From the excellent magazine, Touchstone, much recommended by me:Bishop Finds Copernicus - competition for sarcophagusCopernicus, who would never have endorsed it, became associated with the infamous "Copernican Principle", fronted by late twentieth century science popularizers like Carl Sagan - according to which Earth is nothing special. That is not what Copernicus was trying to do.
The bones of a man, which later proved to be those of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), were found in 2005 using geo-radar scanning among the graves in front of one of 20 altars in the 14th century Frombork Cathedral. Final proof was provided last November when forensic experts made an exact DNA match between a tooth from the skull and hairs found in a 1518 book, Calendarium Romanum Magnum, which Copernicus used for many years. Jacek Jezierski, Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop from Poland’s Warmia archdiocese, who organized the search for the remains of Copernicus, said a competition would be launched to design a sarcophagus for Copernicus in time for his reburial during the cathedral’s 750th anniversary in 2010. (ENI 12/15/08)
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