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Nicolaus Copernicus (Renaissance and Reformation)

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  1. Introduction
  2. Nicolaus Copernicus (b. 1473–d. 1543) was the first modern author to propose a heliocentric theory of the universe. From the time that Ptolemy of Alexandria (c. 150 CE) constructed a mathematically competent version of geocentric astronomy to Copernicus’s mature heliocentric version (1543), experts knew that the Ptolemaic system diverged from the geocentric concentric-sphere conception of Aristotle. Copernicus cited disagreements among his predecessors over observations, principles, assumptions, explanations, and, even worse, over the order of the planets, the structure of the universe, and the commensurability of its parts. Relying on Renaissance humanist predecessors and contemporaries, Copernicus expressed deep dissatisfaction with the confusion in astronomy, and he intimated that the artisan who created the universe for our sake also created humans with the capacity to discover and understand the structure of that universe with certainty. Copernicus did not explain, however, exactly how he came to the conclusions that the problem lay in geocentrism and the solution in heliocentrism. As a result, experts have been trying to reconstruct his path to the heliocentric theory ever since. The Copernican revolution in cosmography (later called “cosmology”) had a profound impact on natural philosophy (motions of bodies, the elements, finiteness of the universe), logic, the liberal arts, and the structure of the cosmos. The Copernican theory also challenged standard interpretations of the Bible and conceptions reinforced by traditional religion about the place of humankind in the universe and its ultimate end.
  3.  
  4. Background
  5. After Ptolemy, most astronomers and philosophers followed a compromise interpretation of geocentricism that imbedded the Ptolemaic eccentric and epicycle models in concentric spheres (Pedersen 1974, Grant 1994, Ptolemy 1998). Some mathematicians and natural philosophers, however, objected to some of Ptolemy’s models and solutions, and they proposed alternative geometrical solutions (Kennedy and Roberts 1959, Hartner 1975, Ragep 2007) or demanded genuine concentric solutions to explain the motions of the celestial bodies (Bono 1995). The details of previous critiques and summaries served Copernicus in his own reformation of ancient astronomy (Swerdlow and Neugebauer 1984).
  6.  
  7. Bono, Mario di. “Copernicus, Amico, Fracastoro and Tusi’s Device: Observations on the Use and Transmission of a Model.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 26 (1995): 133–154.
  8.  
  9. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  10.  
  11. Explains the concentric alternatives to Ptolemy and challenges the standard orthodoxy about Copernicus’s reliance on Arabic predecessors.
  12.  
  13. Find this resource:
  14.  
  15.  
  16. Grant, Edward. Planets, Stars, and Orbs. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  17.  
  18. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19.  
  20. A synthesis of Grant’s research in which he describes the compromise systems of the Middle Ages, especially the three-orb system that incorporated eccentrics and epicycles inside concentric spheres.
  21.  
  22. Find this resource:
  23.  
  24.  
  25. Hartner, Willy. “The Islamic Astronomical Background to Nicholas Copernicus.” Colloquia Copernicana 3: Proceedings of a Joint Symposium of the IAU and the IUHPS, Toruń, Poland, 1973. Edited by Marian Biskup, Jerzy Bukowski, and Paweł Czartoryski, 7–16. Wrocław, Poland: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1975.
  26.  
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  28.  
  29. One of the first to notice similarities between Islamic mathematical models and Copernicus’s models, and suggested Copernicus’s dependence on Islamic predecessors.
  30.  
  31. Find this resource:
  32.  
  33.  
  34. Kennedy, E. S., and Victor Roberts. “The Planetary Theory of Ibn al-Shatir.” Isis 50 (1959): 227–235.
  35.  
  36. DOI: 10.1086/348774Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  37.  
  38. Discovered similarities between earlier Islamic models and those of Copernicus. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  39.  
  40. Find this resource:
  41.  
  42.  
  43. Pedersen, Olaf. A Survey of the Almagest. Odense, Denmark: Odense University Press, 1974.
  44.  
  45. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  46.  
  47. The author provides the most authoritative guide in English to Ptolemy’s Almagest.
  48.  
  49. Find this resource:
  50.  
  51.  
  52. Ptolemy, Claudius. Ptolemy’s Almagest. Translated by Gerald Toomer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.
  53.  
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  55.  
  56. The standard and authoritative translation and commentary in English.
  57.  
  58. Find this resource:
  59.  
  60.  
  61. Ragep, F. Jamil. “Copernicus and His Islamic Predecessors.” History of Science 45 (2007): 65–81.
  62.  
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  64.  
  65. The most thorough and technical in arguing for Copernicus’s reliance on Islamic predecessors.
  66.  
  67. Find this resource:
  68.  
  69.  
  70. Swerdlow, Noel, and Otto Neugebauer. Mathematical Astronomy in Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus. New York: Springer, 1984.
  71.  
  72. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4613-8262-1Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  73.  
  74. The authoritative mathematical analysis of Copernicus’s major work; in two parts.
  75.  
  76. Find this resource:
  77.  
  78.  
  79. Collections of Essays
  80. In addition to those cited under Celebrations, several other important collections of essays by the leading scholars in the field are available. Some scholars have concentrated on the Polish and medieval background to Copernicus’s work (L. Birkenmajer 1924, A. Birkenmajer 1972, Bieńkowska 1973, Gierowski 1973), others on the strictly astronomical background (Rybka 1975), and others on the reception of the Copernican theory (Hilfstein, et al. 1978; Gingerich 1993; Dobrzycki, et al. 2010).
  81.  
  82. Bieńkowska, Barbara, ed. The Scientific World of Copernicus. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: D. Reidel, 1973.
  83.  
  84. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-2616-1Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  85.  
  86. Essays dealing with the geographical, social, cultural, and political circumstances in Poland in the 15th and 16th centuries.
  87.  
  88. Find this resource:
  89.  
  90.  
  91. Birkenmajer, Aleksander. Études d’histoire des sciences en Pologne. Studia Copernicana 4. Wrocław, Poland: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1972.
  92.  
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  94.  
  95. Articles in French translations of important papers first published in Polish.
  96.  
  97. Find this resource:
  98.  
  99.  
  100. Birkenmajer, Ludwik Antoni. Stromata Copernicana. Cracow, Poland: Jagiellonian University, 1924.
  101.  
  102. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  103.  
  104. Collection of articles on Copernicus’s family, education, and associates by the leading Polish biographer.
  105.  
  106. Find this resource:
  107.  
  108.  
