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1、CopernicusPolishname:MikolajKopernik.Polishastronomerandmathematicianwho,asastudent,studiedcanonlaw,mathematics,andmedicineatCracow,Bologna,Rome,Padua,andFerrara.Copernicusbecameinterestedinastronomyandpublishedanearlydescriptionofhis"heliocentric"modelofthesolarsysteminCommen
2、tariolus(1512).Inthismodel,thesunwasactuallynotexactlythecenterofthesolarsystem,butwasslightlyoffsetfromthecenterusingadeviceinventedbyPtolemyknownastheequantpoint.TheideathattheSunwasthecenterofthesolarsystemwasnotnew(similartheorieshadbeenproposedbyAristarchusandNicholasofCu
3、sa),butCopernicusalsoworkedouthissysteminfullmathematicaldetail.EventhoughthemathematicsinhisdescriptionwasnotanysimplerthanPtolemy's,itrequiredfewerbasicassumptions.BypostulatingonlytherotationoftheEarth,revolutionaboutthesun,andtiltofEarth'srotationalaxis,Copernicuscouldexpl
4、aintheobservedmotionoftheheavens.However,becauseCopernicusretainedcircularorbits,hissystemrequiredtheinclusionofepicycles.Unfortunately,outoffearthathisideasmightgethimintotroublewiththechurch,Copernicusdelayedpublicationofthem.In1539,CopernicustookonRheticusasastudentandhande
5、doverhismanuscripttohimtowriteapopularizationoftheheliocentrictheory,publishedasNarratioPrimain1540.Shortlybeforehisdeath,RheticusconvincedCopernicustoallowpublicationofhisoriginalmanuscript,andDeRevolutionibusOrbiumCoelestiumwaspublishedin1543.Copernicusproposedhistheoryasatr
6、uedescription,notjustatheorytosaveappearances.UnlikeBuridanandOresme,hedidnotthinkthatanytheorywhichsavedappearanceswasvalid,insteadbelievingthattherecouldonlybeasingletruetheory.Whentheworkwaspublished,however,AndreasOsianderaddedanunauthorizedprefacestatingthatthecontentwasm
7、erelyadevicetosimplifycalculations.Copernicusadaptedphysicstothedemandsofastronomy,believingthattheprinciplesofPtolemy'ssystemwereincorrect,notthemathorobservations.Hewasthefirstpersoninhistorytocreateacompleteandgeneralsystem,combiningmathematics,physics,andcosmology.(Ptolemy
8、,forinstance,hadtreatedeachplanetseparately.)Copernicus'ssyst
