“A key player in the development of modern science is Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), the astronomer who “stopped the sun and put the earth in motion.” He was born in Poland, received his education there, then spent the rest of his professional life working as a church administrator in Italy. Many people found his idea of a sun-centered universe incomprehensible, but it ended up becoming the fundamental framework for a scientific understanding of celestial motions, leading to the so-called “Copernican revolution.” ” The most recent auction of his revolutionary work, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, brought in more than $2 million.