  109. Dobrzycki, Jerzy, Jaroslaw Włodarczyk, and Richard Kremer, eds. Selected Papers on Medieval and Renaissance Astronomy. Studia Copernicana 43. Warsaw, Poland: Institute of the History of Science, 2010.
  110.  
  111. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  112.  
  113. Collection of some of Dobrzycki’s most important essays, some co-authored with Richard Kremer, Lech Szczucki, or Owen Gingerich, with a foreword by Owen Gingerich.
  114.  
  115. Find this resource:
  116.  
  117.  
  118. Gierowski, Józef. The Cracow Circle of Nicholas Copernicus. Translated by Janina Ozga. Copernicana Cracoviensia 3. Cracow, Poland: Jagiellonian University Press, 1973.
  119.  
  120. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  121.  
  122. Essays on Copernicus’s teachers and friends at the Jagiellonian University of Cracow.
  123.  
  124. Find this resource:
  125.  
  126.  
  127. Gingerich, Owen. The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler. New York: American Institute of Physics, 1993.
  128.  
  129. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  130.  
  131. Essays that deal with controversial questions and dispute prevalent notions about the Copernican revolution.
  132.  
  133. Find this resource:
  134.  
  135.  
  136. Hilfstein, Erna, P. Czartoryski, and F. Grande, eds. Science and History: Studies in Honor of Edward Rosen. Studia Copernicana 16. Warsaw, Poland: Polish Academy of Sciences, 1978.
  137.  
  138. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  139.  
  140. Essays by Paul Oskar Kristeller, A. I. Sabra, Olaf Pedersen, Curtis Wilson, Richard Lemay, Paweł Czartoryski, and Owen Gingerich.
  141.  
  142. Find this resource:
  143.  
  144.  
  145. Rybka, Eugeniusz, ed. Historia Astronomii w Polsce Vol. 1. Wrocław, Poland: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1975.
  146.  
  147. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  148.  
  149. Chapters by Jerzy Dobrzycki and Mieczysław Markowski on late medieval and early modern astronomy in Poland.
  150.  
  151. Find this resource:
  152.  
  153.  
  154. Bibliographies
  155. In addition to bibliographies in monographs and editions, readers can consult specialized annotated bibliographies (Baranowski 1958, Baranowski 1973, Baranowski 1977, Copernicus 1971) and brief important biographies (Dobrzycki and Hajdukwiecicz 1968, Rosen 1971, Goddu 2008) together with bibliographies that include references to documents and studies.
  156.  
  157. Baranowski, Henryk. Bibliografia Kopernikowska, 1509–1955. Warsaw, Poland: Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe, 1958.
  158.  
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  160.  
  161. The first publication in which books and articles on Copernicus are assembled and annotated.
  162.  
  163. Find this resource:
  164.  
  165.  
  166. Baranowski, Henryk. Bibliografia Kopernikowska 2, 1956–1971. Warsaw, Poland: Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe, 1973.
  167.  
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  169.  
  170. Continuation of Baranowski 1958.
  171.  
  172. Find this resource:
  173.  
  174.  
  175. Baranowski, Henryk. “Copernican Bibliography: Selected Materials for the Years, 1972–1975.” In Nicholas Copernicus: Quincentenary Celebrations, Final Report. By Henryk Baranowski, 179–201. Studia Copernicana 17. Wrocław, Poland: Ossolineum, 1977.
  176.  
  177. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  178.  
  179. More selective update of Baranowski 1958 and Baranowski 1973.
  180.  
  181. Find this resource:
  182.  
  183.  
  184. Copernicus, Nicolaus. Three Copernican Treatises: The Commentariolus of Copernicus, the Letter against Werner, the Narratio Prima of Rheticus. Translated by Edward Rosen. 3d rev. ed. New York: Octagon, 1971.
  185.  
  186. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  187.  
  188. Includes an annotated and critical bibliography.
  189.  
  190. Find this resource:
  191.  
  192.  
  193. Dobrzycki, Jerzy, and Leszek Hajdukiewicz. “Kopernik Mikołaj, 1473–1543.” In Polski Słownik Biograficzny. Vol. 14, Kopernicki–Kozłowska Maria. Edited by Władysław Konopczyński 3–17. Wrocław, Poland: Zaklad Narodowego im. Ossolińskich, 1968.
  194.  
  195. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  196.  
  197. This authoritative Polish national biography includes an indispensable bibliography.
  198.  
  199. Find this resource:
  200.  
  201.  
  202. Goddu, André. “Copernicus, Nicholas.” In New Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 1. Edited by Charles Gillespie, 176–182. Detroit: Charles Scribner’s, 2008.
  203.  
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  205.  
  206. Extensive addition, updating Rosen 1971.
  207.  
  208. Find this resource:
  209.  
  210.  
  211. Rosen, Edward. “Copernicus, Nicholas.” In Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 3. Edited by Charles Gillespie, 401–411. Detroit: Charles Scribner’s, 1971.
  212.  
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  214.  
  215. Important summary with bibliography.
  216.  
  217. Find this resource:
  218.  
  219.  
  220. Biographies
  221. No modern biography of the life of Copernicus has emerged as the standard account. The best accounts remain Prowe 1967 (originally published 1883–1884) and Birkenmajer 1900. Between 1900 and 1973 scholars discovered numerous documents that provided additional details about Copernicus’s family, social circumstances, education, and work as a Catholic Church official in the diocese of Varmia in northeastern Poland (Papritz and Schmauch 1943, Biskup 1973). By a fortunate circumstance, several of the books owned or used by Copernicus were preserved, and most are now located at the library of the University of Uppsala (Hipler 1874, Curtze 1875, Czartoryski 1978, Goddu 2004). Through the study of annotations and other notes in these works many new details have been uncovered about Copernicus’s achievements.
  222.  
  223. Birkenmajer, Ludwik Antoni. Mikołaj Kopernik, Część Pierwsza, Studya nad Pracami Kopernika oraz Materyały Biograficzne. Cracow, Poland: Sklad Glówny w Ksiegarni Spolki Wydoawniczej Polskiej, 1900.
  224.  
  225. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  226.  
  227. The most important work in Polish on Copernicus’s life and achievements. Much of it has been superseded or corrected by later discoveries, yet much of it remains valuable for many details and insights. Corrected many of Curtze’s and Prowe’s efforts to decipher and interpret Copernicus’s annotations.
  228.  
  229. Find this resource:
  230.  
  231.  
