Better known to the western world as Nicolaus Copernicus, the great Polish astronomer formulated the heliocentric theory of the solar system. This work, published in 1543, was called De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium Libri Sex, -On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, Six Books.
The Copernican Theory forever changed man's image of himself and his place in the universe, for up to that time it was considered both scientific fact and religiously revealed truth that the earth, not the sun, was the center of the universe.
Aside from his creative application of mathematics to astronomy, Copernicus mastered many other disciplines, becoming a medical doctor, lawyer, engineer and theologian. Along with Leonardo daVinci, Copernicus represents one of the most brilliant minds of the European Renaissance. This portrait is a woodcut from the end of the XVIth century and is called the "Kauffman Copernicus" after the name of its publisher.