[Edit this paragraph] Introduction

Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473, into a wealthy family in Torun, on the Vistula River in Poland. At the age of 18, he studied at the University of Krecow in the old capital of Poland, and became interested in astronomy while studying medicine. In 1496, the 23-year-old Copernicus came to Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance, to study law, medicine and theology at the University of Bologna and the University of Padua. The astronomer de Novara (1454-1540) at the University of Bologna He had a great influence on Copernicus, from whom he learned astronomical observation techniques and Greek astronomical theories. Later he received a doctorate in religious law from the University of Ferrara. As a doctor, Copernicus was known as the "Miracle Doctor" because of his superb medical skills. Copernicus spent most of his adult life as a priest at the Cathedral of Fraungeng. Copernicus was not a professional astronomer. He completed his famous work in his spare time.

While in Italy, Copernicus became familiar with the teachings of the Greek philosopher Aristarchus (third century BC) and was convinced that the heliocentric theory that the earth and other planets revolve around the sun is correct. When he was about 40 years old, he began to circulate a short manuscript among his friends, preliminary expounding his own views on heliocentric theory. After years of observation and calculation, Copernicus finally completed his great work "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres". The accuracy of the numerical values ??obtained by his observations and calculations in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is astonishing. For example, he obtained that the sidereal year is 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 40 seconds, which is about 30 seconds longer than the current accurate value, and the error is only one millionth; he obtained that the average distance between the moon and the earth is 60.30 of the earth's radius. times, compared with the current 60.27 times, the error is only five ten thousandths.

In 1533, the 60-year-old Copernicus gave a series of lectures in Rome, putting forward the key points of his doctrine without encountering opposition from the Pope. But he was afraid that the church would object, and even after he finished the book, he still hesitated to publish it. It was not until he was approaching his seventies that he finally decided to publish it. On the day of his death on May 24, 1543, he received a book he had written from the publisher.

In the book he correctly discusses the fact that the earth revolves on its axis; the moon revolves around the earth; and the earth and all other planets revolve around the sun. But like his predecessors, he also seriously underestimated the size of the solar system. He believed that the orbits of stars were a series of concentric circles, which was of course wrong. The mathematics in his doctrine were complex and inaccurate. But his book immediately attracted great attention, driving a number of other astronomers to make more accurate observations of planetary motion, the most famous of which was the great Danish astronomer Thaus Blejo, on whom Kepler based his work Based on the observation data, the correct laws of star movement were finally deduced.

Although Aristarchus proposed the heliocentric theory more than 1,700 years before Copernicus, in fact Copernicus received this reputation. Aristarchus simply made a conjecture based on inspiration without discussing it in detail, so his theory was scientifically useless. 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. Comparing the doctrines, you will find its great significance.

Obviously Copernicus's theory is a revolution in human understanding of the universe. It has caused major changes in people's entire worldview. But in valuing Copernicus' influence, we should also note that astronomy was not as widely used as physics, chemistry, and biology. In theory, people could build things like televisions, cars, and modern chemical plants even if they had no knowledge or application of Copernican theory. But it is unthinkable not to apply the teachings of Faraday, Maxwell, Lavoisier and Newton.

To merely consider the impact of Copernicanism on technology is to completely miss 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, "On the Movement of Celestial Spheres" is the starting point of contemporary astronomy - and certainly the starting point of modern science.

[Edit this paragraph] Interesting anecdotes

1. A small man has a big ambition.

Copernicus received a good school education since he was a child and liked to observe astronomical phenomena. He often looked up at the starry night sky alone. Once, my brother asked Copernicus in confusion: "You stay by the window all night, staring at the sky in a daze. Does this mean you are filial to God?" Copernicus replied: "No. I want to study the time of the day all my life. Weather makes people look at the sky without fear. I want the stars to make friends with people and let them correct the course of ships and guide sailors."

2. After thousands of calls, it began to come out

Since Ptolemy's geocentric theory had become the theological theoretical basis for maintaining the rule of the church at that time, Copernicus was well aware of the consequences of publishing the heliocentric theory. He wrote: "I clearly know "Once they figure out that I believe that the earth is moving when demonstrating the motion of celestial bodies, they will insist that I must be subject to religious inquisition for this..." "They will yell and kick me off the stage immediately." , Copernicus was reluctant to publish his work "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres". It was not until the spring of 1539, at the urging of the young German scholar Redicus (1514-1576) and some other friends, that Copernicus agreed to publish it. In the autumn of 1541, Redikas brought the revised manuscript to Nuremberg and asked a Lutheran theologian, Okshitoku, to write an anonymous preface, declaring that "this book cannot be a scientific fact, but a scientific fact." A dramatic fantasy." Under such circumstances, it was published in March 1543. It was put on hold for nearly "four nine years" from the first draft to publication.

