Copernicus, Nicolaus
Pronunciation: /kəˈpəːnɪkəs/
- (1473–1543), Polish astronomer; Latinized name of Mikołaj Kopernik. He proposed a model of the solar system in which the planets orbited in perfect circles around the sun, and his work ultimately led to the overthrow of the established geocentric cosmology. He published his astronomical theories in De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (1543).
