A Book Reveals the Mystery of the Tomb of Copernicus

The mystery was solved not by what was written in the book, but by a few strands of hair left inside a book by Nicolaus Copernicus.

In this AP story, also reported by Guardian UK, it’s revealed that researchers have identified the remains of Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer’s books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.

The remains were found in a Roman Catholic cathedral in Frombork, Poland. “In the two years of work, under extremely difficult conditions — amid thousands of visitors, with earth shifting under the heavy pounding of the organ — we managed to locate the grave, which was badly damaged,” Gassowski said.