Commemoration

To commemorate the great astronomer his name was given to many institutions, places and things. Below you will find some examples of them.

Institutions

There are many Copernicus' schools, hospitals or even hotels in Poland and all over the world.

Nicolaus Copernicus University is located in Toruń. It was named after Nicolaus Copernicus who was born in this town in 1473. It is one of the biggest univeristies in Poland.

Copernicus Science Center was opened in 2005 in Warsaw. It is an interactive science museum. The Centre is the largest institution of its type in Poland and one of the most advanced in Europe. The Heavens of Copernicus Planetarium is an integral part of the Centre.

The Heavens of Copernicus

The tower in Frombork is believed to be where Copernicus worked and studied the stars. It was the first place to be opened as a museum to him in 1912 and these days it contains a small exhibition showing how it might have looked in Copernicus' time.

Copernicus' Tower in Frombork

Copernicus' craters and a planetoid

There are two craters named after Copernicus. One is located on the Moon, and the other one is on Mars. The plantoid 1322, discovered in 1934 was also named after the astronomer.

Copernicus (lunar crater) from Apollo 12

Copernicus- martian crater

A chemical element

Copernicium is a synthetic chemical element with symbol Cn and atomic number 112. It was first created in 1996.

An airport

Copernicus Airport Wrocław

Coins and banknotes

A Polish coin from 1969

A banknote was used in  Poland in 1975-1996

A commemorative coin (50 $ NZD) from 2015

Plants

A rose called "Mikołaj Kopernik"

Clematis called "Mikołaj Kopernik"

Food and drinks

Polish gingerbread from "Kopernik Toruń" factory

Beer

Copernicus vodka

Co- author: Natalia Piątek, 2R

Paintings

Nicolaus Copernicus is usually depicted surrounded by astronomical tools and aids such as triquetrum, solar quadrant and armillary astrolabe. Sometimes he is shown holding a lily of the valley in his hands. The flower symbolises Copernicus' connection with medicine. 

You will find some intereting examples of Copernicus' paintings below.

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń The most famous portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus, probably painted in the eighties of the 16th century, perhaps according to Copernicus' „autograph”. Some researchers assign  the authorship of the painting to Marcus Gheeraerts. The painting depicts an astronomer from Toruń, aged about 35-40 years. The scientist is depicted as a character  with a slim face, expressive features and long, dark and wavy hair in a black cassock and a red sleeveless strait jacket. 

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus in Toruń painted probably by Marcus Gheeraerts.

The astronomer Copernicus, or a conversation with God - an oil painting by Jan Matejko depicting Nicolaus Copernicus during the observation of the sky from his private tower on the cathedral hill in Frombork. He is dressed in black robes, with one hand pointing upwards and the other holding a zirconia. On his face is a surprise, symbolizing a great discovery. A direct pretext for painting the painting was the 400th anniversary of the astronomer's birthday in 1873. Dr Henryk Levittoux, a well-known Warsaw physician and naturalist, posed for the painting. The symbol of his great knowledge and great abilities is a burning lighthouse, which is located near the board. And yet a man who knows the world so well and is able to embrace it with his intellect managed to surprise him. 

The astronomer Copernicus, or a conversation with God -  by Jan Matejko 

Karol Hemmerlein, Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus according to the epitaph from St. John's Church in Toruń. The main place in the painting is occupied by a large image of Copernicus, standing with his hands folded for prayer, in a black robe and a red sleeveless straitjacket. The character does not look at what is in the background, but at the viewer. Next to it is a skull symbolizing death and passing. Behind the window there is a distant mountainous, dark landscape. 

Portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus by Karol Hemmerlein

If you want to see other examples of painitngs of Copernicus' you can go here. 

Author: Zuzanna Kachniarz, 2R
Supervisor: Emilia Woźniak

De revolutionibus....

Copernicus started working on his new system about 1514. He initially outlined his system in a short, untitled, anonymous manuscript called Commentarious. 

