Who is Nicolaus Copernicus from Beyond Good and Evil and what is their importance?

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was the first astronomer to formulate a scientifically based theory that the Earth was not the center of the universe. One of his writings, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), is considered to be starting point of modern astronomy.