Nicolaus Copernicus’ 540th birthday: A man who questioned the rules

Copernicus doesn’t come up in day-to-day conversations, but perhaps he should: He is considered the founder of modern astronomy and single-handedly changed the way we think about our place in the universe by positing that the Earth revolved around the sun, and not the other way around. He remains a patron saint to those who like to question the rules. Copernicus was born in Poland in 1473 and as a young man became fascinated by math, medicine and science, particularly astronomy. His studies led him to challenge what was then a widely accepted belief that Earth stood still in outer space while the sun rotated it.