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Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) is a pivotal figure in the birth of modern science, the astronomer who "stopped the sun and set the earth in motion." Born in Poland, educated at Cracow and then in Italy, he served all of his adult life as a church administrator. His vision of a sun-centered universe, shocking to many and unbelievable to most, turned out to be the essential blueprint for a physical understanding of celestial motions, thereby triggering what is commonly called "the Copernican revolution." A first edition of his world-changing treatise, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, has most recently been auctioned for more than $2 million. In this book, leading historian of science Owen...
Born in Poland in 1473, Nicolaus Copernicus launched a quiet revolution. No scientist so radically transformed our understanding of our place in the universe as this curious bishop's doctor and church official. In his quest to discover a beautiful and coherent system to describe the motions of the planets, Copernicus placed the sun in the center of the system and made the earth a planet traveling around the sun. Today it is hard to imagine our solar system any other way, but for his time Copernicus's idea was earthshaking. In 1616 the church banned his book Revolutions because it contradicted the accepted notion that God placed Earth in the center of the universe. Even though those who knew ...
Profiles the life and work of the Polish astronomer who believed that the planets revolved around the Sun and the Earth was not the center of the universe.
The Annotated Census lists and describes - on the basis of direct examination - all of the 560 located copies of the first and second editions of Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium that survive in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as several copies of known provenance destroyed, stolen or otherwise lost in modern times. The entry for each copy lists its present location and describes particulars of its binding, size, and any shelf marks. A short history is given of the provenance of each copy, wherever possible with identification of owners and dates of ownership. Marginalia and interlinear notes are also indicated together with transcription and translation of...
When Nicolaus Copernicus claimed that the Earth was not stationary at the centre of the universe but circled the Sun, he brought about a total revolution in the sciences and consternation in the Church. Copernicus’ theory demanded a new physics to explain motion and force, a new theory of space, and a completely new conception of the nature of our universe. He also showed for the first time that a common-sense view of things isn’t necessarily correct, and that mathematics can and does reveal the true nature of the material world. As John Henry reveals, from his idea of a swiftly moving Earth Copernicus sowed the seed from which science has grown to be a dominant aspect of modern culture, fundamental in shaping our understanding of the workings of the cosmos.
Discusses the youth, education, scientific observations, conflict with religious teachings and the Church, and legacy of Nicolaus Copernicus.
"A short account of the astronomer Copernicus, and of the historic book in which he laid the foundations of the heliocentric theory of the planetary motions." -- Preface.
The essays in Copernirus and his Successors deal both with the influences on Copernicus, including that of Greek and Arabic thinkers, and with his own life and attitudes. They also examine how he was seen by contemporaries and finally describe his relationship to other scientists, including Galileo, Brahe and Kepler.
Copernicus worked with primitive scientific instruments to prove that Earth revolved around the sun. The idea of Earth circling the sun is universally accepted today, but this was not always the case. Centuries ago, it was widely believed that the earth stood still and the sun moved. At first, Copernicus was denounced and ridiculed for this belief. Later, scientists with more advanced instruments proved that Earth did indeed revolve around the sun. Many of our modern advances in science would not have been possible without the heliocentric theory of Copernicus.