  232. Biskup, Marian, ed. Regesta Copernicana. Translated by Stanisław Puppel. Studia Copernicana 8. Wrocław, Poland: Ossolineum, 1973.
  233.  
  234. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  235.  
  236. Chronologically ordered documents relating to Copernicus’s family and career. Inserts Copernicus’s reports of astronomical observations and correspondence. The English translation added a few documents to the Polish version.
  237.  
  238. Find this resource:
  239.  
  240.  
  241. Curtze, Maximilian. Reliquiae Copernicanae. Leipzig: Teubner, 1875.
  242.  
  243. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  244.  
  245. The first major study of Copernicus’s annotations in books located at the University of Uppsala.
  246.  
  247. Find this resource:
  248.  
  249.  
  250. Czartoryski, Paweł. “The Library of Copernicus.” In Science and History: Studies in Honor of Edward Rosen. Edited by Erna Hilfstein, P. Czartoryski, and F. Grande, 354–396. Studia Copernicana 16. Warsaw, Poland: Polish Academy of Sciences, 1978.
  251.  
  252. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  253.  
  254. Indispensable study of the books that Copernicus owned or used, and corrects many of the attributions proposed by Ludwik Birkenmajer.
  255.  
  256. Find this resource:
  257.  
  258.  
  259. Goddu, André. “Copernicus’s Annotations: Revisions of Czartoryski’s ‘Copernicana.’” Scriptorium 58.2 (2004): 202–226.
  260.  
  261. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  262.  
  263. Identifies a previously misidentified book annotated by Copernicus, revises and supplements Czartoryski’s evaluations, and analyzes characteristics of Copernicus’s handwriting (with eleven plates).
  264.  
  265. Find this resource:
  266.  
  267.  
  268. Hipler, Franz. “Analecta Warmiensia.” Zeitschrift für die Geschichte und Altertumskunde Ermlands 5 (1874): 316–488.
  269.  
  270. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271.  
  272. Indispensable edition and study of catalogues of Polish libraries from the 15th through the early 17th centuries, including books owned or used by Copernicus, explains the plundering of Polish libraries by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years War, and the relocation of many of them to the University of Uppsala.
  273.  
  274. Find this resource:
  275.  
  276.  
  277. Papritz, Johannes, and Hans Schmauch, eds. Kopernikus-Forschungen. Leipzig: S. Hirzel, 1943.
  278.  
  279. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  280.  
  281. Important materials related to Copernicus’s early biography.
  282.  
  283. Find this resource:
  284.  
  285.  
  286. Prowe, Leopold. Nicolaus Coppernicus. 2 vols. Rpt. Osnabrück, Germany: Zeller, 1967.
  287.  
  288. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  289.  
  290. Originally published 1883–1884. Dated but still valuable biography with documents.
  291.  
  292. Find this resource:
  293.  
  294.  
  295. Primary Sources
  296. Two modern critical editions of Copernicus’s major and minor works are available. In one (the Polish edition, Copernicus 1972–1992, see Volume 2, from 1973), the text of De revolutionibus was based on Copernicus’s surviving manuscript. The German edition (Copernicus 1974–1984, see Volume 2 from 1974) based its text of De revolutionibus on the original 1543 Nuremberg edition. Annotations in the books that he owned or used have been preserved, among which the most important is the Uppsala Notebook. Copernicus’s works have been translated into several modern languages, many of which are important for their commentaries. The German critical edition also includes German translations of the minor works and of some annotations. Separate English and French versions exist of the Polish edition. The Narratio Prima by Copernicus’s assistant, Rheticus (see Rheticus 2002, Copernicus 1971), is important because it was published prior to Copernicus’s treatise, and, hence, it contains the first account of Copernicus’s theory in print.
  297.  
  298. Copernicus, Nicolaus. Uppsala Notebook. Copernicana 4, University of Uppsala Library.
  299.  
  300. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  301.  
  302. Collection of astronomical tables from the 1490s with annotations by Copernicus and containing sixteen folios of tables and calculations added by Copernicus between c. 1493 and 1530.
  303.  
  304. Find this resource:
  305.  
  306.  
  307. Copernicus, Nicolaus, Three Copernican Treatises: The Commentariolus of Copernicus, the Letter against Werner, the Narratio Prima of Rheticus. Translated by Edward Rosen. 3d rev. ed. New York: Octagon, 1971.
  308.  
  309. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  310.  
  311. Translations of Copernicus’s texts are revised in Complete Works, but still important for the translation of Rheticus’s First Report (Narratio Prima).
  312.  
  313. Find this resource:
  314.  
  315.  
  316. Copernicus, Nicolaus. Complete Works. 4 vols. Edited by Paweł Czartoryski and Jerzy Dobrzycki. Warsaw, Poland: Polish Scientific Publishers, 1972–1992.
  317.  
  318. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  319.  
  320. Also published 1972–1992 by Macmillan (London). Volumes 2–3 reprinted 1978–1992 by Johns Hopkins University Press. Contains the English translation of, and commentary on, Copernicus’s major and minor works by Edward Rosen with the assistance of Erna Hilfstein. The 1992 edition of De revolutionibus, Volume 2, also contains additions and corrections to the 1978 edition. The translation of Commentariolus in Volume 3, Minor Works, supersedes the translation and commentary in Three Copernican Treatises (see Copernicus 1971).
  321.  
  322. Find this resource:
  323.  
  324.  
  325. Copernicus, Nicolaus. Nicolaus Copernicus Gesamtausgabe. 9 vols. Edited by Heribert Nobis, Menso Folkerts, Andreas Kühne, Stefan Kirschner, and Gudula Metze. Hildesheim, Germany: H. A. Gerstenberg, 1974–1984.
  326.  
  327. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  328.  
  329. The edition of Commentariolus (projected as Volume 4) has not been completed. (Reprinted in Berlin: Akademie, 1994–2007.) There is also a Polish edition: Nicolaus Copernicus, Opera omnia, 4 vols. (Warsaw: Polish Scientific Publishers, 1973–2007). The Polish translation of the complete works, Volume 3, Pisma pomniejsze, edited by Jerzy Dobrzycki, contains the Latin edition of Commentariolus.
  330.  
  331. Find this resource:
  332.  
  333.  
  334. Rheticus, Georg Joachim. “Narratio Prima.” In Receptio Copernicana: Texte zur Aufnahme der copernicanischen Theorie. Edited by Heribert Nobis, Menso Folkers, Anna Maria Pastori, and Felix Schmeidler, 3–48. Nicolaus Copernicus Gesamtausgabe 8.1. Berlin: Akademie, 2002.
