12.03.2020

What is Nicolaus Copernicus most famous for? Philosophical views of Copernicus. Brothers are elected to the seats of canons

The end of 2019 turned out to be quite entertaining for the working part of Russians in terms of discussing the working regime in its last few days. Perhaps every respected person in our country expressed his opinion on whether December 31, 2019 should be made a day off, or left as a working day.

Generally, according to production calendar for 2019, for the whole of the Russian Federation, Tuesday 12/31/2019 is a working day, shortened by 1 hour due to the fact that this is the eve of a non-working holiday. According to the "classic" scheme, it is preceded by two days off (Saturday 28 December and Sunday 29 December 2019) and a working Monday 30 December 2019.

However, some Heads of regions decided to make December 31, 2019 a day off, by transferring the day of rest to it from Saturday December 28, 2019. Relevant Decrees were issued, binding on regional state employees and recommendatory for all other organizations in the region.

It turned out that in some regions of the Russian Federation, some organizations work on December 28, 2019 (on Saturday) and rest on the 31st, while the other part work on December 31, 2019 (on New Year's Eve) and rest on the 28th. And there are even organizations where half of the employees enter the service on December 28, and the other half on December 31.

As a result of the confusion that has arisen, many have a question regarding Sunday, December 29, 2019 - does it end up being a working day or a day off in Russia?

We answer:
Sunday 29 December 2019 is a public holiday in Russia.

There are no transfers of weekends and working days associated with the last Sunday of 2019, the federal legislation of the Russian Federation does not provide.

But let's get back to school holidays and tell you when it starts and how many days it lasts.

Regardless of the training system (modules, trimesters or quarters), begin the winter vacation 2019-2020 the same - on Saturday 28 December 2019. In some educational institutions on the first day of vacation, a New Year's event outside the school walls can be scheduled.

Most schools winter holidays last 12 days, until Wednesday 8 January 2020. There are schools where the vacation period is 16 days, until Sunday, January 12, 2020. From 17 to 24 February 2020 there will be a second winter vacation during trimesters, as well as during quarters for first graders. In any case, check the vacation schedule with the administration of your school.

That is, the winter holidays 2019-2020 for schoolchildren:
* when they start - from Saturday 28 December 2019
* how many days last - 12 days.
* when they end - on Wednesday, January 8, 2020
* first day of school - Thursday 9 January 2020

Here's what should be on the New Year's table in the year of the Rat:

* So, pie on the table is a must! With cabbage, meat, fish or sweet - any pie is attractive to a rodent.

* Salads can be divided into portions into tartlets.

* We recommend stuffing a baked bird (goose, duck or chicken) with rice in addition to apples and prunes, and when serving, decorate it beautifully fresh herbs and nuts.

* Considering mouse preference, don't forget salad with grated cheese or cheese slices. Lean varieties of well-cooked and thinly sliced meats can also grace the table.

* Don't forget about fruits. A vase with beautifully arranged apples, pears and grapes will please the mouse very much.

* Dishes from potatoes and carrots. The owners of cellars, who store winter stocks there, know firsthand about the love of rodents for these vegetables.

How to decorate the New Year's table for 2020:

In the design of the table opt for white, in serving - crystal and silver cutlery. The tablecloth on the table is also desirable white, because the color of the coming year is white!

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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

federal state autonomous educational institution higher professional education

"Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University

Elabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University

Essay

Subject: " Philosophical views of Copernicus"

Completed by: Shaygardanova I.I.

Checked by: Gromov E.V.

Yelabuga, 2015

Introduction

The "greatest progressive upheaval" was the Renaissance. This era is marked by great discoveries, the development of art and science. During this turning period, a person opens up new horizons, tries to know the whole world and himself in it. In the Renaissance, nature is not left without attention. The leading direction of philosophical thought of the XVI century. becomes natural philosophy. The desire for an in-depth and reliable knowledge of nature was reflected in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Giordano Bruno, Galileo Galilei. Their theoretical developments and experimental research contributed not only to changing the world, but also ideas about science, about the relationship between theory and practice. My work deals with the philosophical views of the Renaissance - Nicolaus Copernicus. He was one of the outstanding figures of philosophy in the Renaissance, who was the first to open the doors to the vast expanses of the Universe and establish the place of man in it. The relevance of this work lies in the analysis of the relationship between the philosopher and society, the penetration of new ideas, which is a problem at the present time.

