Nikolai Copernicus was born in Poland on February 19, 1473. At the age of 40, Copernicus proposed the sun-centered theory and completed his great book "On the Movement of the Celestial Sphere" after years of observation and calculation. In 1533, 60-year-old Copernicus gave a series of lectures in Rome, but it was not until he approached his age that he finally decided to publish it. On the day he died on May 24, 1543, he received a book written by him from the publisher. Copernicus's "heliocentric theory" dealt a heavy blow to the church's cosmology, which was a great victory in the struggle between materialism and idealism. Copernicus was a giant of the European Renaissance. He devoted his life to studying astronomy, leaving a valuable legacy for future generations. The remains of Copernicus were reburied on May 22, 2010 in the Cathedral of Fromberg, Poland.

Nikolai Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473, into a wealthy family in the city of Toruå, in the Kingdom of Poland. At the age of 18, he studied at Kraków University in the former capital of Poland and became interested in astronomy while studying medicine. In 1496, at the age of 23, Copernicus came to Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance, and studied law, medicine and theology at the University of Bologna and the University of Padua. De Novara (1454 - 1540), the astronomer at the University of Bologna, had a great influence on Copernicus, where he learned astronomical observation techniques and Greek astronomical theories. When he was 40 years old, he proposed the "sun-centered theory". He later received a doctorate in religious law from the University of Ferrara. As a doctor, Copernicus was known as a "miracle doctor" because of his superb medical skills. Copernicus spent most of his adult life serving as a priest in the Ferraunge Cathedral. Copernicus was not a professional astronomer. His masterpiece of fame was completed in his spare time.

While in Italy, Copernicus became familiar with the doctrine of the Greek philosopher Aristarchus (third century BC) and was convinced that the sun-centered theory that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun was correct. When he was about 40 years old, he began distributing a short manuscript among friends, outlining his own views on sun-centered theory. After two years of observation and calculations, Copernicus finally completed his great book "The Theory of the Movement of Celestial Bodies". The accuracy of the values obtained by his observations and calculations in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is astonishing. For example, he obtained that the time of the sidereal year is 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 40 seconds, which is about 30 seconds longer than the current accurate value, with an error of only one millionth; the average distance from the moon to the Earth he obtained is 60.30 times the radius of the Earth., compared with the current 60.27 times, the error is only five thousandths. In 1533, 60-year-old Copernicus gave a series of lectures in Rome, proposing the main points of his doctrine, without the Pope's objection. But he was afraid that the church would oppose it, and even after his book was completed, he still dared not publish it. It was not until he was approaching his age that he finally decided to publish it. On May 24, 1543, the dying Copernicus received a sample copy of "On the Movement of the Celestial Bodies" sent from Nuremberg by the publisher while on his deathbed. He only touched the cover of the book and passed away!

In the book he correctly discusses the fact that the earth revolves around its axis; the moon revolves around the earth; and the earth and all other planets revolve around the sun. But he also seriously underestimated the size of the solar system like his predecessors. He believed that the orbits of stars were a series of concentric circles, which was certainly wrong. The mathematical operations in his theory are complex and inaccurate. But his book immediately attracted great attention and drove some other astronomers to make more accurate observations of planetary motion. The most famous of them was the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Based on the observations accumulated by Tycho, Kepler finally deduced the correct laws of the movement of stars.

Although Aristarchus proposed the heliocentric theory more than 1700 years before Copernicus, in fact Copernicus gained this reputation. Aristarchus only made a conjecture based on inspiration and did not discuss it in detail, so his theory was of no scientific use. After Copernicus solved the mathematical problems in the conjecture one by one, he turned it into a useful scientific theory-a theory that can be used to make predictions. By testing celestial observations and comparing it with the old theory that the earth is the center of the universe, you will see its significance.

Obviously, Copernicus' theory was a revolution in human understanding of the universe, and it caused a major change in people's entire worldview. But when evaluating Copernicus' influence, it should also be noted that astronomy is not as widely used as physics, chemistry, and biology. In theory, people would have built televisions, cars, and modern chemical factories, even if they had no knowledge or application of Copernicus's theory. But it is unthinkable not to apply the theories of Faraday, Maxwell, Lavoisier, and Newton.

Simply considering the impact of Copernican theory on technology would completely ignore its true significance. Copernicus's book was an indispensable prelude to the work of Galileo and Kepler. They became Newton's main predecessors. It was the discovery of these two that enabled Newton to determine the laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation.

From a historical perspective, The Motion of Heavenly Bodies was the starting point of contemporary astronomy - and, of course, of modern science.