尼古拉以父亲的名字命名,以富商的身份首次出现在记录中,以经营铜为生,主要在格但斯克销售铜[7][8],于1458年左右从克拉科夫迁至托伦[9]。托伦位于维斯瓦河附近,当时被卷入十三年战争(1454–66),在此期间,普鲁士城市的盟友普鲁士联盟与波兰王国结盟,贵族和教士联合,共同对抗条顿骑士团国,以获得地区控制权。在这场战争中,如格但斯克和托伦(尼古拉·哥白尼的家乡)等汉萨同盟的城市决定支持波兰国王卡齐米日四世,国王承诺尊重城市的传统和独立,而这正是条顿骑士团国所强烈镇压的。尼古拉的父亲当时活跃于政坛,支持波兰王国和普鲁士城市结盟对抗条顿骑士团[10]。1454年,他负责调解波兰王国红衣主教兹比格涅夫·奥莱希尼茨基(英语:Zbigniew Oleśnicki (primate of Poland))与普鲁士城市在战时公债偿还方面的矛盾[6]。《第二次托伦和约》(1466)规定,条顿骑士团放弃西普鲁士,此地区成为波兰王国的一个自治省,即以后的普鲁士王国,在随后的300年里都归属于波兰王国。
这种情况同样出现在一个世纪之后的威廉·莎士比亚的作品中[33],在其作品中,天文学家哥白尼以及其亲戚的名字出现了很多不同的拼写。这个名字首先被用于13世纪西里西亚地区的一个地方,在拉丁语文献中存在多种拼写方式。哥白尼“其实并不在乎正字法”[34]。1480年左右,在他童年时期,他父亲的名字(也是未来天文学家哥白尼的名字)在Thorn中的记录为Niclas Koppernigk[35]。在克拉科夫时,他的拉丁语署名为Nicolaus Nicolai de Torunia(托伦,尼古拉的儿子,尼古拉)。1496年,當他在博格尼亚大學就讀时,他加入Matricula Nobilissimi Germanorum Collegii,或稱為Natio Germanica Bononiae,一個招收以德語為母語的學生組織。在其紀錄Annales Clarissimae Nacionis Germanorum,哥白尼使用Dominus Nicolaus Kopperlingk de Thorn – IX grosseti[36][37]。在帕多瓦时,他的署名又变成了“Nicolaus Copernik”,随后改为“Coppernicus”[34]。这位天文学家把自己的名字拉丁化为Coppernicus,一般有两个“p”(研究的31个文献中有23个中的记载如此)[38],但是随后在生活中他一直使用一个“p”。在《天体运行论》的扉页上,雷蒂库斯使用了“Nicolai Copernici”(名词属格或所有格的形式)作为哥白尼的名字。
哥白尼学习医学的过程很可能是在帕多瓦顶级教授(诸如Bartolomeo da Montagnana,吉罗拉莫·弗拉卡斯托罗, Gabriele Zerbi和Alessandro Benedetti等)的指导下进行的,而且他还阅读了自己所能获得的医学专著(诸如Valescus de Taranta、Jan Mesue、Hugo Senensis、Jan Ketham, Arnold de Villa Nova 和Michele Savonarola(英语:Michele Savonarola)等人的著作),这些构成了他后来医学藏书的雏形。[43]
在哥白尼年轻的时候,他作为医师曾为舅舅、兄弟和其他修会成员治病。晚些时候,他被安排去照顾那些先后在瓦尔米亚任职的年老主教(比如Mauritius Ferber 和 Johannes Dantiscus),以及在1539年,照顾他的老友克莱蒙(Kulm)主教泰德曼·吉泽(英语:Tiedemann Giese)。在治疗这些重要病患的过程中,他有时需要向其他医师进行咨询,其中包括阿尔布雷希特 (普鲁士)的医师以及通过信函向波兰皇家医师进行请教。[54]
1541年春,阿尔伯特公爵要求哥白尼前往柯尼斯堡来照顾公爵的顾问格奥尔格·冯·库恩海姆(英语:Georg von Kunheim),此人病得不轻,而且普鲁士医生都对此束手无策。哥白尼很乐意前往,在有关货币改革问题上,他曾与冯·库恩海姆进行过磋商。哥白尼本人认为阿尔伯特公爵本人人品并不坏,两人在学术方面还有共同的兴趣爱好。修会鉴于想与公爵保持良好关系,尽管他是信義宗,也准备放行让哥白尼前往。大约一个月的时间,病人得以康复,哥白尼也回到了弗龙堡。一段时间之内,他还继续收到冯·库恩海姆身体近况的汇报,并通过信函提供医疗建议[55]。在他生命的这段时间之内,只要他所担任的其他职责允许,而且是占有自己的业余时间,哥白尼还是在进行他的天文观测和计算。
哥白尼逝世后,其理论在欧洲引发持续的思想辩论,其中最激进的延伸之一来自意大利哲学家焦尔达诺·布鲁诺。布鲁诺出身于道明会,极富反叛精神,他将哥白尼体系推展为一套形上学的「无限宇宙论」(Dell'infinito Universo e Mondi),明确主张太阳只是众多恆星之一,地球亦是普通的行星之一,而人类并非宇宙中唯一的智慧生命。他进一步否定了传统的天球结构与有界宇宙观。
布鲁诺的这些思想与教会根据《圣经》所建立的宇宙观发生严重冲突。最终,他于1600年被宗教裁判所以异端罪名判处火刑,在罗马的鲜花广场(Campo de' Fiori)被当众烧死。