  335.  
  336. DOI: 10.1524/9783050048192.3Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  337.  
  338. Although printed before Copernicus’s De revolutionibus, it represents what Rheticus understood of Copernicus’s theory in 1540 and an astrological interpretation of Copernicus’s theory. There is another important edition with French translation and commentary: Georgii Joachimi Rhetici Narratio Prima, edited and translated by H. Hugonnard-Roche, J.-P. Verdet, M.-P. Lerner, and A. Segonds, Studia Copernicana 20 (Wrocław, Poland: Ossolineum, 1982). Especially important for its illuminating commentary.
  339.  
  340. Find this resource:
  341.  
  342.  
  343. Education, Career, and Death
  344. Copernicus received his early education at a school in Toruń, Poland, and at the Jagiellonian University of Cracow. He was educated in medieval versions of Aristotelian philosophy, which influenced his conception of the universe (Lerner 2008, Goddu 2010). Between 1496 and 1503, except for an interruption in 1501, Copernicus resided in northern Italy, where he studied law at the University of Bologna. He worked with Domenico Maria de Novara, a well-known astronomer and astrologer, which suggests that he devoted much of his four years in Bologna to astronomy. After a brief stay in Rome and a short return to Poland in 1501, he studied medicine at Padua until 1503. He left Padua without a medical degree. With his allotted time about to elapse, Copernicus went to Ferrara, where he obtained a degree in canon law (Dobrzycki and Biskup 1980). Copernicus was a Roman Catholic Church administrator for the last forty years of his life. From 1503 to 1510 he served as a personal assistant to his uncle, Bishop Lucas Watzenrode, in Lidzbark-Warmiński, joined the canons at the Varmian Cathedral Chapter in Frombork in 1510, and remained there—except for service in Olsztyn between 1516 and 1519, and again between 1520 and 1521—until his death (Biskup 1972). Copernicus died in 1543, but for centuries his exact burial location in Frombork Cathedral was unknown. Excavations in 2005 located his remains (Gąssowski 2005), and DNA analysis in 2009 confirmed their identity (Bodganowicz, et al. 2009; Gingerich 2009).
  345.  
  346. Biskup, Marian. Nicolaus Copernicus im öffentlichen Leben Polens. Toruń, Poland: TNT, 1972.
  347.  
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  349.  
  350. Biography by important Polish historian that focuses on Copernicus’s career as an assistant to his uncle and as a canon and administrator.
  351.  
  352. Find this resource:
  353.  
  354.  
  355. Bogdanowicz, W., M. Allen, W. Branicki, M. Lembring, M. Gajewska, and T. Kupiec. “Genetic Identification of Putative Remains of the Famous Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106.30 (2009): 12279–12282.
  356.  
  357. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0901848106Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  358.  
  359. Detailed report of the forensic tests and results. The technical analysis is based on probabilities, of course, so some skeptics remain, but the evidence was deemed sufficient to justify the reinterment of the remains in Frombork Cathedral in 2010.
  360.  
  361. Find this resource:
  362.  
  363.  
  364. Dobrzycki, Jerzy, and Marian Biskup. Nicolaus Copernicus: Gelehrter und Staatsbürger. 3d ed. Leipzig: Teubner Verlagsgesellschaft, 1980.
  365.  
  366. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367.  
  368. Important biography by experts on Copernicus’s astronomy and career.
  369.  
  370. Find this resource:
  371.  
  372.  
  373. Gąssowski, Jerzy. Poszukiwanie Grobu Mikołaja Kopernika. Castri Dominae Nostrae Litterae Annales 2. Frombork, Poland: Baltycki Osrodek Badawczy, 2005.
  374.  
  375. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  376.  
  377. Essays on the archival studies that led to a renewed effort to find Copernicus’s grave with detailed descriptions of the excavations.
  378.  
  379. Find this resource:
  380.  
  381.  
  382. Gingerich, Owen. “The Copernican Grave Mystery.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106. 30 (2009): 12215–12216.
  383.  
  384. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0907491106Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  385.  
  386. Commentary on the discovery of Copernicus’s grave and the DNA analysis.
  387.  
  388. Find this resource:
  389.  
  390.  
  391. Goddu, André. Copernicus and the Aristotelian Tradition: Education, Reading, and Philosophy in Copernicus’s Path to Heliocentrism. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2010.
  392.  
  393. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004181076.i-548Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  394.  
  395. Analyzes Copernicus’s education, relying on Copernicus’s annotations and on the best Polish and German literature and documents relating to Copernicus’s achievement.
  396.  
  397. Find this resource:
  398.  
  399.  
  400. Lerner, Michel-Pierre. Le monde des sphères. 2 vols. 2d rev. ed. Paris: Belles Lettres, 2008.
  401.  
  402. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  403.  
  404. The most comprehensive study of the spherical conceptions of the universe and one that prevailed well into the 17th century.
  405.  
  406. Find this resource:
  407.  
  408.  
  409. Origin of the Heliocentric Theory
  410. The absence of an autobiographical report by Copernicus explaining the origin of his theory has motivated many reconstructions, but today five main accounts exist of the origin of Copernicus’s theory. One maintains that mathematical models that Copernicus found in Regiomontanus’s Epitome of Ptolemaic Astronomy (1496; see Regiomontanus 1972) led him to a heliocentric as well as a geo-heliocentric conversion, and that he rejected the latter because it entailed an intersection of the solar and Martian spheres (Swerdlow 1973). The second builds on Copernicus’s critique of the Ptolemaic equant model as a violation of the Aristotelian principle that the heavenly spheres carrying the planets and Moon move uniformly in circles (Rosen 1984). According to a third, recognition of the problem with the equant was not sufficient to justify heliocentrism. The transformation of geocentric models into heliocentric ones along with the resolution of the equant model followed an initial commitment to heliocentrism motivated by the problem of planetary order and distances (Goldstein 2002). A fourth accepts Copernicus’s own testimony that he was troubled first by the equant problem, but that led him, in turn, to notice other problems with Ptolemy’s assumptions and solutions, especially uncertainty about the ordering of the celestial spheres (Goddu 2006). Yet a fifth and very controversial explanation builds on Goldstein’s account but judges it to be underdetermined. According to this account, a nearly contemporaneous critique of astrology, linked to the ordering of the planets, induced Copernicus to propose his theory to save both astronomy and astrology (Westman 2011 and Westman 2013).
  411.  
