Thursday, May 24, 2018

You'd think the sun revolved around him


Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer and one of the great geniuses of history, died on this day in 1543.  Legend says that the first printed copy of his masterwork, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, in which he laid out his heliocentric theory (the sun is at the center of our solar system), was placed in his hands on the day that he died. 

On May 22, 2010, Copernicus was given a second burial; his remains had been exhumed after years of searching for them.  The tombstone bears a representation of Copernicus' model of the solar system—a golden sun encircled by six of the planets.

Today’s Deathless Verse:

Copernicus found our system solar,
  And caused a universal dolor.


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