NICOLAUS COPERNICUS

Lived 1473 to 1543.

Early Life and Education
• Nicolaus Copernicus was born in the city of Torun, in the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, northern Poland
on February 19, 1473.

• His name at birth was Mikolaj Kopernik. At university he started calling himself the Latin form of his
name, Nicolaus Copernicus.

• Nicolaus was born into a wealthy family. He was named after his father, Mikolaj Kopernik, who was a
prosperous copper trader. His mother, Barbara Watzenrode, also came from a wealthy, upper-class
family of merchants. Nicolaus was the youngest of their four children.

• When Nicolaus was 10 years old, his father died. Nicolaus’s nobleman uncle, Lucas Watzenrode,
became his guardian.

•He was a Polish astronomer known as the father

of modern astronomy.
• In 1491, at the age of 18, Copernicus enrolled at the
University of Krakow, where he studied astronomy,
mathematics, philosophy, and the sciences.

• In his final year at university Copernicus wrote his own

observations on mathematics and astronomy. These he
inserted into his personal copy of Johannes
Regiomontanus’s book.
• After four years at university Nicolaus
Copernicus had not graduated. His uncle sent
him to Bologna, Italy, to study canon law. His
uncle, who had become Prince-Bishop of
Warmia, hoped Nicolaus would return to
become a canon in Warmia. It was a good
church job with a salary for life.

• Copernicus was meant to spend three years in

Italy studying the laws and regulations of the
Catholic Church.
Significant Contribution of Copernicus

He wasfirst modern European scientist to

propose that Earth and other planets
revolve around the sun, or the
Heliocentric Theory of the universe.
 What is Thought Experiment?
• It is a hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of
thinking through its consequences.
•Thought experiments are extremely popular tools for helping
people understand how they look at the world.
•Examples: the Veil of Ignorance and the Trolley Problem,
permeate popular culture, feature on memes, and help
people clarify their thinking.
 It is still useful as of today?
•The thought experiment is useful in all aspect of
life, not just in science. Thought experiments
allow us to explore possibilities , ponder
scenarios while applying that we already know
about the world in order to give structure and
order to our experiments.
 Do you think the Church should intervene in
the scientific activities?

•For us, no since Church and Science

have different perspectives and they are
totally different when it comes to
purpose and processing of things.
Thank you for listening!

Ayo-on, Aileen Mae L.

Sampiano. Irish T.
Ebagat, Daryl Jane M.
Bularan, Analyn S.
Fernardez, Daisy