Nikolaus Kopernikus, known in English as Nicolaus Copernicus, was a Polish mathematician and astronomer born in 1473. He is best known for formulating the heliocentric model of the universe, which proposed that the Sun is at the center, and the Earth and other planets revolve around it. This was a significant shift from the previously accepted geocentric model, which placed the Earth at the center. Kopernikus' groundbreaking work, titled De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), was published in 1543, shortly before his death. His ideas laid the foundation for modern astronomy and influenced later scientists, including Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler, ultimately leading to the scientific revolution.