[Edit this paragraph] The development and significance of the heliocentric theory

Before the publication of Copernicus' "heliocentric theory", the "geocentric theory" had been dominant in medieval Europe. Since ancient times, human beings have been constantly thinking about the structure of the universe. As early as the ancient Greek era, philosophers proposed the idea that the earth is moving. However, there was no basis for it at the time, so it was not recognized by people. In ancient Europe, Aristotle and Ptolemy advocated the "geocentric theory", which believed that the earth was stationary and that other stars revolved around the earth, the center of the universe. The proposal of this theory coincided with the Christian Bible's statements about heaven, earth, and hell. The dominant Holy See tried its best to support the geocentric theory and integrated the "geocentric theory" with God's creation of the world to fool people. , to maintain their rule. Therefore, the "geocentric theory" is regarded by the church as a classic like the Bible and has been in a dominant position for a long time. With the continuous development of things, the accuracy of astronomical observations gradually improved, and people gradually discovered the flaws in the geocentric theory. By the time of the Renaissance, people discovered that the number of deferents and epicycles proposed by Ptolemy was as high as about eighty, which was obviously unreasonable and unscientific. People are looking forward to a scientific celestial system to replace the geocentric theory. In this historical background, Copernicus's seismic theory came into being. About 1515 years ago, Copernicus wrote a paper entitled "A Brief Introduction" to elaborate on his basic thoughts on the theory of celestial motion. He believed that the motion of celestial bodies must meet the following seven points: There is no one orbit or orbit of all celestial bodies* ** Different centers; the earth is only the center of gravity and the center of the moon's orbit, not the center of the universe; all celestial bodies orbit the sun, and the center of the universe is near the sun; the ratio of the distance from the earth to the sun to the height of the sky is negligible; Any movement seen in the sky is caused by the movement of the earth; all phenomena of the movement of the sun seen in the sky are not caused by its own movement, but are caused by the movement of the earth, which is undergoing several movements at the same time; The forward and backward motion of the planets that people see is caused by the motion of the Earth. The movement of the earth is enough to explain various phenomena that people see in the sky.

The characteristic of the ball shape is that it is simple, has no starting point and no end point, and cannot distinguish its parts when rotating. And the shape of the sphere is caused by the rotation itself. ”

Copernicus agreed with the Pythagoreans’ proposition that concise geometric images should be used to represent the structure of the universe and the movement of celestial bodies. In Chapter 10 of Volume 1, Copernicus correctly arranged the planets and the earth's orbit around the sun, and published his cosmic model diagram. This diagram of the order of the celestial sphere that we now seem to have was a huge leap forward in human understanding of the universe at the time.

In "On the Movement of Celestial Bodies", Copernicus also explained in detail a series of phenomena caused by the three movements of the earth (rotation, revolution, and declination), including precession, lunar movement, and planetary movement. The birth of "On the Movement of Celestial Bodies" made the position and movement of celestial bodies in the solar system more complete.

Thanks to Copernicus. His theory violated Christian doctrine and was opposed by the church. However, the truth cannot be sealed. In 1882, Copernicus's theory was inherited and developed by many scientists. The Pope had to admit that Copernicus's theory was correct. After three centuries of hard struggle, this glorious theory finally won complete victory and was recognized by society.

[Edit this paragraph] Historical background.

Copernicus’s scientific achievements were a product of the era in which he lived, which in turn promoted the development of the era.

Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries started from feudalism. A critical period for society to transform into a capitalist society. During these two hundred years, society underwent tremendous changes. Before the 14th century, Europe was full of fragmented small city-states. Later, with the rise of urban industry and commerce, especially mining. With the development of the metallurgical industry, many new large cities emerged, and small city-states tended to unite to form countries. By the end of the 15th century, basically centralized monarchies had emerged in many countries. There are big cities like Krakow and Poznan, as well as many cities with prosperous handicraft industries. Warsaw, which was annexed to Poland in 1526, has become an important commercial, political, cultural and geographical center, and became the Polish state at the end of the 16th century.

