About the project

The NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS portal, dedicated to Nicolaus Copernicus, was launched on February 19, 2010, at the address copernicus.torun.pl, thanks to the cooperation of several institutions, including the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, the City and Commune of Torun, the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Regional Public Library - Copernicus Library, the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork, and the Regional Museum in Torun as partners.

In 2022, editorial and administrative work was entrusted to the University Library in Torun, which prepared a new version of the portal, giving it a modern look, making it available in accordance with current Internet trends and recommendations in a responsive form, and adding new functionalities (including multilingualism, accessibility declaration) for better visibility in search engines.

According to the assumptions, the Copernican portal is a place for presenting the biography and legacy of the astronomer. Its main core consists of a story about Copernicus' life, his scientific pursuits, and his revolutionary astronomical discovery and its reception in the modern world. These topics are presented in texts specially commissioned for the portal, written by well-known contemporary scholars. An additional important element of the portal is its resources: an archive of digitized manuscripts left by the astronomer, also developed in Latin transcription and translation, a library enabling the reading of old and contemporary publications about Copernicus' life and activities, and a rich gallery containing a collection of various images of Copernicus, a collection of works of art and photographs related to his person or depicting places related to his activities, as well as objects bearing his name today or in the past.

The NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS portal is the first such extensive, professionally prepared, and publicly available source of information and materials about Copernicus on the Internet. The collections of archives, books, and old and contemporary works of art presented in it gather digital images of objects scattered in various archives, libraries, and museums in one place. A carefully selected group of authors of the texts includes well-known scientists, science popularizers, and enthusiasts of history, astronomy, art, and Copernicus himself from various Polish and foreign centers. Their professionalism and experience guarantee the reliability of the content published at copernicus.torun.pl.

The portal is aimed at a wide audience seeking information about the life of Nicolaus Copernicus, his great discovery, and its influence on the later development of civilization. NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS will thus be an internet encyclopedia intended for students, academics, scientists, and all those interested in the presented issues.

The NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS portal is created by professionals - scientists, librarians, and museum workers with extensive experience in promoting content related to the person, life, and work of Nicolaus Copernicus, as well as implementing modern solutions and using methods and tools for digital content curation. As a result, the portal has the potential to become a reliable, attractive, and user-friendly place for seeking information about Nicolaus Copernicus. NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS offers everyone the opportunity to embark on an intellectual adventure through various fields of science and art, as well as original writings left by Copernicus.

The portal is aimed at the entire online community. The accessible narrative style in the published texts, a large number of illustrations, and attractive graphic design may determine its popularity among students, scholars, and enthusiasts who are not professionally involved with Copernicus. However, the copernicus.torun.pl address also contains materials that can be used by people in the scientific world for research and educational work - Copernicus' manuscripts and editions of his writings, as well as a wealth of scientific and popular science literature devoted to his person, work, and related topics.

The NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS portal is divided into several modules:

BIOGRAPHY - contains information about Copernicus' life, his origin, childhood spent in Toruń, studies in Krakow and Italy, as well as his mature years spent in Warmia - in Lidzbark Warmiński, Olsztyn, and Frombork. This section also provides information about controversies surrounding Copernicus' birthplace and his private life.

SCIENCE AND DISCOVERY - is a section that informs about Copernicus' scientific interests and his activities in various fields of knowledge, primarily astronomy, but also economics, medicine, cartography, and translation. The commissioned texts for the portal also present the history of Copernicus' various sciences in antiquity and the Middle Ages. This section details pre-Copernican cosmological views, tools used by the great astronomer, and his work on the heliocentric theory using texts and illustrative material.

COPERNICAN REVOLUTION - contains richly illustrated texts devoted to the significance of Copernicus' theory for the later development of civilization. The section allows you to familiarize yourself with the reception of Copernicus' theory in the modern world and its importance for the development of exact sciences, especially astronomy and cosmology, and humanities. It presents post-Copernican cosmological concepts and the history of world and Polish astronomy from Copernicus to the 20th century.

RESOURCES - allow you to get acquainted with the writings authored by Copernicus (including, among others, the manuscript of De revolutionibus, Copernicus' economic writings, recipes, as well as letters and documents handwritten by the astronomer), presented in the form of photocopies of manuscripts, which are supplemented by Latin transcription, Polish translation, and professional commentary. This section also includes a module that provides access to a collection of digitized objects - books, journals, and documents of social life related to Nicolaus Copernicus, the significance and reception of his discovery, and the history of the sciences he was involved in. Both old prints and the latest scientific and popular science works written in various languages (made available in digital libraries in the public domain or under appropriate licenses) are published here. There is also a gallery with a rich illustrative material from the collections of the Regional Museum in Toruń, the University Library of UMK, the Provincial Public Library - the Copernicus Library in Toruń, the Jagiellonian University Museum, and private collections. Various images of Copernicus are presented, fixed in the form of graphics, paintings, monuments, and sculptures, as well as appearing on old and contemporary medals, postage stamps, or coins, photographs of places associated with Copernicus' life and activity, and objects bearing his name.

