1506 in science

Astronomy

• Possible date – Nicolaus Copernicus begins to write De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. He sends an abstract, the Commentariolus, to other scientists interested in the matter before 1514 and is considered to have finished De revolutionibus in 1530, but hesitates to publish before 1543, the year of his death.

  Exploration

• Portuguese mariner Tristão da Cunha sights the islands of Tristan da Cunha.

  Deaths

• May 20 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer.