DNA studies on two strands of hair and a tooth have ended a centuries old hunt for the tomb of 16th century astronomer Nicolas Copernicus, say experts.
The tests confirmed that remains found in Frombork Cathedral in northern Poland in 2005 are those of the man considered the father of modern astronomy, says Polish archaeologist Professor Jerzy Gassowski.
His final resting place has until now remained a mystery.
Polish, French and German researchers have tried for two centuries to find his tomb,
Coperincus shocked his contemporaries by asserting that the earth rotated on its axis once a day and travelled around the sun once a year in his pioneering work De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres), published shortly before his death in 1543
Earlier beliefs based on the Ptolemaic theory put the earth at the centre of the universe, with the sun and stars revolving around it. His groundbreaking work was condemned by Pope Paul V in 1616 as contrary to scripture
clipped from: www.abc.net.au 