Between 1514 and 1529, Copernicus observed the Moon, the Sun, and the planets in order to explain more precisely the pattern of their motions. In this regard he formulated a second, more developed version of his theory. The developed version of his theory is known under the title De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres). The writing of this treatise started not later than in 1515-1516 and ended in June 1542. 

Title page, 2nd edition

Although De revolutionibus was finished, Copernicus hestitated to publish it. He was strongly supported by his student and friend Georg Rheticus, a young mathematician from Wittenberg. Copernicus finally agreed to publication of more of his main work—in 1542, a treatise on trigonometry, which was taken from the second book of the still unpublished De revolutionibus. Rheticus published it in Copernicus' name. Under strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen that the first general reception of his work had not been unfavorable, Copernicus finally agreed to give the book tto be delivered to Rheticus in Wittenberg for printing at Nuremberg. De Revolutionibus was published in Nuremberg, just before Copernicus's death, in 1543. The manuscript of this work had been missing, but after 200 years it was found in Prague. Now it is kept in the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow. It is also available on line (here).

De revolutionibus was written in Latin. The book is dedicated to Pope Paul III in a preface that argues that mathematics, not physics, should be the basis for understanding and accepting his new theory. De revolutionibus is divided into six "books" (sections or parts).
The publishing of the book started The Copernican Revolution. You can read more about it here.

De revolutionibus was criticised for being not compatible with Catholic faith. that is why it was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of March 5, 1616 (more than 70 years after Copernicus' publication). De revolutionibus was not formally banned but merely withdrawn from circulation, pending "corrections" that would clarify the theory's status as hypothesis. It remained on the Index until 1835, when Pope Pius VII  removed the book from his revised Index. The first Polish translation of the book was made by Jan Baranowski and published in 1854.

Copernicus in a conversation with Aristotle and Ptolemy (1636)

Co- author: Kamil Nasiłowski, 2R

Geocentric vs heliocentric theory of the Universe

Geocentric model of the universe

The geocentric model (also known as geocentrism, or the Ptolemaic system) is a description of the Universe with Earth at the center. Under the geocentric model, the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets all orbited Earth. The geocentric model served as the predominant description of the cosmos in many ancient civilizations. It was formulated by the Alexandrian astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy about AD 150.

The ancient Greeks, for example, considered the planets to include Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — as well as the Moon and the Sun. The Earth was in the center of it all (geocentric), with these planets revolving around it.

Geocentric Model of the Universe

The astronomical predictions of Ptolemy's geocentric model were used to prepare astrological and astronomical charts for over 1500 years. So important did this become in culture that the days of the week were named after the gods, represented by these seven moving points of light.
The geocentric model from the late 16th century onward, was gradually replaced by the heliocentric model of Copernicus. 

Heliocentric Model of the Universe

The heliocentric model is a description of the Universe with the Sun at the center. 

The Heliocentric Model of the Universe

Copernicus presented his theory in his work which today is known under the title De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres). The treatise started was published in Nuremberg in 1543. It outlined the heliocentric universe similar to what we know today. Among his ideas, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, was that the planets’ orbits should be plotted with respect to the “fixed point” Sun, that the Earth itself is a planet that turns on an axis, and that when the axis changes directions with respect to the stars, this causes the North Pole star to change over time.

Co- author: Agata Stefaniuk, 2R

Copernicus' sculptures and monuments

Have you ever wondered how many sculptures of Nicolaus Copernicus there are in Poland? Where are they and why? We will try to answer these questions. Below you will find some examples of the monuments. 

Warsaw

The most famous of all monuments „The Nicolaus Copernicus Monument” is located in Warsaw on Krakowskie Przedmieście street. The bronze statue of a Polish astronomer holding a compass and armillary sphere was designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen in 1822. It was funded by public donations and by the scientist and philosopher Stanisław Staszic. Replicas of Warsaw's Copernicus monument stand in Montreal and Chicago. 

Toruń 

The oldest Copernicus’ monument in the world is located in Cathedral Basilicia of Sants Johns in Toruń. 