第一个反对哥白尼学说的名人是天主教的巴托洛米奥·斯皮纳(Bartolomeo Spina),他出任圣使徒宫主管(和天主教聖座法院首席监察官),他“强烈表示要镇压哥白尼学说”[67][68]。但随着斯皮纳在1546年去世,他的朋友吉奥凡尼·玛丽亚·托洛桑尼接替了他未完成的任务。吉奥凡尼·玛丽亚·托洛桑尼是一位著名的神学家及天文学家,是道明會在佛罗伦萨的圣马尔谷修道院的會士。托洛桑尼撰写了一本专门研究历法改革(其中天文学起到重要作用)的专著。此外,他还参加了第五届拉特兰会议,参与了历法改革的讨论。在1544年,他取得了哥白尼《天体运行论》的副本。他公开抨击哥白尼学说的文字见于他所著的《论圣经之真谛》(On the Truth of Sacred Scripture)一书的附录中[69][70]。
哥白尼之前的理论在神学界纠缠复杂,这可从约翰·加尔文著作的一个样本中看到。在其《〈创世记〉注释》(Commentary on Genesis)一书中,他说道,“我们并不是不知天堂的环道是确定的,地球正如一个小球体位于中心”[71]。在评论《圣经》中《约伯记》26:7时,加尔文写道“约伯确实具体提到‘北部,’但他说的是整个天堂。因为天空绕着其极转动。正如一个战车的车轮在中心都会有一个车轴,轮子借助中心的洞绕着这一车轴转动,天空也是如此的。这很容易能看见;也就是说,那些熟悉天空运行的人可以天空如此转动”[71]。加尔文对于诗篇(或稱聖詠集)的评论时,展现了他对于前哥白尼理论的依赖性;因为在诗篇93:1“天堂每天都在旋转,因为其构造无比巨大,旋转速度快到难以置信,因此我们并未感受到震荡或冲击-不会打扰它们的和谐的运动。尽管太阳每个昼间旋转都改变其轨道,但每年都会回到同一点。众多卫星在其旋转时都能保持自己的位置。地球怎能悬置在空中不动呢,难道上帝之手并未举起它?上空的天堂都在不断地运动,地球是怎么保持不动呢,难道神圣的制造者未修理它建立它呢”[71]。在评论诗篇19:4时,加尔文说“天空在旋转时,所有固定的行星也在旋转。没有证据证明加尔文知道哥白尼,并且有关加尔文引用完诗篇93:1继续说“谁敢置哥白尼的权威于圣灵(或稱聖神)之上”这一说法也缺乏可信度,证实这一说法源于1885年弗雷德里克·威廉·法勒班普顿的演讲[71]。与加尔文不同,许多神学家已经认识到哥白尼理论变得越来越有争议。
^英译名Epitome of the Almagest,拉丁名Epitome in Almagestum Ptolemei,1496年,威尼斯
^其中包括古希腊哲学家数学家毕达哥拉斯、萨摩斯的阿利斯塔克、克莱门德(Cleomedes)、古罗马政治家西塞罗、罗马学者老普林尼(Pliny the Elder)、希腊历史学家普鲁塔克、菲洛劳斯(Philolaus)、赫拉克利德(Heraclides)、艾克方图斯(Ecphantos)和柏拉图等
^其名为Nicolai Copernici de hypothesibus motuum coelestium a se constitutis commentariolus 也许是抄写者给出的题目
^Rosen(1995, pp. 187–92), originally published in 1967 inSaggi su Galileo Galilei. Rosen is particularly scathing about this and other statements inThe Sleepwalkers, which he criticizes as inaccurate.
^Linton (2004, pp.39, 119). Copernicus was not the first to propose a heliocentric system. A Greek mathematician and astronomer, Aristarchus of Samos, had done so as early as the third century BCE; but there is little evidence that Aristarchus developed his ideas beyond a very basic outline (Dreyer, 1953, pp. 135-48) 。哥白尼不是第一个创立日心说的人,希腊天文学家阿利斯塔克在公元前3世纪创立日心说,但是没有对其进行发展改进。
^Nicolas Copernicus, memorandum on monetary policy, 1517
^"Copernicus seems to have drawn up some notes on the displacement of good coin from circulation by debased coin while he was at Olsztyn in 1519. He made them the basis of a report on the matter, written in German, which he presented to the Prussian Diet held in 1522 at Grudziadz... He later drew up a revised and enlarged version of his little treatise, this time in Latin, and setting forth a general theory of money, for presentation to the Diet of 1528." Agngus Armitage, The World of Copernicus, 1951, p.91.
