2020-03-05 Thu

Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, and mathematician was born on 19th February 1473. The father of modern astronomy, he was the first modern European scientist to propose that Earth and other planets revolve around the sun.

Copernicus' major work on his heliocentric theory was De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published just before his death in 1543. This model of his is considered a major event in the history of science and is said to have triggered the Copernican Revolution and making an important contribution to the Scientific Revolution. Today on 5th March in the year 1616 this book is added to the Index of Forbidden Books 73 years after it was first published.

The 8c stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in the year 1973 honoring the 500th birth anniversary Nicolaus Copernicus. The design of the 8¢ stamp shows Copernicus holding a representation of the sun as the central feature of the universe. The illustration of Copernicus was engraved in black ink, while the sun was printed by lithography in yellow-orange.

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org