus, a mathematician, came to live with Nicolaus Copernicus and learn from him. Rheticus stayed with him for two years and published Narratio prima (First Account), outlining the essence of Copernicus' theory. The book was very well received. After this, Rheticus convinced Copernicus to have De revolutionibus published. 
However, legend has it, that Copernicus died the very day the first printed copy of De revolutionibus was placed in his hands. It is said that he had awoken from a stroke-induced coma, looked at his book, and then died peacefully. While studying at the University of Bologna, his passions for geography and astronomy were encouraged by a mathematics professor, Domenico Maria de Novara. He returned to Poland and worked there for several years as a secretary to his uncle, a bishop, before taking on an administrative post in the city of Frauenberg, where he continued to study astronomy. By 1514, at the behest of the Catholic church, he was involved in working to improve the calendar and in 1530 produced a major piece of research, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). His observations were the first to place the sun, not the Earth, at the centre of what is now known as the solar system. His heliocentric revolution was condemned by Martin Luther. He died in May 1543. Legend has it that the first printed copy of De Revolutionibus was placed in his hands on the day of his death. His long-lost skeleton was located in 2005 under floor tiles near one of the side altars in the 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral in Frombork. Copernicus in his seminal work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium publicly expressed his views about the heliocentric hypothesis. The work argued that the solar system is comprised of eight spheres in which the Sun stood at the centre motionless. And the other planets each in its own sphere revolved around the Sun. His epochal book created controversy and raised the fear of accusations of blasphemy as it was not understandable to most of the astronomers of his time. His work was not published for many years until before his death in 1543. Today's Google doodle celebrates his proven theory that revolutionised the astronomical science. The doodle features the Sun at the centre of the solar system and the other planets revolving around it. It also features the moon revolving around the Earth. Google's logo is clearly visible in the doodle. The third letter of Google's logo 'O' is replaced by the Sun. The Google doodle depicts the known planets of the time Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn revolving around the Sun, while the Moon revolves around the Earth. This is solar system as described in De revolutionibus.Read more...
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