Nowadays it is difficult to imagine Toruń without the Copernicus’s Monument standing near the Old City Town Hall. The bronze statue of the astronomer stands on a granite pedestal bearing a Latin inscription in gold letters, which translates as: ‘Nicolaus Copernicus of Toruń, moved the Earth, held the Sun and the heavens’. Garbed in a professorial gown, Copernicus holds an astronomical instrument in his left hand, the astrolabe. Beneath the pedestal there is a well with a dolphin; from the dolphin’s mouth, situated above the well, flows water. The well was built to commemorate Toruń’s first water supply system, allegedly installed by Copernicus. Today, the monument is an important meeting point for both the townspeople and visitors.

Copernicus advertises A1 motorway on the Toruń New Market.

Olsztyn 

There is the Copernicus’ bench in the Old Town in Olsztyn. The atronomer is sitting on the bench and holding armillary sphere and a paper scroll in his hands. He is wearing a long coat. The sculpture was made by Urszula Szmyt to commemorate 530th anniversary of Copernicus’ birth.

Cracow

The Copernicus’ monument was built in order to celebrate 500th anniversary of restoration of University of Cracow. It shows the astronomer wearing student’s clothes. 

Krosno

Łódź

Copernicus’ monument is standing in front of the Copernicus’ hospital in Łódź.

Poznań

Wrocław

Built in 1974 in Wrocław, this statue of Nicolaus Copernicus was erected in memory of the Polish scientist on the 500th anniversary of his birth. 

Bydgoszcz 

Wieliczka

Over life size stone (salt / halite) statue of Nicolaus Copernicus is located in Wieliczka Salt Mine in chamber of his name. It was made in 1973 by artist Wladyslaw Hapek. This statue is really simple one, so even the clothes are not so recognizable. Nicolaus himself has in his hands an astronomical object- the Sun or the Earth.

Co- author: Justyna Kuwał, 2R

Copernicus' private life

Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in Toruń and he died on May 21, 1543 in Frombork. He belonged to the rich merchant family. He was the son of Mikołaj and Barbara. His father's family came from Cracow. Copernicus had three older siblings: brother Andrew, sister Barbara and sister Catherine. The brothers studied together in Cracow and in Italy. One sister married to a merchant and the other one became a nun.

Copernicus' House in Toruń. The great astronomer was born here.

The Copernicus family probably came from the Silesian village called Koperniki, near Nysa. Nicolaus Senior, astronomer's father, was a merchant who trades in copper with Gdańsk. During the Thirteen Years' War, in August 1454, he participated in financial negotiations between Cardinal Zbigniew Oleśnicki and Prussian towns. Around 1458 he moved to Toruń and got married with Barbara Watzenrode. She came from a wealthy patrician family from Toruń. Her brother, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger became a Warmian bishop. When Copernicus' father died he supported his nephews financially and became their patron.

Lucas Watzenrode the Younger- Copernicus' mathernal uncle

And what about own family of Nicolaus Copernicus?

Nicolaus Copernicus didn’t have a wife. There are rumors, that he had a closer relationship with Anna Schilling, who was his housekeeper. However, she was neither his wife nor she gave him children. Copernicus also did not prolong the family.

Copernicus and his housekeeper (beloved?) Anna Schilling

What nationality is Nicolaus Copernicus?

This is a dispute between Polish and German scientists. Some people argue about his German roots, others prove Polish. Scientists have been studying the origin of the great astronomer for years. The most fitting opinion seems to be that he was neither German nor Polish, and the subjects of the Polish king - then there was no concept of nationality, and great emphasis was placed on the monarch's serfdom and place of origin.

Nicolas Copernicus died at age 70 on 24 May 1543. Since 1542 he was seized with apoplexy and paralysis, and he According to the legend he was presented with the final printed pages of his Dē revolutionibus orbium coelestium on the same day that he died. He is said to have awoken from a stroke-induced coma, looked at his book, and then died peacefully.

Copernicus' death by Aleksander Lesser

Copernicus was buried in Frombork Cathedral. For over two centuries, archaeologists searched the cathedral in vain for Copernicus' remains. Finally, in August 2005, after scanning beneath the cathedral floor, the archeologists discovered what they believed to be Copernicus's remains. The DNA from the bones found in the grave matched hair samples taken from a book owned by Copernicus which was kept at the library of the University of Uppsala in Sweden.