^"The name of the village, not unlike that of the astronomer's family, has been variously spelled. A large German atlas of Silesia, published by Wieland in Nuremberg in 1731, spells it Kopernik." Mizwa, p. 36.
^"In 1512, Bishop Watzenrode died suddenly after attending King Sigismund's wedding feast in Kraków. Rumors abounded that the bishop had been poisoned by agents of his long-time foe, the Teutonic Knights." Hirshfeld, p. 38.
^"The Watzelrodes—or Watzenrodes—in spite of their rather Germanic name seemed to have been good Poles (enemies of the Teutonic Order)." Koyre, p. 38.
^15.015.1"[Watzenrode] was also firm, and the Teutonic Knights, who remained a constant menace, did not like him at all; the Grand Master of the order once described him as 'the devil incarnate'. [Watzenrode] was the trusted friend and advisor of three [Polish] kings in succession: John Albert, Alexander (not to be confused with the poisoning pope), and Sigismund; and his influence greatly strengthened the ties between Warmia and Poland proper." Moore (1994), pp. 52, 62.
^"Lucas was on more friendly terms with his successors, Johann Albert (Jan Olbracht) (from 1492 to 1501), and later Alexander (Aleksander) (from 1501 to 1506), and Sigismund (Zygmunt) I (from 1506)." Gassendi & Thill, p. 22.
^"To obtain for his nephews [Nicolaus and Andreas] the necessary support [for their studies in Italy], the bishop [Lucas Watzenrode the Younger] procured their election as canons by the chapter of Frauenburg (1497-1498)." "Nicolaus Copernicus (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)" ,New Advent (online version of the 1913Catholic Encyclopedia). Retrieved 9 June 2013.
^"He spoke German, Polish and Latin with equal fluency as well as Italian." Stone, p. 101.
^"He spoke Polish, Latin and Greek." Somerville, p. 10.
^"He was a linguist with a command of Polish, German and Latin, and he possessed also a knowledge of Greek rare at that period in northeastern Europe and probably had some acquaintance with Italian and Hebrew." Angus Armitage,Copernicus, the founder of modern astronomy, p. 62.
^23.023.1Angus Armitage,The World of Copernicus, pp. 75–77.
^Davies, Norman. God's playground. A History of Poland in Two VolumesII. Oxford University Press. 2005: 26.ISBN 0-19-925340-4.
^"Deutsch war für Kopernikus Muttersprache und Alltagssprache, wenn auch der schriftliche Umgang fast ausschließlich auf Lateinisch erfolgte." Carrier, p. 192.
^"Although great importance has frequently been ascribed to this fact, it does not imply that Copernicus considered himself to be a German. The 'nationes' of a medieval university had nothing in common with nations in the modern sense of the word. Students who were natives of Prussia and Silesia were automatically described as belonging to the Natio Germanorum. Furthmore, at Bologna, this was the 'privileged' nation; consequently, Copernicus had very good reason for inscribing himself on its register." Koyre, p. 21
^"It is important to recognize, however, that the medievel Latin concept ofnatio, or "nation", referred to the community of feudal lords both in Germany and elsewhere, not to 'the people' in the nineteenth-century democratic or nationalistic sense of the word." Johnson, p. 23.
^"Kopernik, Koperek, Kopr and Koprnik in Polish—also similarly in other Slavonic languages—means simply dill such as is used in dill pickling. Be it as it may, although the present writer is more inclined towards the occupational interpretation, it is interesting to note ..." Mizwa, p. 37.
^Oliver Volckart. Early Beginnings of the Quantity Theory of Money and Their Context in Polish and Prussian Monetary Policies, c. 1520–1550. The Economic History Review. 1997,. New Series50 (3): 430–49.
^52.052.152.2Repcheck (2007), pp. 79, 78, 184, 186.
^53.053.1Dobrzycki and Hajdukiewicz (1969), p. 11.
^Angus Armitage,The World of Copernicus, pp. 97–98.
^70.070.170.270.370.470.5Robert S. Westman. The Copernican Question: Prognostication, Skepticism, and Celestial Order. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. 2011.[页码请求]
^71.071.171.271.3Edward Rosen. Calvin's Attitude toward Copernicus. Journal of the History of Ideas. 1960,21 (3): 431–41.
^Exercitations concerning the Name, Original, Nature, Use, and Continuance of a Day of Sacred Rest, Exercitation II = An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Exercitation XXXVI, section 16 (Works, London, 1850–1855; re-issued, Edinburgh, 1862, XIX, 310).
^75.075.175.275.375.475.5Maurice A. Finocchiaro. Defending Copernicus and Galileo: Critical Reasoning in the Two Affairs. Springer Science & Business Media. 2010.[页码请求]
^Decree of the General Congregation of the Index, 5 March 1616, translated from the Latin by Finocchiaro(1989, pp. 148–149). Anon-line copy of Finocchiaro's translation has been made available by Gagné(2005).
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