Nicolaus Copernicus

Born in Italy on March 6, 1475, Michelangelo was destined to create outstanding and genius works of art. Although his family was of a lower class and discouraged him from pursuing a more noble career in the arts, Michelangelo followed his passion for art even as a young boy. And ...  Show more

Father of free market economics, Adam Smith was one of many great philosophers of the 18th century Enlightenment period. His philosophies helped change the economy, putting an end to the long-standing feudal system. But outside of his well-known works, such as The Wealth of Natio ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630). Although he is overshadowed today by Isaac Newton and Galileo, he is considered by many to be one of the greatest scientists in history. The three laws of planetary motion Kepler developed transf ...  Show more

The Pisan scientist Galileo Galilei has been remembered as the "father of modern science." The discoveries he made with his telescope led to a completely new understanding of Earth's place in the cosmos. The theory first put forward by the Polish mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus ...  Show more

In the generation following Copernicus, the question of planetary motions was picked up by two remarkable astronomers: Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Tycho was a Danish nobleman and brilliant astronomer and instrument builder whose high precision naked-eye measurements of the s ...  Show more

How revolutionary was the Copernican Revolution?