Nicolaus Copernicus — Polish Scientist born on February 19, 1473, died on May 24, 1543

Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe. The publication of this model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium just before his death in 1543 is considered a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution and making an important contribution to the Scientific Revolution... (wikipedia)

Of all things visible, the highest is the heaven of the fixed stars.
Not a few other very eminent and scholarly men made the same request, urging that I should no longer through fear refuse to give out my work for the common benefit of students of Mathematics.
For a traveler going from any place toward the north, that pole of the daily rotation gradually climbs higher, while the opposite pole drops down an equal amount.
For it is the duty of an astronomer to compose the history of the celestial motions through careful and expert study.
To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.