  412. Goddu, André. “Reflections on the Origin of Copernicus’s Cosmology.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 37 (2006): 37–53.
  413.  
  414. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415.  
  416. Orders the stages in Copernicus’s discovery and bases the origin of the theory on Copernicus’s critique of geocentric astronomers.
  417.  
  418. Find this resource:
  419.  
  420.  
  421. Goldstein, Bernard. “Copernicus and the Origin of His Heliocentric System.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 33 (2002): 219–235.
  422.  
  423. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  424.  
  425. Important challenge to the reconstruction in Swerdlow 1973, arguing that Copernicus was motivated primarily by disagreements over the geocentric ordering of the planets.
  426.  
  427. Find this resource:
  428.  
  429.  
  430. Regiomontanus, Joannes. Opera collectanea. Edited by Felix Schmeidler. Milliaria 10. 2. Osnabrück, Germany: Otto Zeller, 1972.
  431.  
  432. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  433.  
  434. Facsimile reprint of works by Regiomontanus and Georg Peurbach, including especially the Epytoma in Almagestum Ptolemaei (Venice, 1496). Originally published in 1949.
  435.  
  436. Find this resource:
  437.  
  438.  
  439. Rosen, Edward. Copernicus and the Scientific Revolution. Malabar, FL: Krieger, 1984.
  440.  
  441. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  442.  
  443. A review of older and newer contributions to our understanding of Copernicus’s achievement. On pp. 129–130, Rosen provides a succinct summary and critique of Swerdlow 1973, and he reiterates his own view that Ptolemy’s violation of foundational principles provided Copernicus with the occasion to consider the mobility of Earth.
  444.  
  445. Find this resource:
  446.  
  447.  
  448. Swerdlow, Noel. “The Derivation and First Draft of Copernicus’s Planetary Theory: A Translation of the Commentariolus with Commentary.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 117 (1973): 423–512.
  449.  
  450. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  451.  
  452. On pp. 425 and 471–478, Swerdlow reconstructs the derivation of Copernicus’s heliocentric theory with data and figures, relying on the Uppsala Notebook and Copernicus’s reading of Regiomontanus’s Epitome (1496).
  453.  
  454. Find this resource:
  455.  
  456.  
  457. Westman, Robert S. The Copernican Question: Prognostication, Skepticism, and Celestial Order. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011.
  458.  
  459. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  460.  
  461. Very controversial account of the origin of the Copernican theory, but demonstrates in unprecedented detail that astrological contexts exercised an enormous influence on the reception of the theory, and proposes a new periodization that begins with a late-15th-century critique of astrology and ends in the 17th century.
  462.  
  463. Find this resource:
  464.  
  465.  
  466. Westman, Robert S. “The Copernican Question Revisited: A Reply to Noel Swerdlow and John Heilbron.” Perspectives on Science 21 (2013): 100–136.
  467.  
  468. DOI: 10.1162/POSC_a_00087Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  469.  
  470. Superb summary of the author’s central claims.
  471.  
  472. Find this resource:
  473.  
  474.  
  475. Renaissance Humanist Influences
  476. Renaissance humanism, either directly from Italy or by way of Hungary, arrived as early as the 1430s in Cracow (Fiszman 1988). The university’s Collegium minus offered a humanistic arts curriculum that paralleled instruction offered in the Collegium maius, but, by the early 15th century, the two programs were fully integrated in the lectures and exercises offered to students. In the 1490s, some of Copernicus’s teachers and fellow students at Cracow formed a humanist circle known as the Sodalitas litterarum Vistulana. Its members revived interest in classical studies and brought with them Marsilio Ficino’s translations of Platonic dialogues and Renaissance Neoplatonism (Krókowski 1962, Szelińska 1966, Knoll 1975). Copernicus was undoubtedly influenced by the recovery of ancient philosophy (Hankins and Palmer 2008), while some Renaissance humanists turned their attention to mathematical texts, Peurbach and Regiomontanus being two of the most important (Rose 1975). The minute examination of Copernicus’s sources has demonstrated his acquaintance (directly, in published Latin translations, or through professors’ lectures) with the works of numerous classical, medieval, and contemporaneous authors (Rosen 1995). Copernicus translated selected letters of a late ancient Greek author into Latin (Copernicus 1992), and his surviving annotations in books in libraries that he used along with his autograph copy reveal his extensive efforts to resolve orthographic confusions, chronological problems, and numerous anomalies in geocentric astronomy (Knox 2007, Goddu 2010).
  477.  
  478. Copernicus, Nicolaus. “The Letters of Theophylactus Simocatta.” In Complete Works. Vol. 3, Minor Works. By Nicolaus Copernicus and translated by Edward Rosen, 27–74. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
  479.  
  480. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  481.  
  482. English translation and commentary of Copernicus’s translation into Latin of some Greek epistles that were published in Cracow in 1509.
  483.  
  484. Find this resource:
  485.  
  486.  
  487. Fiszman, Samuel, ed. The Polish Renaissance in Its European Context. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988.
  488.  
  489. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  490.  
  491. Contains several important articles by Andrzey Wróbleski, Edward Rosen, Paul Knoll, and Tadeusz Ulewicz on the social and cultural background to the Renaissance in Poland, humanism at the University of Cracow, and humanistic influences on Copernicus.
  492.  
  493. Find this resource:
  494.  
  495.  
  496. Goddu, André. Copernicus and the Aristotelian Tradition. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2010.
  497.  
  498. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004181076.i-548Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  499.  
  500. Chapters 7 (pp. 207–272) and 8 (pp. 275–324) and Appendix IV demonstrate Copernicus’s reliance on Marsilio Ficino’s translation of Plato’s Parmenides for his dialectical critique of geocentric astronomy.
  501.  
  502. Find this resource:
  503.  
  504.  
  505. Hankins, James, and Ada Palmer. The Recovery of Ancient Philosophy in the Renaissance: A Brief Guide. Quaderni di “Rinascimento” 44. Florence, Italy: Leo S. Olschki, 2008.
  506.  
  507. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  508.  
  509. A superb starting-point for Renaissance efforts to recover texts of Plato, Middle Platonists, Neoplatonists, Aristotelian commentators, Stoics, Neopythagoreans, among other philosophers as well as the Hermetic corpus.
  510.  
  511. Find this resource:
  512.  
  513.  
  514. Knoll, Paul. “The World of the Young Copernicus: Society, Science, and the University.” In Science and Society. Edited by Nicholas Steneck, 19–51. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1975.
  515.  
  516. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517.  
