While the world’s attention was drawn towards the highly-visible, round-the-clock construction of Warsaw’s amazing new stadium on the right bank of the Wisła, work was being carried out on the river’s left bank on a building that might well outshine the stadium once the Euro 2012 bunting has been taken down. Built on time and on budget (well, just about), the Copernicus Science Centre (CSC) - which stands almost directly opposite the stadium, looks set to become Warsaw’s top visitor attraction for years to come.

The centre can be found in the shadow of the Swietokrzyski Bridge on the banks of the Vistula River. Served by buses 118, 150, 506, 102, 162, 174, 185 from the centre, the journey will take about 10 minutes. Alternatively visit the ‘About us’ section of the English language website www.kopernik.org.pl, where you can get directions by car, by bus, or by foot by typing in your address.

A rare example of European Union funding being used in a genuinely visionary way, the CSC is many things, not least (in the words of Poland’s Education Minister shortly before the opening) an attempt to restate the case for science and research in what can still be an intensely and deeply religious country. In that sense, giving the centre the name of the man who did so much to end the church’s monopoly of education in the first place is little short of a masterstroke.

Not that Copernicus had it all his own way. In the aftermath of the tragic death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in April 2010, the president’s political party, PiS (Law & Justice), lobbied heavily to have the CSC named for him. The request was politely, respectfully, refused.

Given the stunning, futuristic sight - all glass and steel - that greets visitors to the €93 million (half of which came from the EU, half of which came from the Polish taxpayer) CSC today, it’s a little ironic that the building’s origins are slightly more humble. The idea of creating the centre in fact first took shape at the informal Science Picnics: outdoor science, culture and art events aimed at the general public which have been organised in Warsaw’s Rynek Nowego Miasta since 1997.

The idea of the picnics (which were organised by Polskie Radio, strangely enough) was to bring popular science to the masses by means of hands-on experiments. Each year, as the numbers of scientists, universities, schools and members of the general public taking part grew, it became clear that there was a great interest in science in Warsaw, while the large numbers of foreign visitors who came to the events suggested that there was an untapped market in the region for hands-on scientific learning. Construction of the CSC was the natural next step, though it took a number of years to secure the site, and funding.

Given the ad hoc, Science Picnic origins of the CSC, it is no surprise that the museum (if we can call it that) opened in a lightly ad hoc, it-will-be-alright-on-the-night type way. The opening show, Wielki Wybuch (The Big Bang), directed by Peter Greenaway and Saskia Boddeke, was a little underwhelming (and at certain points quite bizarre), while visitors to the centre in the first couple of weeks were greeted by an annoyingly large number of ‘this exhibit is temporarily out of order’ signs. While it continues to open in stages this should not discourage you from visiting: the parts that are already open makes this place one of Europe’s top science attractions. When the rest of the centre is open, then it will unquestionably be the very best science centre in Europe.

Arriving at the main doors at the north end of the building, you will be met by the centre’s very own Robothespian. A fully programmable humanoid robot, the Robothespian was developed in Britain by the Eden Project in Cornwall. He speaks, interacts, mimics and performs and visitors can prompt him to make a number of sounds, speech and movements by the adjacent control panel. This will keep the kids busy while you queue at the central ticket desk where you will be given a set of credit card-style entrance passes. You should keep hold of these as not only do they allow you to enter and exit the building throughout the day, but they will also become your ID card as you move through the exhibitions, many of which allow you to record your results (which are stored and then emailed to you afterwards).

Passing through the barriers, the first display you come to is a huge swinging ball. The ball swings backwards and forwards, periodically knocking over mallets which strike a bell as they fall. These bells are lined up around the swinging ball in a circle and although the ball swings in a straight line backwards and forwards, the knocking over of the mallets demonstrates that the world is constantly rotating.

Having admired this, the interactive part of the exhibition begins. First of all, register your card with your name and email address at one of the terminals so that you will be identified as you progress through the exhibition. There are literally hundreds of experiments to visit, spread over two floors. Roots of Civilisation (Ground Floor), Humans and the Environment, LightZone, On the Move and Buzz! - the children’s area, aimed at children between the ages of 0 and 6. Each area demonstrates a range of phenomenon by way of experiments, button pressing, quizzes and in some cases physical exertion with the aim of helping you to discover the secrets of the world around us.

