He was born in 1473 in Torun (in northern Poland), but spent most of his life in Warmia, where he conducted astronomical research and observations. The purpose of his life was to solve the problem of the motion of celestial bodies. He engaged in a very wide range of scientific activities, and was, among other things, an astronomer, physician, lawyer, economist, military strategist, mathematician and scholastic, i.e. a man of many talents. Undoubtedly, however, most people associate him first and foremost as the world's most prominent astronomer. It is Nicolaus Copernicus who is the author of the work entitled: Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres (De revolutionibus orbium coelestium) which revolutionized science. The work became famous for its thesis on the heliocentric world order. The phrase uttered about Nicolaus Copernicus, which reads, "He stopped the Sun, moved the Earth," has become famous. According to Copernicus, it is the Earth and other planets that revolve around the Sun, not the Sun and planets around the Earth, as proclaimed by the prevailing model explaining the structure of the world in medieval times. Although Copernicus' theory was not initially received favourably, it influenced the way we look at the place of our planet and man in the Universe. It launched the so-called Copernican Revolution, which is particularly important in the sciences. Many science development centres today are named after him. One example is the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.