Nicolai Copernici Torinensis De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, Libri VI - On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, by Nicolaus Copernicus of Torin, Six Books (title page of 2nd edition, ex officina Henricpetrina Basel, 1566)

Heliocentric model of the solar system

De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (English: On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), first printed in 1543 in Nuremberg, is the seminal work on heliocentric theory and the masterpiece of the great astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543). The book offers an alternative model of the universe to the Ptolemaic system. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ... Image File history File links Title page of De revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Title page of De revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Copernicus redirects here. ... Motto: Durabo (lat. ... De revolutionibus orbium coelestium by Nicolaus Copernicus, title page of 2nd edition of 1566, Basilea, Ex Officina Henricpetrina Henricus Petrus or Sebastian Henric Petri are two of the names used for publications from a 16th century printer of Basel (Basilae in Latin), also called Officina Henricpetrina. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 371 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (813 × 1313 pixels, file size: 247 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Please see the file description page for further information. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 371 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (813 × 1313 pixels, file size: 247 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Please see the file description page for further information. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ... Nürnberg redirects here. ... In astronomy, heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Universe and/or the Solar System. ... Copernicus redirects here. ... Mediaeval drawing of the Ptolemaic system. ...

History of the book

Copernicus initially wrote up an outline of his system in a short text called the Commentariolus. A physician's library list dating to 1514 includes a manuscript whose description matches the Commentariolus, so Copernicus must have begun work on his new system by that time. However, most historians believe that he wrote the Commentariolus after his return from Italy, and possibly only after 1510. At this time, Copernicus anticipated that he could reconcile the motion of the Earth to the perceived motions of the planets quite easily, with fewer motions than were necessary for the Alfonsine Tables, the version of Ptolemaic astronomy popular at that time. The Commentariolus (litte commentary) is a manuscript of Nicolaus Copernicus in which he outlines his revolutionary theory of the solar system. ... 1514 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1510 (MDX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... The Alfonsine tables were astronomical tables drawn up at Toledo by order of Alfonso X in 1252 to correct the anomalies in the Ptolemaic tables; they divided the year into 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 16 seconds. ...

Mercury observations from Bernhard Walther (1430-1504) of Nuremberg, a pupil of Regiomontanus, were made available to Nicolaus Copernicus by Johannes Schöner, 45 observations in total, 14 of them with longitude and latitude. Copernicus used three of them in "De revolutionibus", giving only longitudes, and erroneously attributing them to Schöner. Copernicus' values differed slightly from the ones published by Schöner in 1544 in Observationes XXX annorum a I. Regiomontano et B. Walthero Norimbergae habitae, [4°, Norimb. 1544]. [[Link titleBold text // ]] This article is about the planet. ... Bernhard Walther (1430 - May, 1504), German astronomer, was born at Nuremberg. ... Nürnberg redirects here. ... Johannes Müller von Königsberg (June 6, 1436 – July 6, 1476), known by his Latin pseudonym Regiomontanus, was an important German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. ... Copernicus redirects here. ... Johannes Schöner (January 16, 1477 – January 16, 1547) was a German astronomer and cartographer. ... Nicolai Copernici Torinensis De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, Libri VI (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, by Nicolaus Copernicus of ToruÅ„, Six Books: title page of 2nd edition, Basel, 1566). ...