The portal also uses the following materials:

• Woszczyk Andrzej, Nicolaus Copernicus Torunensis, Gazeta Toruńska, no. 258 (1966).
• Słupski Zygmunt, Mikołaj Kopernik, Praca, no. 1931 (1900), pp. 796–797.
• Starowolski Szymon, Setnik pisarzów polskich albo pochwały i żywoty stu najznakomitszych pisarzów polskich, translated and commented by Jerzy Starnawski; Introduction Franciszek Bielak, Jerzy Starnawski, Kraków 1970.
• Kopernik Mikołaj, O obrotach ciał niebieskich i inne pisma, translated and commented by Ludwik Antoni Birkenmajer, Warszawa 2001.
• Kopernik Mikołaj, Zasady bicia monety, translated by Jan Dmochowski, 1519–1522.
• Kopernik i jego dzieło, in: Dom Emisyjny Manuscriptum (URL: https://manuscriptum.pl/nasze-dzie%C5%82a1/o-obrotach-miko%C5%82aj-kopernik).
• illustrations from Flickr, CC BY-SA 3.0.
• illustrations from Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS portal is a project implemented and financed jointly by the Nicolaus Copernicus University and the Municipality of Toruń.

The Program Council currently consists of:

prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Mikulski (NCU, Chairman of the Program Council)
prof. dr hab. Włodzimierz Jaskólski (NCU)
dr hab. Mieczysław Kunz, prof. UMK (NCU)
prof. dr hab. Andrzej Niedzielski (NCU)
prof. dr hab. Jarosław Włodarczyk (Institute of the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences)
dr Michał Targowski (NCU, secretary of the Program Council) 
Paweł Piotrowicz (Municipality of the City of Toruń)
(Municipality of the City of Toruń)
(Municipality of the City of Toruń)
(Municipality of the City of Toruń)

In the years 2008–2010, the portal was managed by the Program Council consisting of representatives of the Nicolaus Copernicus University and the Municipality of Toruń in the following composition:

prof. dr hab. Krzysztof Mikulski (NCU, Chairman of the Program Council)
prof. dr hab. Grzegorz Jarzembski (NCU, Vice-Chairman of the Program Council)
prof. dr hab. Andrzej Kus (NCU)
prof. dr hab. Andrzej Marecki (NCU)
dr hab. Teresa Borawska, prof. UMK (NCU)
Lucjan Broniewicz(Municipality of the City of Toruń)
dr Marek Rubnikowicz (Municipality of the City of Toruń)
Paweł Piotrowicz (Municipality of the City of Toruń)

Editorial work from 2022

dr Liliana Lewandowska (NCU)
dr Dominik M. Piotrowski (NCU)
mgr Paweł Piotrowicz (Municipality of the City of Toruń)
dr Dominika Gołaszewska-Rusinowska (NCU, secretary of the Editorial)

Site management

dr Liliana Lewandowska (content management, graphic design, programming, translation into German)
dr Dominik M. Piotrowski (system installation and management (CMS Joomla!), content management, graphic design, programming)
Agnieszka Koprowska (concept and graphic design)
mgr Paweł Piotrowicz (management of the Events)
dr Dominika Gołaszewska-Rusinowska (Blog/News management) 
mgr Ewa Skrenty (hosting service)

Editorial 2008–2010

Editorial work

dr Michał Targowski (Editor in Chief)
mgr Bożena Bednarek Michalska (Deputy Editor-in-Chief)
doc. Jarosław Włodarczyk
dr Iwona Urbańska
mgr Tomasz Wojciechowski

Site management

dr Stanisław Bajtlik (website texts)
dr hab. Teresa Borawska, prof. UMK (website texts)
mgr Magdalena Dembek (website texts)
dr Ryszard W. Gryglewski (website texts)
dr Michał Kłosiński (website texts)
doc. Michał Kokowski (website texts)
prof. Janusz Małłek (website texts)
prof. Krzysztof Mikulski (website texts)
dr Iwona Paszek (website texts)
dr Michał Targowski (website texts)
dr Iwona Urbańska (website texts)
doc. Jarosław Włodarczyk (website texts)
dr Leszek Zygner (website texts)
prof. Witold Chmielewski (production of films and animations)
mgr Janusz Krysztop (production of films and animations)
mgr Matylda Mazur (production of films and animations)
mgr Jacek Janik (production of films and animations)
Bartosz Staszkiewicz (production of films and animations)
dr hab. Nikodem Pręgowski (portal graphic design)
mgr Danuta Deka (programming support)
mgr Radosław Kutowiński (programming support)
mgr Artur Sikora (programming support)
mgr Tomasz Wojciechowski (programming support)
mgr Joanna Przewięźlikowska (English translation)
mgr Edward Maliszewski (English translation)

Queries and digitization

Biblioteka Uniwersytecka UMK w Toruniu
Muzeum Okręgowe w Toruniu
Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna – Książnica Kopernikańska w Toruniu
Muzeum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w Krakowie

The scientific partner of the portal is the Institute of the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Thanks to the cooperation with this institution, materials previously published by the Institute as part of its publishing activities, including the latest Polish complete edition of the Works of Nicolaus Copernicus, as well as valuable positions from the "Studia Copernicana" series and the "Quarterly of the History of Science and Technology" have been obtained for publication on the NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS website.

The Program Board has also signed partnership agreements with other institutions:

• The Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork, which provided access to objects related to Copernicus within the Museum.
• The District Museum in Toruń, which provided about 200 photographs of the most valuable objects related to Copernicus for publication on the portal and provided access to objects related to Copernicus within the Museum.
• The Regional Public Library - Copernican Library in Toruń, which made available to the portal a collection of special collections related to Copernicus and the history of science.

In addition, the work on the portal used the cooperation with dozens of archival, museum or library institutions from Poland, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, and Italy to provide reproductions of manuscripts or the oldest copies of Copernicus' autographs stored in their collections.

The NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS portal is a long-term project. The content of individual sections will be continuously expanded and updated.

The Program Council and the Editorial Board of the NICOLAUS COPERNICUS THORUNENSIS portal invite all institutions and individuals dealing with the topics presented on the portal to cooperate in creating a professional online source of information about Copernicus.