In line with this political and economic change, culture and science also began to reflect it. At that time, Europe was a "theocracy", the Holy See controlled many countries, and the Bible was declared. The supreme truth, any doctrine that goes against the Bible is denounced as "heresy", and anyone who opposes theocratic rule is sentenced to death. The emerging bourgeoisie launched a campaign against the feudal system and the rule of law for their own survival and development. In the struggle against superstitious ideas in the church, the humanistic trend of thought emerged. The weapons they used were ancient Greek philosophy, science and literature that were not contaminated by theology. This was the Renaissance movement that shocked Europe. , soon expanded to Poland and other European countries.

At the same time, the active business also promoted the development of foreign trade. Driven by the "gold" charm, many European adventurers sailed to Africa. , India and the entire Far East. Ocean navigation requires a wealth of astronomical and geographical knowledge. The accumulated observation data made people feel that the popular cosmology theory of "the earth is still and the sky is moving" is questionable. This requires people to further explore the secrets of the universe, thereby advancing the development of astronomy and geography. In 1492, the famous Italian navigator Columbus discovered the New World. Magellan and his companions circled the earth once, proving that the earth is round, and people began to truly understand the earth.

During the Middle Ages, under the strict control of the church, vigorous religious revolutions also occurred. Because many Catholic doctrines are not in line with the teachings of the Bible and incorporate too much of the pope's personal will and the achievements of various theologians, many believers have begun to question Catholic doctrines and organizations and initiate actions to return to the Bible.

Jan Hus (1369-1415), a Czech patriot and president of the University of Prague, publicly condemned the oppression and exploitation of the Czech Republic by the German feudal lords and the Catholic Church at a religious conference in Constantinople. Although he was burned at the stake by the reactionary church, his revolutionary activities aroused strong reactions in society. Czech peasants revolted under the banner of the Hussites, and the movement also spread to Poland. In 1517, in Germany, Martin Luther (1483-1546) opposed the sale of indulgences by the church and openly broke with the Pope. In 1521, Luther exposed the sins of the Holy See at the Congress of Worm and proposed the establishment of a new Christian religion. The teachings of Protestantism were supported by many countries, and Poland was also deeply affected.

In such an era of great change and turmoil, Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473, in the city of Torun on the Vistula River. His father is a wealthy businessman who is a member of Parliament. He has an older brother and two older sisters. When Copernicus was 10 years old, his father died and he was sent to the home of his uncle, Archbishop Ukash, to be raised. Wukasch was a humanist who had close contacts with the progressive intellectual circles of Poland at that time, and was a close friend of the outstanding Italian revolutionary and humanist Philippe Buonaksi. When Copernicus was in high school, Mukasch took him to attend humanist gatherings. In 1491, according to his uncle's arrangement, Copernicus went to the University of Krakow to study astronomy and mathematics.

At that time, Poland had already produced some famous astronomers, such as Marcin Kroll, who wrote the book "Revision of the Alpens Astrology Table" in 1450 and lectured in many countries. Another example is the famous astronomer Wojciech, who once compiled an astronomical ephemeris. He lectured at the University of Krakow and was a professor of mathematics and astronomy when Copernicus was a student. Copernicus's "heliocentric theory" was conceived while studying at the University of Krakow.

Although the Bible does not involve various astronomical knowledge such as "the earth is the center of the universe" and "the sky is round and the earth is round". But in the Middle Ages, astronomy also had official arguments that extended to ancient Greece and were framed by scholastic theologians. In order to consolidate feudal rule, the Catholic Church's Inquisition burned many precious scientific works, sometimes burning 20 carts a day. In 1327, the Italian astronomer Cecco Dascoli was burned alive. His "crime" was to violate the teachings of the Bible and argue that the earth is spherical and that humans exist in another hemisphere.

[Edit this paragraph] Great doctrines

In that era when "science became the handmaiden of theology", many doctrines were distorted and castrated, and were used to support feudal rule. Serve. In medieval Europe, few people knew the true contents of ancient scientific texts. At this time, an important task for scientific workers is to discover ancient cultural heritage.

In the second century AD, Ptolemy, the great astronomer of ancient Greece, summarized the results of 400 years of observations by his predecessors and wrote the book "Collection of Astronomy" (i.e. "The Great Treatise"). Proposed the theory that "the earth is the center of the universe". This theory has been accepted by people and has been circulated for more than 1,400 years.