Not only will you learn an awful lot, but the place is great fun, especially if you are (or are with) a child. There’s a genuine flying carpet, you can pilot a spaceship, take a picture of your own eye (and then try to recognise it among the others photographed that day), discover who or what is living next to us in a major city, get involved in some crime solving or - and this was our favourite - try to outdo animals at their own game by out-hanging an Orangutan or beating a hippo in a race at the arena. There is also a Robotic Theatre where 3 robots perform a short story “Prince Ferrix and the Princess Crystal” by Stanislaw Lem. Keep an eye out for the times of the English-language performances which are advertised on the door of the theatre. The centre also offers an on-site bistro and cafe with a conference centre also in the pipeline. There’s plenty to do and you can easily spend a whole morning or afternoon here trying everything, particularly if there are school groups there as there were on our visit.

And this is only part of the whole centre as it will one day be. A Regeneration zone (where teenagers and young adults will be able to experiment with psychology, sociology, economy or biotechnology) is pencilled in to open in March while there are plans to open further parts of the centre during 2011, including a planetarium, an outdoor Discovery Park, Chemistry, Physics and Biology labs (where you can try real experiments) and a rooftop garden.

Despite the staggered opening and the teething problems the centre is still well-worth a few hours of your time and will impress you with its design and range of experiments. The staff are keen, very helpful and English-speaking. If truth be told, it would have very hard to imagine such a potentially world-class visitor attraction being built in Warsaw just a few years ago. And yet here it is which ought to be worth an exhibit in how the impossible can become possible in itself. Highly recommended.

Mikolaj Kopernik was born the youngest son of a copper trader in Torun on February 19, 1473. His father died when he was just 10, and the young Mikolaj was sent by his uncle, the canon at Frombork (German Frauenberg) Cathedral Lucas Watzenrode, to the Cathedral school of Wloclawek where he received a first class humanist education. In 1488 Kopernik began his studies at Krakow University (then the capital of Poland), where he studied Latin, mathematics, astronomy, geography and philosophy, learning his astronomy from Johannes de Sacrobosco's 13th- century book, Tractatus de Sphaera.

It was at Krakow University that Mikolaj Kopernik, started using the Latin version of his name, Nicolaus Copernicus. He finished his studies in Krakow after four years without formally graduating, and, encouraged by his uncle, travelled to Bologna in 1496 to take a degree in Canon Law. Alongside his official course Copernicus also studied Greek, mathematics and astronomy, renting rooms in the house of the university’s professor of astronomy, Domenico Maria de Novara. Assisting him with his observations, on March 9, 1497, Nicolaus Copernicus witnessed the Moon eclipse the star Aldebaran. After an obligatory year in Rome in 1500 Copernicus travelled to Frombork and was officially installed as canon of the Ermland Chapter on July 27, 1501. However, Copernicus was soon back in Italy, this time choosing to study law and medicine in Padua. Copernicus really had another motive for returning to Italy though, that being to continue his studies of astronomy.

Again back in Frombork, in 1509 Copernicus began publishing serious works, the first being Latin translations of the work of an obscure Greek poet, Theophylactus Simocattes. In 1512 Copernicus' uncle died. Returning to his duties as canon, Copernicus dedicated more and more of his time to the study of astronomy. It's believed that he lived in one of the towers in the Frombork Cathedral complex and built an observatory there.

In 1514 Copernicus published a hand-written book, The Little Commentary, setting out his theories of a universe with a sun at its centre, and it's generally believed that he started writing the book that made him so infamous, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, in the same year. His fame as an astronomer had by now reached the highest circles, and in 1514 (the same year he published what was essentially a heretical work) Copernicus was approached by the Pope for his advice on improving the calendar, which was known to be out of phase with the Moon.

Copernicus’ defining work De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium was eventually published in Nuremburg at the very end of his life in March 1543, almost 30 years after he started writing it, Copernicus outliving the publication by just two months.

Although many before him had hinted at the unthinkable, that the Earth wasn't the centre of the Universe as the Church believed, it was Nicolaus Copernicus who first stated it so publicly. Astronomers who propagated his ideas were burnt at the stake and the Catholic church placed De Revolutionibus on its list of banned books (as late as 1835) but there was no turning back progress. The modern cosmological view - that our galaxy is one of billions in a vast universe - is this man's legacy.