A mathematician and astronomer who formulated a heliocentric [link to glossary: heliocentric] model of the solar system. Copernicus began to develop his heliocentric hypothesis by 1514, inspired by studying Regiomontanus’s edition of the 'Almagest'. His breathtakingly revolutionary ‘De revolutionibus orbium coelestium’ began to take its final shape after 1530, although he only received a complete copy of the published book on his deathbed.

Close up portrait of the head and shoulders of Nicholas Copernicus