Nicolaus Copernicus was born in the beautiful city of Toruń, Poland, on February 19, 1473.
As a child, every evening after dinner, Copernicus would often run out to the vineyard with his brother to enjoy the cool evening air. The refreshing night breeze carried the sweet fragrance of the grape clusters, making it a pleasant experience; for young Copernicus, it felt like a fairy tale because it was so captivating. Even more fascinating was gazing at the countless stars, those twinkling celestial bodies seemed to gaze back at him with mysterious eyes.
The old gardener would sit by the bench, smoking his pipe while telling the brothers stories about the stars in the sky. He spoke of the North Star, the Great Bear, the Little Bear, as well as Sagittarius and Orion,… The stories he shared, from home and abroad, were as plentiful as the grapes themselves. Copernicus was very impressed and couldn’t help but ask him:
– How do you know so much?
– If I didn’t know much, how could I grow grapes?
– What do the stars in the sky have to do with the grapes in the garden? – Copernicus wondered, feeling curious.
– How can they be unrelated? The stars tell me about changes in the weather: when it will be sunny, when it will rain, when there will be storms,… Based on that, I know when to water, drain, or protect from storms…
Copernicus listened intently.
It was too hot inside, so the principal next door also came to the vineyard, quietly standing next to the old gardener, listening closely to the conversation.
– Hello, Principal! – the two brothers greeted him together.
– You both know quite a lot already! – the principal pondered for a moment before saying:
– I want to pose a question to you two, let’s see who answers correctly, shall we?
– What question is it? – Copernicus eagerly asked.
– Is the Earth round or square? – the principal smiled at the brothers – “Let’s see who answers correctly?”
Copernicus quickly responded: – It’s square, rectangular!
– There’s a saying: The sky is round and the land is square! – The old gardener believed the Earth was square.
– What about you, Copernicus?
Copernicus sat up straight, scratching his head, unable to speak. The principal patted him on the shoulder, saying:
– It’s okay if you can’t answer now; you can think about it and tell me tomorrow!
After the principal left, Copernicus remained silent, immersed in thought.
The next day, Copernicus still hadn’t figured it out. Day two turned into day three; time passed, and the question lingered in his mind.
Time flew by quickly, and before long, Copernicus had grown into a young man and started attending university. One day, standing by the seaside, he recalled the principal’s question. The weather was beautiful, with a clear blue sky and no clouds in sight, the sun hung brightly overhead, and the calm sea lay still. Copernicus gazed out at the distant horizon. In front of him, ships glided smoothly, drifting further and further away. Suddenly, Copernicus noticed something; he blinked, focusing on the departing ships, which grew smaller until they faded into the distance. However, even when the ships disappeared, he could still catch a glimpse of their masts. Why was that? He became lost in thought, oblivious to everything around him.
He pondered over his childhood imaginations of the Earth with its various shapes, reflecting on the interpretations and arguments regarding the shape of the Earth recorded in history. The thoughts swirled in his mind. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Copernicus’s mind, and the chaotic thoughts became clear once more. The ships disappearing from his view were hidden by their masts; wasn’t this evidence that the Earth was round? Copernicus joyfully exclaimed:
– I know now, I’ve found the answer!
Everyone around turned to him in surprise, and it was then that he realized and hurried back to write a letter to the principal, sharing his answer. To make his argument more convincing, he thought of a way to place a brightly visible object on the ship’s mast for everyone to see: When the ship had sailed far from the shore, the bright point on the mast lowered gradually until it disappeared altogether; and when the ship returned toward the shore, the bright point appeared first, followed by the ship itself.
The question that had lingered in Copernicus’s mind for so long had finally found its answer.
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Return: “Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 – 1543) The Genius Theorist: Heliocentric Theory”
Stay tuned: “Nicolaus Copernicus – The Destruction of a Great Work”