  518. Authoritative study of Copernicus’s social, educational, and humanist background.
  519.  
  520. Find this resource:
  521.  
  522.  
  523. Knox, Dilwyn. “Copernicus’s Doctrine of Gravity and the Natural Circular Motion of the Elements.” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 68 (2007): 157–211.
  524.  
  525. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  526.  
  527. Outstanding example of one of several detailed studies by the author, examining minutely and expertly Copernicus’s reliance on authors such as Pliny, Cicero, Plato, Plutarch, Philoponus, and commentaries by Marsilio Ficino and the translations by Georgio Valla.
  528.  
  529. Find this resource:
  530.  
  531.  
  532. Krókowski, Jerzy. “Laurentius Corvinus und seine Beziehungen zu Polen.” In Renaissance und Humanismus im Mittel- und Osteuropa. Edited by Johannes Irmscher, 152–172. Berlin: Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1962.
  533.  
  534. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  535.  
  536. Excellent essay about one of Copernicus’s friends, who studied under Konrad Celtes in Cracow, who had himself studied under Ficino in Florence.
  537.  
  538. Find this resource:
  539.  
  540.  
  541. Rose, Paul Lawrence. The Italian Renaissance of Mathematics. Geneva, Switzerland: Droz, 1975.
  542.  
  543. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  544.  
  545. Chapters 2–5 are indispensable for the humanistic background to Copernicus’s achievement.
  546.  
  547. Find this resource:
  548.  
  549.  
  550. Rosen, Edward. Copernicus and His Successors. London: Hambledon, 1995.
  551.  
  552. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  553.  
  554. Collection of essays that address Copernicus’s relations to Italian science and his reliance on translations of Greek texts into Latin by Georgio Valla.
  555.  
  556. Find this resource:
  557.  
  558.  
  559. Szelińska, Wacława. Biblioteki profesorów uniwersytetu krakowskiego w XV i początkach XVI wieku. Monografie z dziejów nauki i techniki 33. Wrocław, Poland: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1966.
  560.  
  561. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  562.  
  563. Meticulous study of the books, especially of classical authors, owned by Cracow University professors in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
  564.  
  565. Find this resource:
  566.  
  567.  
  568. Philosophical Repercussions
  569. Copernicus’s theory threatened to overturn the geocentric, especially Aristotelian, conception of the cosmos. Heliocentrism challenged commonsense perceptions about the stability of Earth, the motions of elemental bodies, and the finiteness of the universe. Copernicus did not propose a fully worked out physical theory; instead, he raised doubts and questions about the assumptions and coherence of geocentric conceptions, relying on ancient, medieval, and contemporaneous critics of Aristotelian and other geocentrists (Goddu 2010). Followers such as Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei advanced the physics of motion; others such as Giordano Bruno supported an infinite universe (Granada 2004). Copernicus’s proposal to decide questions about Earth’s position and motion based on astronomical considerations challenged the traditional relationship between natural philosophy and mathematical astronomy in the liberal arts (Westman 1980). Without a demonstration of Earth’s motions, Copernicus resorted to a form of argumentation that relied on dialectical topics such as part / whole relations to support heliocentrism, a strategy that Michael Mästlin understood explicitly (Goddu 2009). Later followers, however, realized that the theory demanded the development of a new physics, a project to which the revival of atomism and the mechanical philosophy, Renaissance concepts of magic, more experimentally based physical concepts, and explication of rules of reasoning would contribute (Cohen 1985, Henry 2008).
  570.  
  571. Cohen, I. Bernard. The Birth of a New Physics. New York: W. W. Norton, 1985.
  572.  
  573. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  574.  
  575. Originally published in 1960; revised and updated. In the mold of an older historiography, the author’s selective survey still provides a comprehensible narrative on the relation between Copernican heliocentrism and the emergence of a new physics.
  576.  
  577. Find this resource:
  578.  
  579.  
  580. Goddu, André. “Copernicus’s Mereological Vision of the Universe.” Early Science and Medicine 14.1–3 (2009): 316–339.
  581.  
  582. DOI: 10.1163/157338209X425605Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583.  
  584. Copernicus’s emphasis on harmony and commensurability to evaluate theories as more or less likely provides the logical basis for his reversal of the relationship between mathematical astronomy and natural philosophy. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  585.  
  586. Find this resource:
  587.  
  588.  
  589. Goddu, André. Copernicus and the Aristotelian Tradition. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2010.
  590.  
  591. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004181076.i-548Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  592.  
  593. Chapter 9 (pp. 325–360) places Copernicus’s proposals about the motions of natural elemental bodies and his reliance on unconventional and anti-Aristotelian sources in the context of his critique of geocentric theories.
  594.  
  595. Find this resource:
  596.  
  597.  
  598. Granada, Miguel. “Aristotle, Copernicus, Bruno: Centrality, the Principle of Movement, and the Extension of the Universe.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 35 (2004): 91–114.
  599.  
  600. DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsa.2003.12.007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  601.  
  602. One of many important essays by the author on the philosophical debates generated by the heliocentric theory. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  603.  
  604. Find this resource:
  605.  
  606.  
  607. Henry, John. The Scientific Revolution and the Origins of Modern Science. 3d ed. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
  608.  
  609. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  610.  
  611. A more comprehensive account than Cohen’s, this survey reflects historiographical debates and discussions incorporating studies of Renaissance magic, philosophy, experimentation, mathematics, religion, and socio-political developments.
  612.  
  613. Find this resource:
  614.  
  615.  
  616. Westman, Robert. “The Astronomer’s Role in the Sixteenth Century: A Preliminary Study.” History of Science 18 (1980): 105–147.
  617.  
  618. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  619.  
  620. Following upon Andreas Osiander’s unauthorized Letter to the Reader in De Revolutionibus, the author argues that Copernicus did indeed propose a new relationship between mathematics and natural philosophy, and he introduced a major change in the intellectual and social role of the astronomer.
  621.  
  622. Find this resource:
  623.  
  624.  
  625. Reception of the Copernican Theory
  626. The reception of Copernicus’s theory was conditioned by the appearance of an unauthorized foreword to the 1543 edition of De revolutionibus that cautioned readers to interpret the theory in mathematically hypothetical terms and not as true or even probable (Westman 1975, Bucciantini and Torrini 1997). For quite some time many believed that Copernicus himself had written the foreword, and, accordingly, they exploited it for its mathematical advantages (Gingerich 2002). Astronomers used Copernicus’s book, produced improved tables, awakened interest in more accurate observational data, and provoked arguments over the mobility of Earth (Zinner 1988, Granada and Mehl 2009). The supporters adopted Copernicus’s cosmological vision but recognized the limitations of his achievement, rejected some of his assumptions, and thereby accomplished a revolution in astronomy (Wilson 1973, Stephenson 1987).
