LITTLE 

 JOURNEYS 



mother had a brother who was a bishop, and the 

 mother's ambition for her boy was that he should 

 eventually walk in the footsteps of this illustrious 

 brother who was known for a hundred miles as a 

 preacher of marked ability. 



So we hear of the young man being sent to the Uni- 

 versity of Cracow, as preliminary to a great career. 

 The father opposed the idea of taking the son out of 

 the practical world of business, and this evidently led 

 to the breach ^that caused young Nicholas to discard 

 the family name. 



That Nicholas did not fully enter into his mother's 

 plans is shown that while at Cracow he devoted him- 

 self mostly to medicine. He was so proficient in this 

 that he secured a physician's degree; and having 

 been given leave to practice he revealed his humanity 

 by declining to do so, turning to mathematics with a 

 fine frenzy. 



This disposition to drop on a thing turn loose on it 

 concentrate, and reduce it to chaos, is the true dis- 

 tinguishing mark of genius. The difference in men does 

 not lie in the size of their heads, nor the perfection of 

 their bodies, but in this one sublime ability of con- 

 centration to throw the weight with the blow, live an 

 eternity in an hour "This one thing I do ! ' 

 Copernicus at twenty-one was teaching mathematics 

 at Cracow, and by his extraordinary ability in this di- 

 rection had attracted the attention of various learned 

 men. In fact the authorities at the college had grown 

 a bit boastful of their star student, and when visiting 

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