Part 3 (1/2)

At this period the professor of astronomy at Bologna was the famous teacher Dominicus Maria di Novara (1454-1504), a man ”ingenio et animo liber” who dared to attack the immutability of the Ptolemaic system, since his own observations, especially of the Pole Star, differed by a degree and more from the traditional ones.[85] He dared to criticise the long accepted system and to emphasize the Pythagorean notion of the underlying harmony and simplicity in nature[86]; and from him Copernicus may have acquired these ideas, for whether they lived together or not in Bologna, they were closely a.s.sociated. It was here, too, that Copernicus began his study of Greek which later was to be the means[87] of encouraging him in his own theorizing by acquainting him with the ancients who had thought along similar lines.

[Footnote 85: Ibid: I, 240 and note. Little is known about him today, except that he was primarily an observer, and was highly esteemed by his immediate successors; see Gilbert: _De Magnete_.]

[Footnote 86: Clerke in _Ency. Brit._, ”Novara.”]

[Footnote 87: Prowe: I, 249.]

In the spring of the year (1501) following his visit to Rome,[88]

Copernicus returned to the Chapter at Frauenburg to get further leave of absence to study medicine at the University of Padua.[89] Whether he received a degree at Padua or not and how long he stayed there are uncertain points.[90] He was back in Ermeland early in 1506.

[Footnote 88: Prowe: I, 279.]

[Footnote 89: Ibid, 294.]

[Footnote 90: Ibid: I, 319.]

His student days were ended. And now for many years he led a very active life, first as companion and a.s.sistant to his uncle the Bishop, with whom he stayed at Schloss Heilsberg till after the Bishop's death in 1512; then as one of the leading canons of the chapter at Frauenburg, where he lived most of the rest of his life.[91] As the chapter representative for five years (at intervals) he had oversight of the spiritual and temporal affairs of two large districts in the care of the chapter.[92] He went on various diplomatic and other missions to the King of Poland,[93] to Duke Albrecht of the Teutonic Order,[94] and to the councils of the German states.[95] He wrote a paper of considerable weight upon the much needed reform of the Prussian currency.[96] His skill as a physician was in demand not only in his immediate circle[97] but in adjoining countries, Duke Albrecht once summoning him to Konigsberg to attend one of his courtiers.[98]

He was a humanist as well as a Catholic Churchman, and though he did not approve of the Protestant Revolt, he favored reform and toleration.[99] Ga.s.sendi claims that he was also a painter, at least in his student days, and that he painted portraits well received by his contemporaries.[100] But his interest and skill in astronomy must have been recognized early in his life for in 1514 the committee of the Lateran Council in charge of the reform of the calendar summoned him to their aid.[101]

[Footnote 91: Prowe: I, 335-380.]

[Footnote 92: Ibid: II, 75-110, 116, 124.]

[Footnote 93: Ibid: II, 204-8.]

[Footnote 94: Ibid: II, 110.]

[Footnote 95: Ibid: II, 144.]

[Footnote 96: Ibid: II, 146.]

[Footnote 97: Ibid: II, 293-319.]

[Footnote 98: Ibid: II, 464-472.]

[Footnote 99: Ibid: II, 170-187.]

[Footnote 100: Holden in _Pop. Sci._, 109.]

[Footnote 101: Prowe: II, 67-70.]

He was no cloistered monk devoting all his time to the study of the heavens, but a cultivated man of affairs, of recognized ability in business and statesmans.h.i.+p, and a leader among his fellow canons. His mathematical and astronomical pursuits were the occupations of his somewhat rare leisure moments, except perhaps during the six years with his uncle in the comparative freedom of the bishop's castle, and during the last ten or twelve years of his life, after his request for a coadjutor had resulted in lightening his duties. In his masterwork _De Revolutionibus_[102] there are recorded only 27 of his own astronomical observations, and these extend over the years from 1497 to 1529. The first was made at Bologna, the second at Rome in 1500, and seven of the others at Frauenburg, where the rest were also probably made. It is believed the greater part of the _De Revolutionibus_ was written at Heilsburg[103] where Copernicus was free from his chapter duties, for as he himself says[104] in the Dedication to the Pope (dated 1543) his work had been formulated not merely nine years but for ”more than three nines of years.” It had not been neglected all this time, however, as the original MS. (now in the Prague Library) with its innumerable changes and corrections shows how continually he worked over it, altering and correcting the tables and verifying his statements.[105]

[Footnote 102: Copernicus: _De Revolutionibus_, Thorn edit., 444. The last two words of the full t.i.tle: _De Revolutionibus...o...b..um Coelestium_ are not on the original MS. and are believed to have been added by Osiander. Prowe: II, 541, note.]

[Footnote 103: Ibid: II, 490-1.]

[Footnote 104: Copernicus: Dedication, 4. (Thorn edit.)]

[Footnote 105: Prowe: II, 503-508.]