Nicolaus Copernicus (/koʊˈpɜrnɪkəs, kə-/;[1] Polish: Mikołaj Kopernik [mʲiˈkɔwaj kɔˈpɛrʲɲik]; German: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe.[a] The publication of this model in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) just before his death in 1543 is considered a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution and making an important contribution to the Scientific Revolution.