BIO
Copernicus is often considered the beginning of the
so-called Scientific Revolution. His work De
revolutionibus orbium coelestium was delivered to his hands on his
deathbed, as he waited to publish for unknown reasons. Certainly he was aware
of the conflict his helio-centric model of the universe would create with
Church authorities and Aristotelian dogma. Copernicus was a product of the
intellectualism and academic environment of the late middle ages and what would
later be called the Renaissance. He most certainly was not the first to
speculate on a sun-centered cosmos. Early ancient Greek Ionians like Aristarchus of Samos had done that milliniea before. His math and diagrams in De revolutionibus
are much more than strikingly and suspiciously similar to those of earlier famous
Arab mathematicians.
However, Artistotle—having been thoroughly Christianized
during a “medieval synthesis”—ruled the heavens. Aristotle claimed that the
celestial spheres—the moon and beyond—were immutable. His philosophy also
includes that less perfect matter sinks to the center of the universe, thus
creating the sphere of earth. Perfect
matter would rise to the heavens. Copernicus’ model placed the Sun at the
center; a sun—regarded by Aristotelians as part of that perfect matter—was now
in a less that perfect place.
It is unclear whether he truly believed that his
helio-centric universe was a model or a system. As a model it would mean that Copernicus’
arguments were for the sake of philosophy and math; as a system it would imply
that the celestial spheres were in fact created (by God of course) and were
truly spheres as Copernicus had outlined.
The astronomical data certainly worked better than
Aristotle’s system or Ptolemy’s model based on the Aristotle’s system. Copernicus’ math was only marginally
better; however the mathematical simplicity and the eliminations of certain problems, would lead the next generation of natural philosophers, Galileo and Kepler, to build on his model.
LINKS
Nicolaus Copernicus - Wikipedia
Nicolaus Copernicus - Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Copernican System - The Galileo Project
Nicolaus Copernicus - Encyclopædia Britannica
Nicholaus Copernicus - Eric Weisstein's World of Science
Nicolaus Copernicus - Wikipedia
Nicolaus Copernicus - Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Copernican System - The Galileo Project
Nicolaus Copernicus - Encyclopædia Britannica
Nicholaus Copernicus - Eric Weisstein's World of Science
VIDEOS