Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Polish astronomer who is considered the founder of modern astronomy. He was the first to propose that the Earth and other planets revolve around the sun (heliocentrism), rather than the Earth being the center of the universe. Copernicus received a good education after his father died, studying mathematics and law at multiple universities in Italy. Though his work was not published until after his death, Copernicus made major contributions to science through establishing the heliocentric model of the solar system.