Astro2110 – The Solar System

• Nicolaus Copernicus
  • Birth: February 19, 1473
  • Death: May 24, 1543

1492 – Columbus sails the ocean blue and lands in the Americas, only to take over and wipe out almost the entire Native population. While it was an exciting “discovery” for Spain, it meant devastating consequences for others. 

1513 – Machiavelli writes The Prince, a book about political ideologies. The main idea surrounding his book is that the ends can justify the means if the ends are important and good enough. 

Martin Luther Born: 10 November 1483 Died: 18 February 1546

Luther wrote the 95 Theses, which many claim sparked a movement known as the Protestant Revolution. He most notably called out the system of indulgences, which the church sold to make money at that time.

In general, I’ve always been fascinated by this time in history. I think it was a time in which we began questioning the way we had always done things and looked beyond our comfortable, traditional way of functioning. I also like to think we are in a time like that right now. Just as Martin Luther protested the actions of the church because they seemed nonsensical, I think we today are protesting in similar ways about more modern issues, such as institutionalized racism, marriage equality, etc. Although our fights are not the same as discovering our place in the universe, they are still important and demonstrate that our goal to constantly improve our society is not a forgotten one.

Nicolaus Copernicus had the fortune to be born on February 19, 1473 and the misfortune to die on May 24, 1543. This man laid the groundwork for future astronomers who actually did things that we study as more than just history. Before Copernicus, the geocentric model of the universe was the prevailing theory about the universe. After Copernicus, the geocentric model of the universe was still the prevailing theory about the universe, but now the heliocentric model was more reputable and known!

During Copernicus’s stay, Columbus discovered America and Martin Luther reportedly decided to nail his ninety-five theses on the door of the Schlosskirche.

in 1492, Columbus was sent to sail west to find India where the riches were and, instead, he accidentally found America.

Martin Luther was upset that an archbishop was promising people that if they gave the church money, then their sins would be repented. So in 1517 he reportedly decided to nail his ninety-five these to a door of a church. These theses stirred up more attention than Luther thought they would which caused him to formally prepare a manuscript explaining his theses which was published in 1518. These theses gave Luther a large following and marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Henry VII of England was alive at the same time as Copernicus. This guy was important because he finally brought political peace to England after ending the War of Roses – a sequence of civil wars in England. He also founded the Tudor dynasty.

My Reflection:

Historical context makes you realize how connected everything is, especially when you realize that Copernicus’s first publication (Narratio Prima) was published under Georg Rheticus’s name, whom was a Lutheran. Moreover, when De revolutionibus was finally ready to be printed, another Lutheran, Andreas Osiander, was put in charge of supervising its printing. Osiander had actually added a preface, unknown to Copernicus or Rheticus, stating that the contents of the book weren’t trying to be truthful. This obviously outraged both Copernicus and Rheticus, but, ironically, this actually helped with the book’s initial reception as the preface made the book seem like it was introducing a new method of calculation rather than revolutionary philosophy. Without Luther, it’s very possible that neither Rheticus nor Osiander would’ve come in contact with Copernicus. Without Rheticus, who knows if Copernicus’s ideas get published? And without Osiander, who knows what the public reception would’ve been? It’s weird how important one randomly chosen historical event was to Copernicus’s work.