The purpose of this essay was to analyze the philosophical ideas of Nicolaus Copernicus, to identify their features.

Tasks of this work:

* study the philosophical views of N. Copernicus as a representative of natural philosophy of the Renaissance.

* characterize his cosmological views, reveal their innovation.

Life of Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicholas Nikolaevich Copernicus (1473-1543) - Polish astronomer, creator of the heliocentric system of the world. He made a revolution in natural science, abandoning the doctrine of the central position of the Earth, accepted for many centuries. He explained the visible movements of the heavenly bodies by the rotation of the Earth around its axis and the revolution of the planets (including the Earth) around the Sun. Copernicus expounded his teachings in On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (1543), which was banned by the Catholic Church from 1616 to 1828.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in Polish city Torun in the family of a merchant who came from Germany. He was the fourth child in the family. He received his primary education, most likely, in a school located near the house at the Church of St. John.

Copernicus entered the University of Cracow in 1491, where he studied mathematics, medicine and theology with equal zeal, but he was especially attracted to astronomy. To continue his education, Copernicus went to Italy (1497) and entered the University of Bologna. In addition to theology, law and ancient languages, he had the opportunity to study astronomy there. However, in 1500 he left school, went to Rome, to his homeland, to Padua. It was only in 1503 that he managed to obtain the degree of Doctor of Canon Law in the biography of Nicolaus Copernicus. In 1506, Copernicus received news, perhaps far-fetched, of his uncle's illness. He left Italy and returned to his homeland. He settled first in the city of Lidzbark, and then took up the post of canon in Frombork, a fishing town at the mouth of the Vistula. He spent the next 6 years in the bishop's castle of Heilsberg, doing astronomical observations and teaching in Krakow. At the same time, he is a doctor, secretary and confidant of Uncle Lukash.

Astronomical observations begun by Copernicus in Italy were continued, albeit on a limited scale, in Lidzbark. But he deployed them with particular intensity at Frombork, in spite of the inconvenience of the great latitude of the place, which made it difficult to observe the planets, and of the frequent fogs from the Vistula Lagoon, and considerable cloudiness and overcast skies over this northern region.

The invention of the telescope was still far away, and the best instruments for pre-telescopic astronomy did not yet exist. With the help of instruments of that time, the accuracy of astronomical observations was brought up to one or two minutes. The most famous device used by Copernicus was the triquetrum, a parallax instrument. The second instrument used by Copernicus to determine the angle of the ecliptic, "horoscopies", sundial, a kind of quadrant.

In 1512, the bishop's uncle died. Copernicus moved to Frombork, a small town on the banks of the Vistula Lagoon, where he was a canon all this time, and began his spiritual duties. Scientific research he, however, did not quit. The northwestern tower of the fortress became an observatory.

Already in the 1500s, the idea of a new astronomical system was quite clear to him. He began to write a book describing a new model of the world. During these years (approximately 1503-1512) Copernicus distributed among his friends a handwritten summary of his theory ("Small Commentary on Hypotheses Relating to Celestial Motions"), and his student Rheticus published a clear exposition of the heliocentric system in 1539. Apparently, rumors about the new theory had already spread widely in the 1520s. Work on the main work - "On the rotation of the celestial spheres" - lasted almost 40 years, Copernicus constantly made adjustments to it, prepared new astronomical calculation tables.

Rumors about a new outstanding astronomer were spreading in Europe. There is a version, not documented, that Pope Leo X invited Copernicus to take part in the preparation calendar reform(1514, realized only in 1582), but he politely refused.

