| HOME MIKOLAJ KOPERNIK( 1473 - 1543 ) "It's generally accepted by the authors that the Earth is the center of the world, they think it would be ridiculous to think otherwise". De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium, published en 1543 the technical level of the work of Copernicus in the field the problem of the planets is so high that it makes it unintelligible to non-experts. But the preface, addressed to Pope Paul II, can be understood. He anticipates the reactions this publication could cause and work on the idea of movement of the Earth. With references to the Anciant Greece, his approach was part of the resurgence of neo-Platonism during the Renaissance. Since Ptolemy's Almagest and his geocentric system proposed fourteen centuries before, the reference systemW of western astronomy had not changed. The astronomers' task is all the more difficult that their theories are confronted with false information, because of the lack of precision of recorded observations. His approach is suprising because it was based on works even older than Ptolemy's theories. Philolaus, (470–c. 385 BCE), a greek pythagorean philosopher, stated that our planet was not the center of the universe and that the apparent motion of stars was caused by the rotation of earth. He had already suggested the Earth's motion around the Sun. Copernicus compares Ptolemy system, which was the official system since 14 centuries, to a members individually beautiful, but that were made abominable in their entirety by an error or omission committed during their gathering. Copernicus innovative and revolutionary ideas, were the end ofcenturies of decline of science in the West. However, in 1616, the Copernican system were declared heretical and censorship was ratified. Books in favor of the heliocentric were not allowed anymore until 1757. His work De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium is now in the Library of Jagiellonian University, former Academy of Cracow, where Copernicus was a student. |
