Copernicus Essays - Copernican Revolution, Copernican Heliocentrism

Copernicus Nicolas Copernicus Nicolas Copernicus 1473-1543 Physics February 8, 2000 Nicolas Copernicus Nicolas Copernicus 1473-1543 Copernicus was born in Poland in 1473, he started his education at Cracow University. There he studied mathematics and optics. From here he went to Italy, where he was appointed as a canon in the cathedral of Frauenburg, where he spent a comfortable academic life studding. Copernicus had some small hobbies while at the cathedral, he painted, and frequently translated Greek poetry into Latin. One other hobby that just wasn't small enough to be called a hobby to most of us was astronomy. He made investigations quietly and alone, without any help. He observed from a turret on a protective wall around a cathedral, he also looked with his naked eye rather than with a telescope. He was one of the founders of modern astronomy. Copernicus died in 1543 of a cerebral hemorrhage. In 1530 right before Copernicus died he managed to published his work, De Revolutionibus. Which said that the earth rotated on its axis once daily and traveled around the sun once yearly. This might no sound very controversial but at this time the church and its followers believed in the Ptolemiac theory, which stated that the universe was a closed space bounded by a spherical envelope beyond which there was nothing. (Landry 1999) Copernicus's works went against the church, and most scientific beliefs. This may be one reason why Copernicus didn't publish his work until his deathbed. Another reason may be that Copernicus was a huge perfectionist, and continuously redid his works over and over to get them right. (Field 1995) So you can see why Copernicus wasn't in any big rush to have the world know about his theory. On one hand he would cause a Nicolas Copernicus tramoundous stir in the church, and all the scientific community. He would've most likely have been fired from the comfortable church position he had for many years, and could?ve given him a bad name. If it hadn't been for George Rheticus, a 25-year-old German mathematics professor Copernicus's might have never publiched his work. (Field 1995) Rheticus stayed with Copernicus for two years, and convinced him to release his work. ?His work the Copernicus's heliostatic cosmology involved giving several distinct motions to the Earth. It was consequently considered implausible by the vast majority of his contemporaries, and by most astronomers and natural philosophers of succeeding generations before the middle of the seventeenth century. Its only defenders included Johannes Kepler (1571 -1630) and Galileo Galilei (1564- 1642). Strong theoretical underpinning for the Copernican theory was provided by Newton's theory of universal gravitation (1687).? (Field 1995) So Copernicus's whole argument stated that the planets and the Earth were in orbit around the sun, and the moon was in orbit around the Earth. This is called the The Heliocentric System: Nicolas Copernicus In conclusion Copernicus said that the Sun was the center of the universe, and went against all known knowledge, religion, and teachings. He took all his observations with the naked eye and with no help. Many disregarded his book and his theory, which went against everything that the church believed in. However if it wasn't for Copernicus, modern astronomy would have never made advances as far as it has to today. Copernicus's hard work and strength is why he is one of the most important founders of modern astronomy. Bibliography Field, J. V. (1995 August). Home page. [Online]. [2000, Feb. 8]. Astronomy 161 ?The Solar System? . [Online]. University of Florida. [2000, Feb. 8]. Landry, Peter (1999 June). Home page. [Online]. Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. CANADA. [2000, Feb. 8].

What You Need to Know About Biomes

What You Need to Know About Biomes If you want to learn about ecology, the first thing you need to understand is how all of living organisms in the world live with one another. A biome is an ecosystem or group of ecosystems that can be characterized by its vegetation, plant  and animals life, climate, geology, elevation, and rainfall.   Biomes are large ecosystem units. So while a puddle may be considered an ecosystem, the Pacific Ocean would be considered a biome. In most cases, the plants and animals in a biome will have special adaptations that make living in that community most successful.   So when ecologists study a particular plant or animal, they generally study its entire biome to have a better understanding of the role that species plays in its community. There are five basic types of land biomes and two categories of aquatic biomes. Each biome can then be broken down into a number of sub-biomes or zones that all have their own unique set of  geographic characteristics. Here are the defining characteristics of the worlds biomes: Land Biomes Tundra: A tundra is a treeless biome that is characterized by long, cold winters and short tepid summers. The word tundra  comes from the Russian word for uplands.   The cooler temperatures and shorter growing season limits the types of plants that are found in tundras to grasses, mosses, lichen, low shrubs, and a few flowering plants.   The three main types of tundra are the arctic tundra, alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra.Grassland: As the name suggests, grasslands are characterized by the predominance of grasses and grass-like plants, such as sedge and rush.   Savannas are a type of grassland that also include a few scattered trees. Grasslands can be found on every continent in the world except for Antarctica.Forest:  In the forest biome, large groups of trees live together in close relationship with each other and with the other living things in the environment.    In general, the trees in a forest are so abundant that their tops touch or overlap, shading the ground .   Tropical rainforest, boreal forest,  and temperate forest are a few  types of forest biome. Desert:  Rainfall -  or the lack of it- is the defining characteristic of the desert biome.   Deserts get less than 10 inches of rainfall per year.   Because of this, many deserts have little to no vegetation while others have a few scattered low shrubs or grasses. Deserts are usually classified as hot or cold or  semi-arid or coastal.   Ã‚  Mountain: Every continent on Earth has a mountain biome.   Mountains are land masses that are usually found in groups called chains or ranges although some do exist on their own.   A single mountain may have many ecosystems  within it, starting with a desert at the base, changing to a forest as the elevation rises, and topped off with a tundra.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aquatic Biomes Water biomes make up over 75 percent of the Earths surface. They consist of freshwater ecosystems such as  ponds and lakes, streams and rivers, and wetlands, as well as marine regions such as  coral reefs,  oceans,  and estuaries.Marine biomes are distinguished from freshwater by the presence dissolved compounds - usually salts - in the water. The amount of salt - or salinity - varies within each of the marine ecosystems.  Ã‚   Biomes play a critical role in the understanding of ecology because they help scientists study not only a specific plant or animal but also the role it plays in its community and the characteristics that it has developed to live in its environment.