When necessary, Copernicus devoted his strength and practical work: according to his project, a new monetary system was introduced in Poland, and in the city of Frombork, he built a hydraulic machine that supplied water to all houses. Personally, as a doctor, he was engaged in the fight against the plague of 1519. During the Polish-Teutonic War (1519-1521) he organized a successful defense of the bishopric from the Teutons.

In 1531, the 58-year-old Copernicus retired and focused on completing his book. At the same time he worked medical practice(free of charge). Faithful Retik constantly fussed about the speedy publication of the work of Copernicus, but it progressed slowly. Fearing that the obstacles would be insurmountable, Copernicus circulated among his friends a brief synopsis of his work entitled "Small Commentary" (Commentariolus). In 1542, the scientist's condition deteriorated significantly, paralysis set in. right half body. Copernicus died on May 24, 1543 at the age of 70 from a stroke.

Philosophical views of Nicolaus Copernicus as a representative ofrenaissance philosophies

Astronomy has been the most important applied and at the same time ideological discipline in the natural sciences almost from the very beginning of its inception. In the Renaissance, the powerful impulses of astronomy, which contributed to the development of science and practice, came from the field of navigation, which acquired a worldwide scale and required more and more accurate orientation. The contradiction between the fundamental ideological, Aristotelian basis of the fundamental astronomical system and its applied significance, given to it by Ptolemy, developed more and more tangibly. The complex of astronomical knowledge received its most general expression in the geocentric system of Aristotle-Ptolemy that prevailed from ancient times. The idea of geocentrism, which came from Aristotle, was an organic expression of his teleological philosophical system, which required a finite cosmos, outside of which there was a divine prime mover. Aristotelian cosmology, being necessary integral part his physics, included ideas about the fundamental difference between the sublunar, terrestrial substance, which was composed of four traditional elements - water, earth, air and fire, subject to continuous changes, and an unchanging celestial substance - ether; about ideally circular and uniform motions of the Sun and planets around the Earth in special ethereal spheres; about the so-called intelligentsia - especially subtle intelligent spirits, in which they saw the main source of planetary motion, in the absence of a real understanding of the physical reasons for their movement in space.

Through the whole bright life Nicolaus Copernicus, from his student years in Krakow to last days, the main thread runs - the great work of establishing a new system of the world. Designed to replace the radically wrong geocentric system of Ptolemy. The twenties account for a significant part of the astronomical results of N. Copernicus. Many observations have been made. So, around 1523, observing the planets at the time of opposition, i.e. when the planet is in the opposite point of the celestial sphere to the Sun, Nicolaus Copernicus made an important discovery; he disproved the opinion that the position of the planetary orbits in space remains motionless. The line of apsides - a straight line connecting the points of the orbit at which the planet is closest to the Sun and most distant from it, changes its position compared to that observed 1300 years before and recorded in Ptolemy's Almagest. Reflecting on the Ptolemaic system of the world, Copernicus was amazed at its complexity and artificiality, and, studying the writings of ancient philosophers, especially Nikita of Syracuse and Philolaus, he came to the conclusion that not the Earth, but the Sun should be the motionless center of the Universe. Proceeding from this assumption, Copernicus very simply explained all the apparent intricacy of the movements of the planets, but, not yet knowing the true paths of the planets and considering them to be circles, he was forced to retain the epicycles and deferents of the ancients to explain the uneven movements.

Creating your heliocentric system, Copernicus relied on the mathematical and kinematic apparatus of Ptolemy's theory, on the latter's specific geometric and numerical patterns. The heliocentric system in the Copernican version can be formulated in seven statements:

There is no single center for all celestial orbits or spheres.

The center of the Earth is not the center of the world, but only the center of gravity and the lunar orbit.

All spheres move around the Sun, as around their center, as a result of which the Sun is the center of the whole world.

The ratio of the distance from the Earth to the Sun to the height of the firmament (that is, to the distance to the sphere of fixed stars) less relationship radius of the Earth to the distance from it to the Sun, moreover, the distance from the Earth to the Sun is negligible compared to the height of the firmament.