  627.  
  628. Bucciantini, Massimo, and Maurizio Torrini, eds. La diffusione del copernicanesimo in Italia, 1543–1610. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1997.
  629.  
  630. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  631.  
  632. Articles discussing the spread of Copernicanism in Italy.
  633.  
  634. Find this resource:
  635.  
  636.  
  637. Gingerich, Owen. An Annotated Census of Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus (Nuremberg 1543 and Basel 1566). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2002.
  638.  
  639. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  640.  
  641. Indispensable for studying the reception of the Copernican theory.
  642.  
  643. Find this resource:
  644.  
  645.  
  646. Granada, Miguel Ángel, and Édouard Mehl, eds. Nouveau ciel, nouvelle terre: La révolution copernicienne dans l’Allemagne de la Réforme, 1530–1630. Paris: Belles letters, 2009.
  647.  
  648. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  649.  
  650. Papers that examine the reactions to, and the reception of, Copernicanism in Reformation Germany.
  651.  
  652. Find this resource:
  653.  
  654.  
  655. Stephenson, Bruce. Kepler’s Physical Astronomy. New York: Springer, 1987.
  656.  
  657. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4613-8737-4Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  658.  
  659. The most astute analysis of the role of physical principles in Kepler’s discoveries.
  660.  
  661. Find this resource:
  662.  
  663.  
  664. Westman, Robert S. “The Melanchthon Circle, Rheticus, and the Wittenberg Interpretation of the Copernican Theory.” Isis 66.2 (1975): 165–193.
  665.  
  666. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  667.  
  668. Presents evidence of adaptation of Copernicus’s models by geocentrists. Available online for purchase or by subscription.
  669.  
  670. Find this resource:
  671.  
  672.  
  673. Wilson, Curtis. “The Inner Planets and the Keplerian Revolution.” Centaurus 17.3 (1973): 205–248.
  674.  
  675. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0498.1973.tb00194.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  676.  
  677. Important article that explains Kepler’s correction of Copernican heliocentrism. Available online for purchase or by subscription. Reprinted in Curtis Wilson, Astronomy from Kepler to Newton (London: Variorum, 1989).
  678.  
  679. Find this resource:
  680.  
  681.  
  682. Zinner, Ernst. Entstehung und Ausbreitung der copernicanischen Lehre. Edited by Heribert Nobis and Felix Schmeidler. 2d ed. Munich: C. H. Beck, 1988.
  683.  
  684. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  685.  
  686. Revised, corrected, and annotated version of Zinner’s important studies first published in 1943.
  687.  
  688. Find this resource:
  689.  
  690.  
  691. Scriptural and Religious Objections
  692. Copernicus treated objections to his theory based on the Bible as incompetent (Copernicus 1992). Some of his followers, however, recognized the need to address the relationship between natural science and the Bible constructively. Common sense supported beliefs about the immobility of Earth, and relevant biblical texts were read as compatible with commonsense perception (Rheticus 2002). The first known challenge to Copernican theory raised both theological and philosophical objections, an attack cited and revived in 1615 (Blackwell 1991, Lerner 2002). Scriptural objections remained for some as constituting one (not the only) reason to reject the Copernican theory, for example, Tycho Brahe. In contrast, Christoph Rothmann, among others, argued for accommodation (Granada 1996). The meaning of the actions taken in 1616 is complicated by confusion over what Copernicus intended and the actual censorship decree of 1620 (Lerner 2004). Likewise, the outcome of the Galileo case depended on Galileo’s intentions and the decision of the Inquisition to accept his excuses as mitigating factors (Finocchiaro 1989). In the Protestant context, the Ross-Wilkins debate in the 17th century provides another entry into the complicated religious reaction, and it foreshadows the types of conflicts that would emerge clearly in the 18th century (Brooke 1991). Speculation about extraterrestrial life only added to the perception of ideas incompatible with traditional beliefs (Dick 1982).
  693.  
  694. Blackwell, Richard. Galileo, Bellarmine, and the Bible. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame, 1991.
  695.  
  696. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  697.  
  698. Important study of Bellarmine’s scripturally based conception of the universe and principles of biblical interpretation as understood by Galileo.
  699.  
  700. Find this resource:
  701.  
  702.  
  703. Brooke, John. Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
  704.  
  705. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  706.  
  707. Nuanced examination of conflict, separation, and harmony that resists the temptation to oversimplification by examining episodes in their historical context. In addition to scriptural objections, Alexander Ross expressed anxiety about a society abandoning belief in, and dependence on, God.
  708.  
  709. Find this resource:
  710.  
  711.  
  712. Copernicus, Nicholas. On the Revolutions. Translated by Edward Rosen. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
  713.  
  714. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  715.  
  716. In the preface dedicated to Pope Paul III (p. 5), Copernicus uses surprisingly strong language to dismiss objections based on the Scriptures.
  717.  
  718. Find this resource:
  719.  
  720.  
  721. Dick, Steven. Plurality of Worlds: The Origins of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democritus to Kant. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
  722.  
  723. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  724.  
  725. Ideas about other worlds and extraterrestrials predated Christianity, but the Copernican revolution added fuel to the fire, ideas that perplexed Christians, who saw the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as unique historical events.
  726.  
  727. Find this resource:
  728.  
  729.  
  730. Finocchiaro, Maurice, ed. The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
  731.  
  732. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  733.  
  734. Superb collection of the principal documents translated into English, including Cardinal Bellarmine’s letter to Paolo Antonio Foscarini, the decrees and injunctions from 1616, the censorship of 1620, and the later proceedings of the Inquisition.
  735.  
  736. Find this resource:
  737.  
  738.  
  739. Granada, Miguel. “Il problema astronomico-cosmologico e le sacre scritture dopo Copernico: Christoph Rothmann e la ‘Teoria dell’Accomodazione.’” Rivista di storia della filosofia 4 (1996): 789–828.
  740.  
  741. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  742.  
  743. Provides access to the dispute between Tycho Brahe and Rothmann over the appeal to scripture and the principle of accommodation.
  744.  
  745. Find this resource:
  746.  
  747.  