 Copernicus' book in Uppsala University. It contained some Copernicus' hair that were DNA analyzed.

On 22 May 2010 Copernicus was given a second funeral. Copernicus's remains were reburied in the same spot in Frombork Cathedral where part of his skull and other bones had been found. A black granite tombstone now identifies him as the founder of the heliocentric theory and also a church canon. 

Copernicus' 2010 gravestone in Frombork Cathedral

Author: Karolina Kukla, kl 4R

Supervisor: Emilia Woźniak

Education

Medieval Students

There are no surviving primary documents on the early years of Copernicus' childhood and education. Probably, Nicolaus Copernicus gained primary education in the parochial school in Toruń. In the local school he learnt how to write and read. He also learnt Latin and the basis of logic. The basic knowledge he gained in his hometown let Copernicus to start studying at the University of Cracow.

Church of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist- the place of Copernicus' baptism. Near the church there was a school where he attended as a child.

When Copernicus’ father died his uncle Lucas Watzenrode the Younger took the boy under his wing and became his protector. Thanks to Watzenrode’s financial support Nicolaus Copernicus and his brother Andreas could afford to study on an academic level. Copernicus began his studies in the Department of Arts acquiring the foundations for his subsequent mathematical achievements. The studies gave him a grounding in the mathematical astronomy taught at the University (arithmetic, geometry, geometric optics, cosmography and astronomy) and a good knowledge of the philosophical and natural-science writings of Aristotle. Copernicus' four years in Cracow initiated his analysis of logical contradictions in the two "official" systems of astronomy—Aristotle's theory of homocentric spheres, and Ptolemy's mechanism. Copernicus didn’t get any academic degree, because it would be an obsctacle to study abroad.

Collegium Maius- the oldest part of the Cracow University

Without taking a degree, Copernicus left Cracow for the court of his uncle Watzenrode, who wanted to place his nephew in the Warmia canonry. For unclear reasons—probably due to opposition from part of the chapter, Copernicus' installation was delayed, inclining Watzenrode to send both his nephews to study canon law in Italy. Copernicus went to Bologna and signed himself into the register of the Bologna University.

The Bologna University

It should be assumed that before becoming a student of Civil and Canon Law Copernicus must have become a ‘Master of Liberal Arts’. Copernicus studied Roman Law and  Canon Law.  Presumably, Copernicus started reading Greek and medicine at the Faculty of Arts (artes). He did not abandon his beloved astronomy and conducted some observations which confirmed his earlier objections about the geocentric model of the universe. He also  befriended Professor Domenico Maria Novara of Ferrara and  assisted him in his astronomical observations. Together they went to Rome in the jubilee year of 1500  to conduct observations and where, Copernicus might have given his only one public lecture. In Rome he observed the eclipse of the moon. In the summer of 1501 Copernicus left Italy and went to Warmia in order to personally ask the chapter to allow him to continue his studies. 

Copernicus is giving a lecture

Nicolaus Copernicus was given permission to study medicine at the University of Padua in order to become a medical advisor to his uncle and other canons from the chapter. In Padua Copernicus focused mainly on medical studies. He was interested in ancient authorities such as Hippocrates, Galen and Avicenna, studied the anatomy of the human body and the healing properties of herbs. Copernicus must have covered all the material constituting an artium baccalaurens (three year) degree because when he came back to Prussia he had a good reputation as a physician.

The University of Padua

In Padua Copernicus also studied languages. He learnt classical Greek well enough to start translating Simocatta’s Letters. On January 1503 he left Padua for Ferrara to sit a doctoral examination in Canon Law. Here, in May 1503 Copernicus took all the required examinations on Decretes and Decretalia and earned a doctorate in Canon Law, receiving then the following doctoral insignia: a biretta and ring. 

The University of Ferrara

Co-author: Karolina Mazurczak, 2F