Every movement that is noticed in the firmament of heaven is connected not with any movement of the firmament itself, but with the movement of the earth. The earth, together with the elements surrounding it (air and water), makes a complete revolution around its unchanging poles during the day, while the firmament of heaven and the sky located on it remain motionless.

What seems to us to be the movement of the Sun is in fact connected with the movements of the Earth and our sphere, together with which we revolve around the Sun, like any other planet. Thus, the Earth has more than one motion.

The apparent direct and backward movements of the planets are not due to their movements, but to the movement of the Earth. Therefore, the motion of the Earth itself is sufficient to explain many apparent irregularities in the sky.

These seven theses clearly outline the contours of the future heliocentric system, the essence of which lies in the fact that the Earth simultaneously moves around its axis and around the Sun. So, in Ptolemy's model, all the planets obeyed a common (albeit incomprehensible within the framework of geocentrism) law: the radius vector of any planet in the epicycle always coincided with the radius vector of the Earth - the Sun, and the movement along the epicycle for the upper planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) and according to the deferent for the lower (Mercury, Venus) occurred with a single year period for all planets. In the Copernican model, this law received a simple and logical explanation. These statements completely contradicted the geocentric system that prevailed at that time. Although, from a modern point of view, the Copernican model is not radical enough. All the orbits in it are circular, the movement along them is uniform, so that the epicycles were preserved (although there were fewer of them than with Ptolemy). The mechanism that ensured the movement of the planets is also left the same - the rotation of the spheres to which the planets are attached. On the border of the world, Copernicus placed the sphere of fixed stars. Strictly speaking, Copernicus' model was not even heliocentric, since he did not place the Sun at the center of the planetary spheres.

The immortal work of Nicolaus Copernicus" On the rotations of the celestial spheres"

... I often wondered if it was possible to find some more dieta good combination of circles, whichcould be explain all the visible unevenness, and in such a way that every movement in itself was uniform, like this requires the principle of perfect motion. copernicus philosophical heliocentric

Nicholas Copernicus" Small comment"

By the beginning of the thirties, work on the creation of a new theory and its design in his work "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" (lat. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium) was basically completed. The work was published in Nuremberg in 1543; it was printed under the supervision of the best student of Copernicus, Rheticus. In the preface to the book, Copernicus writes: “By that time, the system of the world structure proposed by the ancient Greek scientist Claudius Ptolemy had existed for almost one and a half millennia. It consisted in the fact that the Earth rests motionlessly in the center of the Universe, and the Sun and other planets revolve around it.”

The first book (part) speaks of the sphericity of the world and the Earth, and instead of the position of the immobility of the Earth, another axiom is placed: the Earth and other planets rotate around an axis and revolve around the Sun. This concept is argued in detail, and the "opinion of the ancients" is convincingly refuted. From heliocentric positions, he easily explains the return motion of the planets.

Copernicus gave the Earth three rotations: the first - the rotation of the Earth around its axis with an angular velocity u; the second (with speed u?) - around the axis of the world, which is perpendicular to the plane of the earth's orbit and passes through its center; the third (with an oppositely directed speed u??) - around an axis parallel to the axis of the world and passing through the center of the Earth. The last two rotations form (with the exact coincidence of u? and u?? in magnitude) a pair of rotations, equivalent to the translational motion of the Earth around the Sun in a circular orbit.

Memorial plaque at the printing house of Johann Petraeus in Nuremberg, where the first edition of Copernicus' book "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" was published

In the second part of the work of Copernicus, information is given on spherical trigonometry and the rules for calculating the apparent positions of stars, planets and the Sun in the firmament.

