Listen to an audio version of this page.

	Nicolaus Copernicus
	Copernicus worked at many different jobs. He was a doctor, lawyer, author, judge and tax collector.

Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Poland in 1473. His father died when he was a boy. Nicolaus was then raised by his uncle. The Catholic Church was very powerful during the time Nicolaus Copernicus lived. People who spoke out against Church teachings could be put to death. The Church taught that Earth was the most important body in the sky. It also taught that the Sun and all the planets revolved around Earth. Nicolaus Copernicus became interested in astronomy while he was a university student in Italy. He continued to study the heavens when he returned home to Poland. His studies made him believe the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the universe. He also believed the Earth rotated once a day on its axis and revolved around the Sun once each year. Copernicus wrote all of his ideas in a book called On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. The ideas written in this book led to Copernicus' title of father of modern astronomy.

A Question What makes you think that Nicolaus Copernicus spoke more than one language?