Ptolemy believed that the earth sat motionless at the center of the universe, and that all celestial bodies, including the sun, revolved around the earth. However, during observations, people discovered that the movement of celestial bodies has a phenomenon of suddenly moving forward and sometimes backward, sometimes faster and sometimes slower. In order to explain the phenomenon of forward and backward, Ptolemy said that it is not the celestial body itself that moves in equilibrium around the earth, but the center of the wheel in which the celestial bodies move. He called the circular wheel surrounding the earth "deferent wheel" and the smaller circular wheel "epicycle". In order to explain the phenomenon of fast and slow times, he added some auxiliary "epicycles" in addition to the main "epicycle", and also used the term "virtual wheel", so that the center of the "epicycle" can be Unbalanced motion seems to be "balanced" from the center of the "virtual wheel". In this way, Ptolemy made far-fetched explanations of ancient observations.

However, in the following centuries, a large amount of observational data was accumulated. Ptolemy's "epicycle" alone was not enough to explain the movement of celestial bodies. This required the addition of an increasing number of "Epicycle".

Later generations of scholars devoted themselves to this "tinkering" work, making Ptolemaic's system more and more complex, and the study of astronomy has remained at this level.

The statement that "the earth is the center of the universe" is exactly the basis of "the theologian's sky". Medieval theologians touted Ptolemy's conclusions, but concealed Ptolemy's methodology: Ptolemy established a genius mathematical theory in an attempt to use human wisdom to discover the movement of celestial bodies using methods of observation, calculation and reasoning. Reasons and laws are the vital part of Ptolemaic theory. Therefore, although Ptolemy's "Earth-centered Theory" coincides with the theologians' cosmology, there is an essential difference between the two. One is a scientifically wrong conclusion, and the other is an attempt to fool mankind and make feudal rule eternal. It became a big lie. Copernicus made a correct evaluation of this. He said: "You should shoot your arrows in the same direction as Ptolemy, but the materials of the bow and arrows must be completely different from his."

Brother Beni had studied Ptolemy's works very diligently. He saw the contradiction between Ptolemy's erroneous conclusions and the scientific method. Copernicus discovered the truth by discovering the source of Ptolemy's error.

Copernicus realized that the development path of astronomy should not continue to "repair" the old theory of Ptolemy, but to discover a new theory of the structure of the universe. He made an analogy: Those scholars who stand in Ptolemy's position make individual, isolated observations and piece together some overlapping "epicycles" to explain the phenomena of the universe, just like someone picking up things from here and there. The limbs and head, when drawn, do not look like humans, but look like monsters.

Copernicus began to think about the Earth's rotation as early as when he was studying at the University of Krakow. He said in the preface to "The Movement of Celestial Bodies" that his predecessors had the right to invent a wheel to explain the phenomena of the starry sky, and he also had the right to try to find a more appropriate method than a wheel to explain the movement of celestial bodies.

The purpose of Copernicus's observation of celestial bodies was opposite to that of previous scholars. He is not forcing cosmic phenomena to obey the "Earth-centered" doctrine. Copernicus had a famous saying: "Phenomena guide astronomers." He wanted the phenomena of the universe to answer the questions he asked, and he wanted the observed phenomena to confirm a newly created theory - the "solar center" theory. His targeted observations finally led to a complete revolution in astronomy.

Copernicus's observational work had a good start at the University of Krakow. He once observed lunar eclipses and studied the vast starry sky using the "star catcher" and "triarcometer" presented to the school by the famous astrologer Marcin Blitza (about 1433-1493).

Copernicus stopped studying at the University of Krakow for three years and went to Italy to study "canon law." This was his uncle Mukashi's idea. Because the Knights of the Cross who were entrenched in the north of Poland at that time often violated the border and committed evil acts, and to fight them, someone must be proficient in "Church Law". Copernicus believed that it was his duty to fight against the Knights of the Cross. He said: "No obligation is as solemn as the obligation to the motherland, and it is not necessary to sacrifice one's life for the motherland." So he agreed with Wukashi's suggestion. In order to obtain travel expenses abroad and living expenses for long-term study abroad, he once again accepted his uncle's arrangement and decided to hold a church position for the rest of his life. In the autumn of 1496, Copernicus put on his monk's robe and set out for Italy.

