Copernicus, Nicolaus

[person]

(Mikolaj Kopernik or Nicolaus Koppernigk) Polish astronomer born in Torun in the Royal Prussia region of the Kingdom of Poland (now Poland) (1473–1543). Copernicus was the first European scientist to provide scientific evidence for a heliocentric view of the solar system. In 1543, Copernicus published De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, often considered the origin of the Scientific Revolution.