  748. Lerner, Michel-Pierre. “Aux origines de la polémique anticopernicienne (I).” Revue des sciences philosophiques et théologiques 86 (2002): 681–722.
  749.  
  750. DOI: 10.3917/rspt.864.0681Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  751.  
  752. A critical edition of Giovanni Maria Tolosani’s polemic against Copernicus, supersedes the edition by Eugenio Garin, who discovered the text: Eugenio Garin, “Alle origini della polemica anticopernicana,” in Volume 2, Colloquia Copernicana, Studia Copernicana 6 (Wrocław, Poland: Ossolineum, 1975), pp. 31–42.
  753.  
  754. Find this resource:
  755.  
  756.  
  757. Lerner, Michel-Pierre. “Copernic suspendu et corrigé: Sur deux décrets de la congrégation romain de l’Index, 1616–1620.” Galilaeana 1 (2004): 21–89.
  758.  
  759. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  760.  
  761. In 1616, the Congregation of the Index suspended Copernicus’s On the Revolutions until corrected. In 1620, the censorship commission completed its work, asserting that the book had been absolutely prohibited in 1616.
  762.  
  763. Find this resource:
  764.  
  765.  
  766. Rheticus, Georg Ioachim. “Dissertatio de terrae motu et Scriptura Sacra.” In Receptio Copernicana: Texte zur Aufnahme der copernicanischen Theorie. Edited by Heribert Nobis, Menso Folkerts, Anna Maria Pastori, and Felix Schmeidler, 57–73 Nicolaus Copernicus Gesamtausgabe 8.1. Berlin: Akademie, 2002.
  767.  
  768. DOI: 10.1524/9783050048192.57Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  769.  
  770. The critical edition of Rheticus’s treatment (1551) of the question of Earth’s motion as established by mathematical astronomy and whether relevant texts from sacred Scripture describe appearances or reality.
  771.  
  772. Find this resource:
  773.  
  774.  
  775. Celebrations
  776. Over the course of more than five hundred years many celebrations of Copernicus’s life and achievements have been held. In the 19th and 20th centuries alone, several were associated with the year of Copernicus’s birth (1473) and his death and the publication of De Revolutionibus (1543). The most important are those associated with decisions to edit Copernicus’s works (1943 and 1973), his reinterment in 2010 (Kopiczko, et al. 2010), and the results of conferences held in Poland (Kurdziałek 1973; Wyrozumski 1993; Biskup, et al. 1972–1975), France (Avant, avec, après Copernic), Italy (Copernico e la cosmologia moderna), and the United States (Westman 1975), with a summary of celebrations (Gingerich 1999).
  777.  
  778. Avant, avec, après Copernic: La représentation de l’Univers et ses conséquences épistémologiques, 1–3 juin 1973. Edited by Albert Blanchard. Semaine de synthèse 31. Paris: Bachelard, 1975.
  779.  
  780. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  781.  
  782. Results of a conference with papers by Kristin Moesgaard, Michel-Pierre Lerner, Grażyna Rosińska as well as commentaries by Paul Lawrence Rose and Fritz Krafft and concluding summaries by Jean Kovalevsky and Bodgan Suchodolsky.
  783.  
  784. Find this resource:
  785.  
  786.  
  787. Biskup, Marian, Jerzy Bukowski, and Pawel Czartoryski, eds. Colloquia Copernicana. 4 vols. Wrocław, Poland: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, 1972–1975.
  788.  
  789. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  790.  
  791. Published as separate volumes in the series Studia Copernicana 5 (1972), 6 (1973), 13 (1975), and 14 (1975), respectively, with papers by Robert S. Westman, Cesare Vasoli, Fritz Krafft, Noel Swerdlow, and Kristian Moesgaard, with commentaries by Willy Hartner and Olaf Pedersen. Vol. 1 contains articles on the reception of Copernicanism in Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, Great Britain, Spain, Hungary, the United States, and Japan. Vol. 1 also published as The Reception of the Copernicus’ Heliocentric Theory, edited by Jerzy Dobrzycki (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: D. Reidel, 1972).
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  796. Copernico e la cosmologia moderna: Roma, 3–5 maggio 1973. Edited by Beniamino Segre. Problemi attuali di scienza e di cultura, quaderno 216. Rome: Accademia nazionale dei Lincei, 1975.
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  800. Results of a conference held in Rome with papers by Eugenio Garin, Edward Rosen, Paweł Czartoryski, and Jerzy Dobrzycki and with commentaries by Edward Rosen and Olaf Pedersen.
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  805. Gingerich, Owen. “The Copernican Quinquecentennial and Its Predecessors.” In Commemorative Practices in Science: Historical Perspectives on the Politics of Collective Memory. Edited by Pnina Abir-Am and Clark Elliot, 37–60. Osiris, 2d series, 14. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
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  809. Witty guide to the history of Copernican celebrations and scholarship through 1973.
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  814. Kopiczko, Andrzej, Jack Jezierski, and Zdzisław Żywic, eds. Warmińska Kapituła Katedralna: Dzieje i Wybitni Przedstawiciele. Olsztyn, Poland: Instytut Historii i Stosunków Międzunarodowych Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego, 2010.
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  818. International Congress on the occasion of the 750th Anniversary of the Varmian Cathedral Chapter, and reburial of Canon Nicholas Copernicus, Olsztyn, 20–21 May 2010.
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  823. Kurdziałek, Marian, ed. Mikołaj Kopernik, Studia i materiały sesji kopernikowskiej w KUL, 18–19 lutego 1972 roku. Lublin, Poland: Towarzystwo Naukowe Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego, 1973.
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  827. Papers by Mieczysław Markowski, Grażyna Rosińska, Jerzy Dobrzycki, with commentary by Stefan Swieżawski from a conference held at the Catholic University of Lublin.
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  832. Westman, Robert S., ed. The Copernican Achievement. Papers presented at a symposium held at the University of California at Los Angeles, 1–2 November 1973. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.
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  835.  
  836. Essays from a conference held at the University of California, Los Angeles. Among the most important are papers by Paul Knoll, William Donahue, Curtis Wilson, Noel Swerdlow, Imre Lakatos, and Elie Zahar and with commentaries by Owen Gingerich and Stephen Toulmin.
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  841. Wyrozumski, Jerzy, ed. Das 500 jährige Jubiläum der krakauer Studienzeit von Nicolaus Copernicus. Cracow, Poland: Secesja, 1993.
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  845. Essays by Janusz Małłek, Marian Zwiercan, Marian Biskup, Zenon Novak, and Felix Schmeidler.
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