The third talks about the annual movement of the Earth and the so-called precession of the equinoxes, which shortens the tropical year (from equinox to equinox) compared to the sidereal (return to the same position relative to the fixed stars) and leads to a shift in the line of intersection of the equator with the ecliptic, which changes ecliptic longitude of a star by one degree per century. Ptolemy's theory, in principle, could not explain this precession. Copernicus, on the other hand, gave this phenomenon an elegant kinematic explanation (having shown himself to be a very sophisticated mechanic): he suggested that the angular velocity u?? not exactly equal to u?, but slightly different from it; the difference between these angular velocities manifests itself in the precession of the equinoxes.

The fourth part talked about the Moon, the fifth - about the planets in general, and the sixth - about the reasons for changing the latitudes of the planets. The book also contained a star catalog, an estimate of the size of the Sun and Moon, the distances to them and to the planets (close to true), the theory of eclipses. It should be specially noted that the Copernican system (unlike the Ptolemy system) made it possible to determine the ratios of the radii of planetary orbits. This fact, and also the fact that the first and most important epicycle was omitted from the description of the motion of the planets, made the Copernican system simpler and more convenient than the Ptolemaic one.

Let us dwell on one of Mikhailov's remarks made in a report at the same anniversary where Fock also spoke. Mikhailov writes: "Since the loops in the motions of the planets turned out to be a reflection roundabout Earth in its orbit, the size of these loops indicated the distance of the planets: the farther the planet, the smaller the loop described by it. Based on this, Copernicus, using impeccable geometric reasoning, was able for the first time to determine the distances of the planets from the Sun, expressed in units of its distance from the Earth.<...>Copernicus gave a correct and accurate plan of the solar system, compiled on a single scale (my italics; the unit was orbis magnus - the radius of the earth's orbit. - S.T.), and it was the business of the next generations to express all distances in earth units (stages, kilometers or other )".

Conclusion

In the philosophy of the Renaissance, the objective knowledge of the world becomes the main goal. The development of natural science achieved significant success in the 16th century. Cognition and reason come out "from exile", where they are imprisoned by the medieval attitude to the primacy of faith over feelings, and feelings over reason. The world, the universe are endless. In natural philosophy, the central place in the range of problems under consideration is given to the problem of the infinite. The infinity of the world is known by the mind. In the Renaissance, N. Copernicus, creating a heliocentric system of the world, actually shows the creative possibilities of the mind, which allows, through the selection and study of contradictions in the sphere of the phenomenon, to penetrate into the essence of things, which can be completely opposite to the phenomenon. So, Copernicus created the heliocentric system of the world. His main ideas are as follows: the Earth is not a fixed center of the world, but rotates around its axis and at the same time around the Sun, which is in the center of the world. This discovery produced a revolutionary upheaval. It refuted the picture of the world that existed for more than a thousand years, which was based on the geocentric system of Aristotle and Ptolemy. But it took at least a century before Copernicus' heliocentric system gained widespread acceptance. complete system Copernicus was learned only by Kepler. Copernicus, in the first book of his work "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres", gave only the initial sketch of the picture of the solar system, in which each planetary sphere is depicted as a circle in the center of which was the Sun. This picture was wrong. It was created by Aristarchus of Samosok. However, Johannes Kepler corrected this picture, he replaced the circles with ellipses, and instead of moving along a circle with a constant speed, he introduced movement with a constant sectorial speed. These two laws of Kepler provided the foundation on which modern celestial mechanics is built.

List of used literature

1. Antipova O.L. "The development of natural science in the Renaissance" [ Electronic resource] - Access mode. - http://bibliofond.ru/view.aspx?id=134522 (date of access: 01/02/2015).

2. K. Marx and F. Engels. Soch., ed. II, vol. 21. - 785s.

3. Copernicus, Nicholas (biography) [Electronic resource] - Access mode. --URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus,_Nicholas (date of access: 01/03/2015).

4. Levin A. The Man Who Moved the Earth // Popular Mechanics.-- 2009.-- No. 6.

5. Mikhailov A.A. Nicolaus Copernicus, his life and work // Nicolaus Copernicus. S. 18, 20.

6. N. Copernicus. On the rotations of the celestial spheres, 1964, p. 553.

7. Nicolaus Copernicus - biography. [Electronic resource] - Access mode. --URL: http://to-name.ru/biography/nikolaj-kopernik.htm (date of access: 01/02/2015).