He studied "canon law" at the University of Bologna in northern Italy, while studying astronomy hard. Here, he met Dominic Maria, a well-known astronomer at the time, and worked with him on lunar theory. He began to use actual observations to expose the contradictions between Ptolemaic theory and objective phenomena. He found that Ptolemy's explanation of the movement of the moon, as Regimentum pointed out, must lead to an absurd conclusion: the volume of the moon sometimes expands and sometimes contracts, the full moon is the result of expansion, and the new moon is the result of contraction. result. On March 9, 1497, Copernicus and Maria conducted a famous observation together. That night, the night was clear, the stars were twinkling, and a crescent moon floated in space.

They stood on the tower of St. Joseph's Church and observed the bright star "Aldebaran" in the constellation Taurus to see how it was obscured by the approaching crescent moon. When "Aldebaran" and the moon came together and there were still some gaps, "Aldebaran" quickly disappeared. They accurately measured the time when "Aldebaran" disappeared, and calculated conclusive data, proving that those gaps were all parts of the moon's eclipse, and "Aldebaran" was obscured by the shadow of the moon itself. The moon has not shrunk in size. In this way, Copernicus opened a gap in Ptolemy's geocentric theory.

In 1500, due to financial difficulties, Copernicus went to Rome to work as a mathematics teacher. In the summer of the next year, Copernicus returned to China. Later, with funding from the church, he went to Padua, Italy, to study medicine in the autumn. In 1503, Copernicus obtained a doctorate in canon law from the University of Fararo.

At this time, Copernicus was also working hard to study ancient classics in order to seek reference materials for the "solar center theory". He read almost every kind of literature he could get his hands on. He later wrote: "The more I sought help in my own work, the more time I devoted to those who founded the subject. I was willing to integrate my discoveries with their discoveries." He When studying ancient classics, I once copied down some bold insights:

“The sky, the sun, the moon, the stars and everything in the sky are standing still. Except for the earth, there is nothing in the universe. Things are moving. The Earth is spinning on its axis at enormous speeds, which creates the feeling that the Earth is standing still while the sky is spinning. ”

“Most scholars believe that the Earth is standing still. , but Philopus and Pythagoras told it to revolve around a fire."

"In the center of the planet stands the huge and majestic sun, which is not only the master of time, but also the sun. But the Lord of the Earth is also the Lord of the stars and the sky."

The outstanding insights of these ancient scholars were considered "deviant" at the time, but to Copernicus, they were like night. The lighthouse on the voyage illuminated his direction.

In 1506, Copernicus ended his ten years of studying in Italy and returned to his country. Shen Kuo (1031-1095 AD), courtesy name Cunzhong, was born in Qiantang, Hangzhou (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang), Han nationality. Scientist and politician in the Northern Song Dynasty. When he was 1 year old, he moved south to Wuyishan and Jianyang in Fujian, and later lived in seclusion in Youxi, Fujian. In the eighth year of Renzong Jiayou's reign (AD 1063), he became a Jinshi. During Shenzong's reign, he participated in Wang Anshi's reform movement. In the fifth year of Xining (AD 1072), he was promoted to Si Tianjian, and the following year he went to Zhejiang and Zhejiang to inspect water conservancy and police services. In the eighth year of Xining (AD 1075), he went to Liao as an envoy to refute Liao's territorial claims. The following year, he was appointed Hanlin bachelor and Quan Sansi envoy to rectify Shaanxi's salt administration. Later, he learned about Yanzhou (today's Yan'an, Shaanxi Province) and strengthened the defense of Xixia. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng (1082), the Song army was defeated by Xixia in the battle of Yongle City and was demoted. In his later years, he wrote "Mengxi Bi Tan" in Mengxi Garden, Zhenjiang based on his life experiences.

Shen Kuo’s scientific achievements are multifaceted. He studied astronomy intensively and advocated a new calendar similar to today's solar calendar. In terms of physics, he recorded the principles of compasses and various production methods; discovered the existence of geomagnetic declination more than 400 years earlier than Europe; also expounded the principle of concave mirror imaging; and also explained the laws of oscillation and other phenomena. Research. In terms of mathematics, he created the "Gap Product Technique" (the summation method of second-order arithmetic series) and the "Method of Circles" (a method of finding the chord and arc length of an arc given the diameter of a circle and the height of an arc). . In terms of geology, he studied the formation of alluvial plains and the erosion of water, and was the first to propose the name of petroleum. In medicine, there are many records of effective prescriptions and many medical works. In addition, he recorded in detail the scientific development and production technology at that time, such as Bi Sheng's invention of movable type printing and metal smelting methods.