Nicolaus Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus (kwa Kijerumani Nikolas Koppernigk, kwa Kipolandi: Mikołaj Kopernik; 19 Februari 1473 – 24 Mei 1543) alikuwa padri wa Kanisa Katoliki na mtaalamu wa astronomia, tiba na hisabati.

Ni maarufu hasa kwa kuwa ndiye aliyeeleza muundo halisi wa ulimwengu kwa kusema dunia inazunguka jua, kinyume cha fundisho lililotawala awali kuwa jua linazunguka dunia. Ndiyo yanayoitwa "Mapinduzi ya Kikoperniki" ambayo ni ya msingi kwa ustawi wa sayansi ya kisasa.

Maisha
Alizaliwa Toruń, iliyokuwa mji wa Hanse huko Poland, katika familia yenye damu ya Kijerumani. 

Alisoma theolojia, sheria na tiba huko Poland na Italia, akawa padri wa kanisa kuu la Frauenburg-Fromburg, ambapo alifariki mwaka 1543 akazikwa chini ya sakafu yake.

Mchango mkubwa alioutoa na tathmini yake
Muda mfupi tu kabla hajafa alitoa kitabu chake "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (kuhusu mizunguko ya magimba ya angani), ambacho kinatoa mafundisho makuu ya elimu ya nyota ya siku zile, kama vile mpangilio wa sayari zinazolizunguka Jua na mzunguko wa Dunia kwenye mhimili wake kila siku. 

Copernicus hakuwa mtu wa kwanza aliyewaza ya kwamba Dunia inazunguka Jua: miaka 2000 kabla yake wanafalsafa kadhaa wa Ugiriki waliwahi kufundisha hivyo. Lakini tangu maandiko ya Ptolemaio wataalamu wa nyota pamoja na walimu wa dini za Ukristo na Uislamu walikubaliana kwamba Dunia ni kitovu cha ulimwengu na Jua pamoja na sayari zote zinaizunguka. Kitabu cha Copernicus kilikuwa cha kwanza kilichoondoa Dunia katika kitovu cha ulimwengu na kwa ujumla alipingwa na wataalamu wengi.

Ingawa hoja zao hazikuwa sahihi, ni kweli kwamba mafundisho yake yalikuwa na kasoro zilizojulikana baadaye kwa maendeleo ya utafiti: kwa mfano, alidhani njia za sayari kuzunguka jua zina umbo la duara kamili. Pia alifikiri ya kwamba jua liko kwenye kitovu cha ulimwengu.

Mafundisho yake yaliathiri wanasayansi wengine kama Galileo Galilei na Kepler, ambao waliyathibitisha na kuyaboresha.

Viungo vya nje 

Blogu "Nicolaus Copernicus ni mmoja kati ya mashujaa wangu - See more at: http://tuongeescience.tumblr.com/post/86302008889/kumbukumbu-ya-nicolaus-copernicus#sthash.2FL2lSMI.dpuf" 
 Copernicus' letters to various celebrities, among others the King Sigmundus I of Poland  - in Polish
 Nicholaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork 
 Portraits of Copernicus: Copernicus' face reconstructed; Portrait ; Nicolaus Copernicus 
 Copernicus and Astrology  — Cambridge University: Copernicus had – of course – teachers with astrological activities and his tables were later used by astrologers. 
 Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
 Find-A-Grave profile for Nicolaus Copernicus
 'Body of Copernicus' identified — BBC article including image of Copernicus using facial reconstruction based on located skull

Kuhusu De Revolutionibus
 The Copernican Universe from the De Revolutionibus
 De Revolutionibus, 1543 first edition — Full digital facsimile, Lehigh University
 The front page of the De Revolutionibus 
 The text of the De Revolutionibus 
 A java applet about Retrograde Motion 

Urithi wake
 Copernicus in Bologna — in Italian
 Chasing Copernicus: The Book Nobody Read — Was One of the Greatest Scientific Works Really Ignored? All Things Considered. NPR
 Copernicus and his Revolutions — A detailed critique of the rhetoric of De Revolutionibus
 Article which discusses Copernicus's debt to the Arabic tradition
 Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń

Ushirikiano wa Poland na Ujerumani kuhusu Copernicus
  German-Polish school project on Copernicus - in German and Polish
  Büro Kopernikus - An initiative of German Federal Cultural Foundation - in German, Polish and English

Copernicus, Nicolaus
Copernicus, Nicolaus
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Copernicus, Nicolaus
Copernicus, Nicolaus
Copernicus, Nicolaus
Copernicus, Nicolaus