8. Development of natural sciences. N. Copernicus, J. Bruno, G. Galileo. [Electronic resource] - Access mode. --URL:http://lib.kstu.kz:8300/tb/books/Filosofiya/t5gl2.htm (date of access: 01/02/2015).

9. Engelgardt M.A. Nicholas Copernicus. Chapter 4

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Nicolaus Copernicus contribution to astronomy

Before Nicolaus Copernicus, the Earth was considered the only immovable body in the universe and itself main part universe. Religion taught that all heavenly bodies were specially created for the Earth and people. However, the studies and works of Nicolaus Copernicus forced science to abandon the Ptolemaic concept of the world. And that's why.

Scientist Nicolaus Copernicus put forward a revolutionary theory about what exactly The sun, not the earth, is at the center of the world. And planets move around it, including the Earth with its satellite - the Moon. Far away from solar system the sphere of stars is located. In other words, the astronomer reduced our planet to the rank of an ordinary cosmic body. He explained the visible movements of stars and planets by the annual and daily revolution of the Earth around the star. The scientist first described the change of day and night, the seasons. In his work “On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres” (1543), which Copernicus dedicated to the Pope, he described the entire inconsistency of the previously prevailing idea of heaven and earth. Also in the book, the genius placed tables of stars, instructions for observing the planets, useful information on spherical astronomy and trigonometry, and explained in more detail the new system of the world. After his death, dad Gregory XIII Based on the research data of Nicolaus Copernicus, he introduced a more accurate calendar - the Gregorian.

The theory of Copernicus, in comparison with the theory of Ptolemy, was simpler, more practical. Movement in the Universe, according to it, was subject to a single mechanics and general laws. New system world is called the heliocentric system of the world.

In addition to astronomical research, Nicolaus Copernicus invented the hydraulic system and plumbing. The hydraulic developments of the scientist at the beginning of the 16th century were very progressive. He was the first to design the complex for effective use water resources. The invention supplied water to houses, regulated the flow, provided river navigation, used water energy for mills, filled fortress ditches and city wells with water. Today, water pipes created by him operate in Frauenburg and Grundzendz. Nicolaus Copernicus also designed for the Frombork Tower mechanical lift. In addition, the scientist is founder of the new Polish monetary system.

The discoveries of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus not only made it possible to create a new scientific paradigm, but also made a real revolution in human consciousness, becoming the basis for a new picture of the world. The Renaissance, during which the scientist worked, became a turning point for the life of all of Europe. It was then that the most progressive representatives of mankind made a breakthrough in many areas of knowledge. The works of Copernicus marked the beginning of another scientific revolution and became part of a new natural science.

short biography

The famous canon and astronomer was born in the city of Torun in a wealthy merchant family on February 19, 1473. Since Torun at the turn of XV-XVI several times passed from hand to hand, becoming the property of either the Teutonic Order or the Polish king, Germany and Poland are still arguing about what nationality Copernicus was. Torun is now part of Poland.

In the early 1480s, a plague epidemic broke out in Europe, killing many thousands of people, including Nicolaus Copernicus Sr., the father of the future scientist. In 1489, the mother of the family also died. The guardianship of the remaining orphans was taken over by their uncle, Lukasz Wachenrode, who was a bishop of the diocese of Varma. He gave very a good education to his nephews - Nikolai and his older brother Andrzej.

After the young people graduated from school in Torun, they continued their education at the cathedral school in the city of Wloclawska, and then went to Krakow, where they entered the Jagiellonian University at the Faculty of Arts. Here Nikolai met the famous astronomer of that time - Professor Wojciech Brudzewski. Brudzevsky believed that a scientist should respect the works of his predecessors, but at the same time not stop at the empty reproduction of other people's theories, but move on and learn to compare the works of the classics with the latest hypotheses. Brudzevsky's approach largely determined the future scientific path of Copernicus himself.

