Copernicus' Remains Identified Through DNA

yahoo: In this image provided by the Kronenberg Foundation in Warsaw on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008, a computer-generated reconstruction of what astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus may have looked like on the basis of a skull discovered in the cathedral in Frombork, northern Poland, is seen. Polish and Swedish researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton they have found with that taken from hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books.
(AP Photo/Kronenberg Foundation, HO)

AP (via Yahoo): Scientists say Copernicus' remains, grave found

WARSAW, Poland – Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus 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.

Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski told a news conference that forensic facial reconstruction of the skull, missing the lower jaw, his team found in 2005 buried in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Frombork, Poland, bears striking resemblance to existing portraits of Copernicus.

The reconstruction shows a broken nose and other features that resemble a self-portrait of Copernicus, and the skull bears a cut mark above the left eye that corresponds with a scar shown in the painting.

This story reminds me of the novel People of The Book by Geraldine Brooks (author of the March). People of the Book is like a literary CSI, where a rare books expert traces the history of a real book, the Sarajevo Haggadah, through its 600-year-history using modern methods of evidence collection and analysis. Not as good as March, but it's tough to top a Pulitzer Prize-winner.