Nicolaus Copernicus
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Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. The publication of Copernicus's model in his book De revoluti
"Toruń portrait" (c. 1580)
Copernicus's Toruń birthplace (ul. Kopernika 15, left). Together with no. 17 (right), it forms Muzeum Mikołaja Kopernika.
Copernicus's maternal uncle, Lucas Watzenrode the Younger
Collegium Maius at Kraków University, Copernicus's Polish alma mater
Heliocentrism
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Heliocentrism is a superseded astronomical model that placed the Sun at the center of the universe, with the Earth and the planets in its orbit. It superseded geocentrism, which placed the Earth at th
Andreas Cellarius's illustration of the Copernican system, from the Harmonia Macrocosmica
Aristarchus' 3rd century BCE calculations on the relative sizes of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon, from a 10th-century CE Greek copy
An illustration from al-Biruni's astronomical works explains the different phases of the Moon with respect to the position of the Sun.
Nicholas of Cusa, 15th century, asked whether there was any reason to assert that any point was the center of the universe.