Mikołaj Kopernik, son of a Toruń merchant, is a bright and world-curious child. When he is ten, Dutch astrologer Paul van de Volder predicts a great future for him, which develops the boy's interest in the stars. Paul van de Volder reappears in Mikołaj's life when he is already a student of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. A struggle for the student's soul begins between the astrologer charlatan and Wojciech of Brudzew and other professors of the university.