Copernicus, Nicolaus cultural definition

A Polish scholar who, in 1543, first produced a workable model of the solar system that had the sun at the center. His model eventually took the place of the Ptolemaic universe and provided the foundation for modern astronomy.

A Polish scholar of the sixteenth century who argued that the Earth moves about the sun.

A Polish cleric and scholar of the sixteenth century. In 1543, Copernicus produced the first workable model of the sun and planets that had the sun at the center. (See Galileo, Ptolemaic universe, and solar system.)