500th birthday - Germany / German Democratic Republic 1973 - 70 Pfennig

Nicolaus Copernicus celebrates its 500th birthday On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the well-known Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of the German Democratic Republic issues a multicolored postage stamp. Nicolaus Copernicus 1473 - 1543 February 500 marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of the famous Polish Renaissance scholar Nicolaus Copernicus. This anniversary will be dignified throughout the world, with the main celebrations taking place in the People's Republic of Poland. The name and work of the ingenious scientist, his historical act of renewing astronomy, laid down in his major work "De revolutionibus", and the co-founding of the scientific, materialistic world view as well as his complex work in the service of his homeland, are a symbol of his commitment to scientific and social life Become progress in the world. The achievements of Nicolaus Copernicus and the revolutionary effect of his work are closely linked to the intellectual and social upheaval of this period, marked by the contradictory unity of the Renaissance, humanism, reformation and early bourgeois revolution. "It was the greatest progressive upheaval that humanity had experienced until then, a time that required giants and begets giants, giants of power of thought, passion and character, of versatility and erudition." (Friedrich Engels) (1) Copernicus, who for decades was associated with progressive scholarly circles in Europe, not only acted as a major theoretical mind, but also intervened directly in the state and political affairs of his country. Already during his studies in Krakow and at Italian universities, he was actively involved with the problems of his time, stimulated by his uncle, Bishop Lucas Watzenrode. Later, as a canon in the Polish king's prank, he continued this social commitment. Through his proposals for coinage reform, he enriched the economic policy of his state. As governor of Olsztyn he directed the defense of the city against the Teutonic Knights. His reputation as a doctor was also unchallenged. Thus he influenced in many ways the social conditions of his epoch, on the basis of which bourgeois nations began to emerge as at that time progressive developmental forms of society. The decisive field of action on which Nicolaus Copernicus at that time intervened in the historical and ideological upheavals was undoubtedly that of the liberation of astronomy and the entire natural sciences from the medieval scholastic dogmas of the church. The Copernican New Worldview overcame the idealistic notion of the essential difference between the "imperfect, perishable earthly world and the eternal, immutable, perfect heavenly world." Nicolaus Copernicus correctly arranged the earth into the cosmos by pushing it out of the center of the world. His heliocentric view of the world led, in philosophical consequence, to the realization that the world is uniformly material, and that the cosmos, including the earth, is subject to the same laws. It is these ideological implications of Copernican doctrine that make Frederick Engels honor the act of Copernicus as a "revolutionary act" by which science declared its independence. "From then on," says Engels literally, "the emancipation of natural science dates from theology, even though the dispute between the individual reciprocal claims lags far into our days and has not yet taken place in some minds." This ideological content of the Copernican doctrine had and still has great significance for the struggle for the assertion of a scientific, materialistic view of the world and is therefore highly topical for our present time. (1) In Marx / Engels Werke, vol. 20 p. 312, Berlin 1962