In 1495, the brothers graduated from the university, became canons in their uncle's diocese, and went to Italy. Here they continued their education at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bologna. Within the walls of Bologna, Nicolaus Copernicus met astronomy teacher Domenico Maria di Novara. Together with the teacher, Copernicus began to regularly observe the stars. It was then that he noticed that the real movement of the heavenly bodies does not correspond to the scheme of the geocentric Universe described by Ptolemy.

After studying in Bologna, the Copernicans continued to travel around Italy. For some time, Nikolai lectured on mathematics in Rome and communicated with representatives of the Italian nobility. In the early 1500s, Copernicus was also educated in Padua and Ferrara. Here he became acquainted with medicine and received a doctorate in divinity. A few years later, at the insistence of his uncle, the scientist returned to Poland and became the personal secretary and at the same time the family doctor of Bishop Wachenrode. In parallel, he continued his studies in astronomy in Krakow. Almost a ten-year stay in Italy made Copernicus a comprehensively erudite person who absorbed the latest achievements of all major applied sciences.

In 1516, after the death of Bishop Wachenrode, Nicolaus Copernicus moved to Frombork and took up the usual duties of a canon, at which time he began to develop his heliocentric system.

However, Poland remembered Nicolaus Copernicus not only as a brilliant astronomer and clergyman. He also:

developed some economic laws that made it possible to carry out monetary reform in Poland,
how the doctor successfully fought the plague,
made up detailed maps Poland, Lithuania and the Vistula (now Kaliningrad) Bay,
came up with a system for supplying water to the houses of Frombork,
during the years of the Polish-Teutonic War led the defense of the city.

In addition to astronomy, Nicolaus Copernicus was fond of painting, studying foreign languages and mathematics.

Since the works of Copernicus, dedicated to his heliocentric system, were published at the very end of the scientist’s life, the Catholic Church did not have time to accept necessary measures against a dissident astronomer. Nicolaus Copernicus died of a stroke on May 24, 1543, surrounded by his friends and students.

Development of the heliocentric system

Medieval Europe inherited ancient ideas about the structure of the cosmos, namely the geocentric system of Claudius Ptolemy, developed in the 2nd century AD. e. Ptolemy taught that:

The earth is at the center of the universe;
She is motionless;
All celestial bodies revolve around the Earth at a constant speed along certain lines - epicycles and deferents.

The Greek scientist left notes that also related to the calculations of the distance between space objects and the speed of their movement. For many centuries, the Ptolemaic system was generally accepted throughout Europe. Based on it, people calculated the fairways of ships, determined the length of the year and made calendars.

The first attempts to create other ideas about the Universe arose even before the birth of Ptolemy. Some ancient astronomers believed that the Earth, like other celestial bodies, revolves around the Sun, which is at the center of the world. However, these theories are not widely accepted.

Even during the study of the starry sky under the guidance of Novara, Nicolaus Copernicus noticed that the paths he observed along which the planets move did not correspond to Ptolemy's epicycles. Initially, the scientist wanted only to make minor corrections to the system of his predecessor, however, the observations gave stunning results. real movement planets in their orbits clearly indicated that they did not revolve around the Earth, but around the Sun.

Astronomical observations, already carried out in Frombork, were not easy for Copernicus. In addition to the fact that he devoted most of his time to his direct duties as a canon, the astronomer was greatly interfered with weather. Frombork was located on the banks of the Vistula Lagoon, so thick sea fogs constantly stood over the town. For his work, Copernicus used mainly only two tools:

Triquetrum - a special ruler that made it possible to determine the zenith distances of astronomical objects;
Horoscopy, with which it was possible to determine the height of heavenly bodies above the horizon.

Despite the fact that Copernicus' arsenal of astronomical instruments was not so great, the scientist managed to produce complex and very accurate calculations that initiated the formation of a new scientific paradigm. It is curious that the technical tools to directly prove the rotation of the Earth around the Sun appeared only 200 years after the death of the scientist.

