Copernicus Found!

Three years ago in northern Poland a skull was found in the cathedral of Frombork and the suspicion was that the skull was that of the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Today the news broke that it is indeed his skull that was found (see reconstruction on the right), because they were able to match DNA form the skull with some DNA located in one of the books he owned for many years. Until now we did not know where he had been buried, but now we know: in the cathedral of Frombork, Poland.

Copernicus is the famous astronomer that published "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), which is the book that put the Sun in the center of our Solar System instead of the Earth. For the longest time he did not dare to publish his book because it was not in accordance with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. But eventually he did decide to publish it with a preface where he indicated it was a theory not a fact. (Sound familiar doesn't it??)

Despite this 'disclaimer' the church banned the book after all, and it was placed on the list of 'forbidden books'. He died shortly after the publication of his book in 1543. Copernicus was finally reinstated by the church in 1992. Yes: nineteen ninety two: a full four hundred and forty nine years after the poor guys death the church finally stated: "eehhh yeah he was right... sorry".

You can find the full article on the find here. (Note that the map they use is wrong though; it is Warsaw, not Frombork, that is the capital of Poland)