Remarkably the manuscript of De revolutionibus in Copernicus' own hand has survived. (Autograph manuscripts of published major scientific works from this time are rare.) Close examination of the manuscript, including the different types of paper used, has helped scholars to construct an approximate time table for its composition. Apparently Copernicus began by making a few astronomical observations, to provide new data to perfect his models. He may have begun writing the book while still engaged in observations. By the 1530s a substantial part of the book was completed. But he was still completing his work (even if he was not convinced that he wanted to publish it) when in 1539 Georg Joachim Rheticus, a great mathematician from Wittenberg, arrived in Frauenburg. In 1542, in Copernicus' name, Rheticus published a treatise on trigonometry (later included in the second book of De revolutionibus). Under strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen that the first general reception of his work had not been unfavorable, Copernicus finally agreed to give the book to his close friend Tiedemann Giese, bishop of Chełmno (Kulm), to be delivered to Rheticus for printing by Johannes Petreius at Nürnberg (Nuremberg). It was published just before his death, in 1543. Georg Joachim von Lauchen, also known as Rheticus (February 16, 1514 – December 4, 1574), was a mathematician, cartographer, navigational and other instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. ... Statue of Martin Luther in the main square Wittenberg, officially [Die] Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a town in Germany, in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, at 12° 59 E, 51° 51 N, on the Elbe river. ... The name Frauenburg was given to many towns in German-speaking countries in the Middle Ages. ... Tiedemann Giese (June 1, 1480 - October 23, 1550) of the Patrician family Giese from Gdańsk became bishop of Chełmno, then bishop of Warmia. ... CheÅ‚mno (older English: ; German: ) is a town in northern Poland with 22,000 inhabitants (1995) and the historical capital of CheÅ‚mno Land (Culmerland). ... Johann(es) Petreius (died 1550) was a German printer in Nuremberg. ... Nuremberg coat of arms Location of Nuremberg Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ... // Events February 21 - Battle of Wayna Daga - A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeat the armies of Adal led by Ahmed Gragn. ...

The major work of Copernicus is the result of decades of labor. It rewrote Ptolemaic theory for a moving Earth, and incorporates over a thousand years of accounts of astronomical observations of varying accuracy. In its standard English edition, it contains 330 folio pages, 100 pages of tables, and over 20,000 tabulated numbers.

The book is dedicated to Pope Paul III (in a preface which attempts to articulate that mathematics, not physics, should be the basis for understanding and accepting his theory) and is divided into 6 parts ("books"): Pope Paul III with his cardinal-nephew Alessandro Cardinal Farnese (left) and his other grandson (right), Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma Pope Paul III (February 29, 1468 – November 10, 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1534 to his death 1549. ...

• The first part contains a general vision of the heliocentric theory, and a summarized exposition of his idea on the World.
• The second part is mainly theoretical and describes the principles of spherical astronomy and a list of stars (as a basis for the arguments developed in the subsequent books).
• The third part is mainly dedicated to the apparent movements of the Sun and to related phenomena.
• The fourth part contains a similar description of the Moon and its orbital movements.
• The fifth and the sixth parts contain the concrete exposition of the new system.

De revolutionibus starts with an anonymous foreword stating that the whole work is only a simple hypothesis, implying that it might only be fantastic speculation. It is misleading to understand hypothesis in its modern sense, a proposed law or principle that is to be tested by experiment. Rather, the word hypothesis should be understood as a convenient bit of mathematics not necessarily related at all to reality. The foreword was at the time generally regarded as Copernicus' own idea, until Johannes Kepler showed that it was an addition by the Lutheran philosopher Andreas Osiander. Sol redirects here. ... This article is about Earths moon. ... Kepler redirects here. ... Andreas Osiander (Andreas Hosemann) (1498 - 1552) was a German Protestant theologian. ...

In his system Copernicus argued that the universe is made up of eight spheres. The outer, eighth sphere consisted of motionless, fixed stars with the sun motionless at the centre. The planets revolved around the Sun in the order of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The moon however, revolved around the Earth. Moreover, according to him, what seemed to be the movement of the Sun and fixed stars around the Earth, was really explained by the daily rotation of the Earth around its own axis. Even with all of his advances, he retained the circular orbits, because of which he was forced to also retain the epicycles of the Ptolemaic system to prove his calculations correct. Nevertheless, the shift from an Earth-centered, to a sun-centered system was very important and raised serious questions about Aristotle's astronomy and physics, despite Copernicus' adherence to Aristotle. For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ...

Reception among scholars

The book caused only mild controversy at the time, and provoked no fierce sermons about contradicting holy scripture; Osiander's preface, therefore, may have had some success. In 1546, however, a Dominican, Giovanni Maria Tolosani, wrote a treatise denouncing the theory and defending the absolute truth of scripture. Tolosani also claimed that Bartolomeo Spina, the Master of the Sacred Palace, had intended to condemn the theory but had been unable to press the issue because of ill health. // Events Spanish conquest of Yucatan Peace between England and France Foundation of Trinity College, Cambridge by Henry VIII of England Katharina von Bora flees to Magdeburg Science Architecture Michelangelo Buonarroti is made chief architect of St. ...