Copernicus was a sane person and understood that his revolutionary conclusions could lead to accusations of heresy. Therefore, although the scientist did not make much secret from his observations, all his formulations were quite careful and streamlined. His hypotheses were outlined in a small work - "Small comments". This book was not intended for a wide range of readers and passed from hand to hand among the friends of Copernicus.

The astronomer was also saved by the fact that the Catholic Church had not yet come to a consensus: whether to consider the supporters of heliocentrism as heretics or not. In addition, the Catholic hierarchs needed the services of Copernicus: at the beginning of the 16th century, the question arose of creating a new calendar and establishing exact dates. church holidays. First of all, it was required to develop a formula for calculating exact date Easter. The old Julian calendar complicated the calculations, because it did not take into account about 8 hours a year, and required reworking. Copernicus, who was invited for this purpose, declared that such a serious work should be based on careful astronomical observations. In particular, it was necessary to establish the exact duration of the year and the trajectories of the Sun, Moon and neighboring planets.

While working on the new calendar, Copernicus finally became convinced of the falsity of the geocentric system. Many of Copernicus' solutions were ideal for a situation in which the Earth revolved around the sun, and not vice versa.

In the early 1530s, Copernicus decides to present his ideas in a finished and edited version. Thus begins work on the most important work of the scientist's life - "On the revolutions of celestial bodies." Copernicus did not forget about caution, therefore he presented his conclusions as just one of the possible theories of the structure of the Universe. The book included not only the results of astronomical observations, but also the very essence of the philosophical views of Copernicus. He wrote that:

The earth has a spherical shape, it revolves around the sun and is just one of many planets, and not the center of the universe;
Movement is relative, it is possible to talk about it only if there is a reference point;
Space is much larger than the area visible from Earth, and most likely infinite.

At the same time, the scientist did not abandon the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating the world by a divine essence.

"On the Revolutions of Celestial Bodies" was published a few days before the death of the astronomer - in May 1543. Thus, Copernicus devoted almost 40 years to the development of the heliocentric system - from the moment the first inaccuracies in the works of Ptolemy were discovered to the formulation of the final version of his views.

The fate of the scientific heritage of Nicolaus Copernicus

At first, the book of Copernicus did not cause much concern in the Catholic environment. This was due to two reasons. Firstly, the abundance of formulas, figures and diagrams was incomprehensible to an unprepared person. Secondly, the scientist very subtly presented his ideas in the form of just an alternative view. Therefore, the work of the astronomer freely spread throughout Europe for a long time. A few years later, the hierarchs realized the full danger of the teaching set forth in "On the Revolutions of Heavenly Bodies". But this, however, did not prevent them from using the results of the work of Copernicus to compile a new calendar. In 1582, despite the fact that the late Copernicus was considered a heretic, Europe began to gradually switch to the modern Gregorian calendar, based on the calculations of the disgraced astronomer.

The revolutionary ideas of Copernicus contradicted the picture of the world, which was strongly supported by the Catholic Church. To accept the heliocentric system meant to recognize that:

The earth, which was God's creation, is not in the center, but on the periphery of the universe;
There is no heavenly hierarchy;
The idea of anthropocentrism is debatable;
There is no cosmic prime mover.

However, on for a long time the name of Copernicus was forgotten. At the end of the 16th century, the Italian Dominican monk Giordano Bruno was engaged in popularizing the ideas of Copernicus. Unlike the Polish astronomer, he was not afraid to hide his views and openly preach them. This led Bruno to death at the stake, but at the same time made a real revolution in the minds of progressive Europeans. They started talking about Copernicus, and the best minds of that time began to get acquainted with his system.

Only in 1616, a special commission of inquisitors decided to include the book of Copernicus in the Index of Forbidden Books. However, the spread of heliocentrism was already unstoppable. Despite all the prohibitions and inertia of religious dogmas, the doctrine of the central position of the Sun in the Universe by the beginning of the 17th century had become generally accepted.

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