Research & Collections
Past History of Astronomy Exhibits
The Remarkable Work of Copernicus, Hevelius,
and Other Polish Astronomers
and Other Polish Astronomers
October 6, 2000 through January 28, 2001
Astronomy has had a long and rich history in Poland. Nicolaus Copernicus is perhaps the most famous astronomer of all time, but Poland has produced a number of other remarkable astronomers. Johannes Hevelius, Stanislaw Lubieniecki, Marcin Bylica, Wojciech of Brudzewo, and Jan Glogowczyk have all contributed significantly to the history of astronomy. Particularly in the 1400s, 1500s, and 1600s, Polish astronomers were at the forefront of scholarship in Europe. This exhibition captures the variety of astronomical activities in Poland through 1690, primarily through a display of the books that these astronomers published. From the earliest days of university teaching in Krakow, astronomy has flourished in Poland and indeed continues to flourish today.
Wojciech of Brudzewo [Albertus de Brudzewo] (1445/46-1495)
From the town of Brudzewo, this professor was the head of a group of astronomers and scientists at the Jagiellonian University and is considered to be the leading Polish astronomer of the 1400s. He was renowned throughout Europe for his commentary on Peurbach's Theoricae novae planetarum.
Marcin Bylica (died 1493)
From Olkusz, Bylica was one of the most prominent astronomers in Poland in the late 1400s. A student and professor at the Jagiellonian University, he donated an important collection of instruments to the university in 1494, including one of the most important early celestial globes still in existence. He served as court astrologer to King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary towards the end of his life.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
Born in Torun, Copernicus studied at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and several universities in Italy. Not long after receiving a degree in canon law from the University of Ferrara, he relocated to Frombork, where he lived the rest of his life working as a canon and as a physician. He carried out many astronomical activites in Frombork, including writing his great work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, that introduced the revolutionary concept of a Sun-centered planetary system.
Jan Glogowczyk [Jan Glogau, Jan of Glogow] (1455-1507)
Glogowczyk (from Glogow) was a professor of astrology and astronomy at the Jagiellonian University and wrote numerous treatises on these subjects.
Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687)
Hevelius was born and spent most of his life in Gdansk. A brewer by trade, Hevelius dedicated much of his life to hours of astronomical observation, published numerous books, and compiled 17 volumes of his correspondence with astronomers and other scientists throughout Europe. He received financial support from royalty such as King Jan III Sobieski of Poland and King Louis XIV of France. His second wife, Elisabetha, can be considered one of the earliest recorded female astronomers.
Stanislaw Lubieniecki (1623-1675)
Born in Rakow (now in Germany), Lubieniecki pursued astronomy, and in particular the study of comets, as a hobby. A Polish nobleman who spent much of his life in Hamburg, he is perhaps best known for his Historia reformationis polonicae (History of the Polish Reformation). His massive Theatrum cometicum compiles European accounts of the comets of 1664 and 1665, provides a history of all comets from the year 1 A.D. to 1665, and discusses the meaning of comets.
This exhibition was curated by Anna Felicity Friedman from the History of Astronomy Department at the Adler. It was created in partnership with the Polish American Congress--Illinois Division and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago. Major funding was provided by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, Robert Flor/Copernicus Foundation, Kurczaba & Wojciechowski Family Trust, Dr. & Mrs. Henry Kurzydlowski, Polish American Congress-Illinois Division, Polish National Alliance of North America, Chicago Society Foundation, and LOT Polish Airlines.