According to Olivier Thill's 2002 update of a biography written in 1654 by Pierre Gassendi, many persons, astronomers, theologians and others, knew about Copernicus' theory before 1615. Their stance is given as follows: Pierre Gassendi (January 22, 1592 – October 24, 1655) was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician, best known for attempting to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity and for publishing the first official observations of the Transit of Mercury in 1631. ...

Identification of "Copernicans" or "anti-Copernicans" will vary depending on the criteria used. For instance, Gassendi apparently considered Tycho Brahe to be a supporter of Copernicus, even though Tycho plainly believed that the Earth did not move. Tycho performed many of the essential measurements which Johannes Kepler used to advance Copernicus' position. Bernard Wapowski (1450-1535) was a secretary to the king of Poland in 1526 when Nicolaus Copernicus assisted him with mapping of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. ... Tiedemann Giese (June 1, 1480 - October 23, 1550) of the Patrician family Giese from Gdańsk became bishop of Chełmno, then bishop of Warmia. ... Poeta Laureatus Johannes Dantiscus, also Johann(es) von Höfen or Johann(es) Flachsbinder, Polish: , was born 1 October 1485 in Danzig (GdaÅ„sk) and died 27 October 1548 in Lidzbark WarmiÅ„ski (Heilsberg) and is known as a Father of Polish Diplomacy. ... Nikolaus Cardinal von Schönberg (born 11 August 1472 in Roth-Schönberg near Meissen, Saxony/Germany, died 7 September 1537 in Capua, Italy) was an Archbishop of Capua. ... Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter (born 1506 in Nellingen/Blaubeuren near Ulm; died 28 March 1557 in Regensburg), also called Widmestadius or Albert Widmannstadt, was a humanist, orientalist, philologer, and theologer In 1533, as secretary of Nikolaus Cardinal von Schönberg, he delivered a series of lectures in Rome, outlining Nicolaus Copernicus... Georg Joachim von Lauchen, also known as Rheticus (February 16, 1514 – December 4, 1574), was a mathematician, cartographer, navigational and other instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. ... Heinrich Zell (died 1560) was a German printer and cartographer. ... Andreas Aurifaber (1514–1559) was a German physician of some repute, but through his influence with Albert of Brandenburg, last grand-master of the Teutonic Order, and first Protestant duke of Prussia, became an outstanding figure in the controversy associated with Andreas Osiander whose daughter he had married. ... Georg Joachim von Lauchen, also known as Rheticus (February 16, 1514 – December 4, 1574), was a mathematician, cartographer, navigational and other instrument maker, medical practitioner, and teacher. ... Johann(es) Petreius (died 1550) was a German printer in Nuremberg. ... Erasmus Reinhold (October 22, 1511 – February 19, 1553) was a German astronomer and mathematician. ... For the American college basketball coach, see John Dee (basketball coach). ... For the crater, see Stadius (crater). ... Christian Wursteisen (Latin: ) (1544 – 1588) was a mathematician, theologician, historian from Basel. ... Thomas Digges (1546 – August 24, 1595) was an English astronomer, son of Leonard Digges, inventor of the theodolite, and great populariser of science. ... Bartholomäus Keckermann (1571 or 1573 in Danzig (Gdansk) - 1608 oder 1609 Danzig) was a German writer, Calvinist Theologist and Philosopher. ... Christoph Rothmann (born between 1550 and 1560 in Bernberg; died probably after 1600 in Bernberg) was a German mathematician and one of the few well-known astronomers of his time. ... Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609) was the tenth child and third son of Julius Caesar Scaliger and Andiette de Roques Lobejac. ... Portrait of Comenius by Rembrandt John Amos Comenius (Czech: ; German: ; Polish: ; latinized: Iohannes Amos Comenius) (March 28, 1592 – November 15, 1670) was a Czech teacher, scientist, educator, and writer. ... For other persons named William Gilbert, see William Gilbert (disambiguation). ... Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno (1548, Nola – February 17, 1600, Rome) was an Italian philosopher, priest, cosmologist, and occultist. ... Michael Maestlin (1550-1631) was a German astronomer and mathematician. ... Monument of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler in Prague Tycho Brahe, born Tyge Ottesen Brahe (December 14, 1546 – October 24, 1601), was a Danish nobleman from the region of Scania (in modern-day Sweden), best known today as an early astronomer, though in his lifetime he was also well known... Kepler redirects here. ... Pierre Gassendi (January 22, 1592 – October 24, 1655) was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician, best known for attempting to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity and for publishing the first official observations of the Transit of Mercury in 1631. ... Marin Mersenne, Marin Mersennus or le Père Mersenne (September 8, 1588 – September 1, 1648) was a French theologian, philosopher, mathematician and music theorist. ... Descartes redirects here. ... Paul Eber (November 8, 1511 - December 10, 1569), German theologian, was born at Kitzingen in Franconia, and was educated at Nuremberg and Wittenberg, where he became the close friend of Philipp Melanchthon. ... Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, by Lucas Cranach the Elder. ... Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 – February 18, 1546) was a German monk,[1] priest, professor, theologian, and church reformer. ... John Calvin (July 10, 1509 – May 27, 1564) was a prominent Christian theologian during the Protestant Reformation and is the namesake of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism. ... Julius Caesar Scaliger. ... Christopher Clavius, (March 25, 1538 – February 12, 1612) was a German Jesuit mathematician and astronomer who was the main architect of the modern Gregorian calendar. ... Kepler redirects here. ...

