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The
Macrocosm:
In 1543, Nicolaus
Copernicus published a book that demonstrated mathematically
that the motions of the heavenly bodies could be explained using
a sun-centered universe and a moving earth.
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![[ click for a larger version ]](images/image13_small.jpg)
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Copernicus,
Nicolaus.
Nicolai Copernici Torinensis De revolvtionibvs orbium
coelestium, libri vi. Habes in hoc opere iam recens nato,
& aedito, studiose lector, motus stellarum, tam fixarum,
quàm erraticarum, cum ex ueteribus tum etiam ex recentibus
obseruationibus restitutos: & nouis insuper ac admirabilibus
hypothesibus ornatos. Habes etiam tabulas expeditissimas,
ex quibus eosdem ad quoduis tempus quàm facillime caculare
poteris. Igitur eme, lege, fruere.
Norimbergae: apud Ioh. Petreium, 1543.
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Published
in Nürnberg in 1543, Copernicus's book revived the basic theory
of a non-earth centered universe. It was published only reluctantly
by Copernicus who had held onto the manuscript for many years,
and actually brought to the printer by a disciple, Georg Joachim
(Rheticus). It was published as Copernicus lay dying. The
book drew the wrath of the Roman Church in 1616, after Galileo
began a propaganda campaign for the Copernican theory. The Collections'
copy has been "corrected" to show that the idea of a sun-centered,
earth-moving was merely an hypothesis. An unknown inquisitor inserted
"hypoth." in a critical passage.
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