Book ID: CBB906472418

Copernicus: A Very Short Introduction (2016)

unapi

Gingerich, Owen (Author)


Oxford University Press


Publication Date: 2016
Physical Details: 115 pages
Language: English

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 Gingerich sets Copernicus in the context of a rapidly changing world, where the recent invention of printing with moveable type not only made sources more readily available to him, but also fueled Martin's Luther's transformation of the religious landscape. In an era of geographical exploration and discovery, new ideas were replacing time-honored concepts about the extent of inhabited continents. Gingerich reveals Copernicus' heliocentric revolution as an aesthetic achievement not dictated by observational "proofs," but another new way of looking at the ancient cosmos. Deftly combining astronomy and history, this Very Short Introduction offers a fascinating portray of the man who launched the modern vision of the universe. Out of Gingerich's engaging biography emerges the image of a scientist, intellectual, patriot, and reformer, who lived in an era when political as well as religious beliefs were shifting.

...More
Reviewed By

Review Christopher M. Graney (2017) Review of "Copernicus: A Very Short Introduction". Metascience: An International Review Journal for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science (pp. 183-185). unapi

Review Michel-Pierre Lerner (2017) Review of "Copernicus: A Very Short Introduction". Journal for the History of Astronomy (pp. 487-489). unapi

Review John Henry (2017) Review of "Copernicus: A Very Short Introduction". Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology (pp. 169-171). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB906472418/

Similar Citations

Article Włodarczyk, Jarosław; (2007)
Solar Eclipse Observations in the Time of Copernicus: Tradition or Novelty? (/isis/citation/CBB000720242/)

Article Goddu, André; (2009)
Copernicus's Mereological Vision of the Universe (/isis/citation/CBB000932582/)

Book Kopernik, Mikolaj; Wyczanski, Andrzej; (2007)
Pisma pomniejsze (/isis/citation/CBB000930187/)

Chapter Knox, Dilwyn; (2002)
Ficino and Copernicus (/isis/citation/CBB000701150/)

Book Copernico, Niccolò; (2009)
La struttura del cosmo (/isis/citation/CBB001020518/)

Book Dobrzycki, Jerzy; Wlodarczyk, Jacek; Kremer, Richard Lynn; (2010)
Selected Papers on Medieval and Renaissance Astronomy (/isis/citation/CBB001023145/)

Chapter Christopher S. Celenza; (2017)
What Did It Mean to Live in the Long Fifteenth Century? (/isis/citation/CBB223418972/)

Book Gassowski, Jerzy; (2005)
Poszukiwanie grobu Mikołaja Kopernika (/isis/citation/CBB000773374/)

Book Copernicus, Nicolaus; Zekl, Hans Gunter; (2006)
Das neue Weltbild: drei Texte: Commentariolus, Brief gegen Werner, De revolutionibus I (/isis/citation/CBB001020257/)

Book Gingerich, Owen; (2001)
An Annotated Census of Copernicus' De revolutionibus (Nuremberg, 1543 and Basel, 1566) (/isis/citation/CBB000301529/)

Book Danielson, Dennis Richard; (2006)
The First Copernican: Georg Joachim Rheticus and the Rise of the Copernican Revolution (/isis/citation/CBB000773381/)

Chapter Édouard Mehl; (2016)
“Novum struam mundum”: Kepler’s Rebuilding of the Copernican “symmetria mundi” (/isis/citation/CBB861272649/)

Chapter Peter Barker; Tofigh Heidarzadeh; (2016)
Copernicus, the Ṭūsī Couple and East-West Exchange in the Fifteenth Century (/isis/citation/CBB241259511/)

Article Robert S. Westman; (2019)
How Did Copernicus Become a Copernican? (/isis/citation/CBB399396791/)

Authors & Contributors
Kühne, Andreas
Goddu, André
Folkerts, Menso
Krafft, Fritz
Zekl, Hans Gunter
Wyczanski, Andrzej
Concepts
Astronomy
Cosmology
Heliocentrism
Mathematics
Primary literature (historical sources)
Copernicanism
Time Periods
16th century
15th century
Renaissance
Early modern
Medieval
Places
Prague (Czechia)
Bologna (Italy)
Poland
Persia (Iran)
Ottoman Empire
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment