There is a long-disputed legend that Copernicus first saw a published copy of his heliocentric theory from his deathbed soon before he died of a brain haemorrhage in May 1543. The devout Catholic, it is claimed, dared not publish his alternative picture of the cosmos which put the sun, rather than the earth, at the centre of the known universe.  He was calling into question the church’s power, threatening papal authority and ultimately, undermining humanity’s place at the centre of the known universe. While the depth of the Renaissance polymath’s hesitancy is much disputed, it is still a prominent example…

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