By Nicolaus Copernicus
Published: 1995
The Ptolemaic system of the universe, with the earth at the center, had held sway since antiquity as authoritative in philosophy, science, and church teaching. Following his observations of the heavenly bodies, Copernicus abandoned the geocentric system for a heliocentric model, with the sun at the center. This book stands as one of the supreme monuments of science. It led to one of the greatest intellectual revolutions of all time, and profoundly influenced, among others, Galileo and Sir Isaac Newton.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer who is best known for his seminal work, "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), published in 1543. This groundbreaking treatise formulated the heliocentric model of the universe, positing that the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun, which challenged the long-standing geocentric view held since antiquity. Copernicus's writing is marked by a meticulous and methodical approach, grounded in mathematical rigor and observational accuracy. His ideas laid the foundation for the Scientific Revolution and profoundly influenced subsequent thinkers such as Galileo and Kepler, reshaping our understanding of the cosmos.
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