The Compass - Stargazing: Copernicus' Heavenly Spheres

Stargazing: Copernicus' Heavenly Spheres

Download Stargazing: Copernicus' Heavenly Spheres

Dava Sobel uncovers the brilliance of her hero, the 16th century Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who revealed the true model of the universe by putting the Sun, rather than the Earth, at its hub. Episode one of five.

In the Cathedral town of Frombork on the Baltic Sea in Northern Poland, we hear how he served his entire career in the church and how he kept his astronomical findings a secret, fearful of being denounced by the Catholic Church. On his deathbed, he published his life’s work, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres".

(Photo: Monument of great astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, Torun, Poland. Credit: Getty Images)


Published on Wednesday, 23rd August 2017.

Available Podcasts from The Compass

Subscribe to The Compass

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the The Compass webpage.