It has been much debated why sixty years would pass before Copernicus' work would come under serious attack. The alleged reasons range from the personality of Galileo Galilei to the availability of actual evidence (such as observations with the telescope) which could make it practical for the first time to settle the truth or falsity of the theory. Whatever the reason, in 1616 Cardinal Bellarmine gave Galileo an order from the Pope to take the position that the system was purely hypothesis. After that, De revolutionibus was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books along with two less important works (but none of Galileo's, at that time). It was not formally banned but merely withdrawn from circulation pending "corrections" which would clarify the status of the theory as hypothesis (nine sentences, by which the heliocentric system was represented as certain, had to be either omitted or changed). Such corrections were prepared by Francesco Ingoli and others, and were formally approved in 1620; the reading of the book was then allowed.^[1] But the book was never reprinted with these changes, and was available in Catholic jurisdictions only by special request of suitably qualified scholars.^{[citation needed]} It remained on the Index until 1758, when Pope Benedict XIV (1740-58) removed the uncorrected book from his revised Index.^[2] Galileo redirects here. ... Year 1616 (MDCXVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino (Saint Robert Bellarmine), a Saint of the Roman Catholic Church and a controversialist, was born at Montepulciano (35 km s. ... Galileo redirects here. ... Venetiis, M. D. LXIIII. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) is a list of publications which the Catholic Church censored for being a danger to itself and the faith of its members. ... Year 1620 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Venetiis, M. D. LXIIII. The Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) is a list of publications which the Catholic Church censored for being a danger to itself and the faith of its members. ... Year 1758 (MDCCLVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Benedict XIV, born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini (Bologna, March 31, 1675 – May 3, 1758 in Rome), was Pope from 17 August 1740 to 3 May 1758. ...

A few years after the death of Copernicus, Erasmus Reinhold developed the Prutenic Tables (Prussian Tables, German: Tabulae prutenicae, German: Preußische Tafeln), based on Copernicus' observations. Reinhold's Prutenic Tables were used as a basis for the calendar reform instituted under Pope Gregory XIII. The tables were also used by sailors and sea explorers, who during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries had used the Table of the Stars by Regiomontanus. Erasmus Reinhold (October 22, 1511 – February 19, 1553) was a German astronomer and mathematician. ... The Prutenic or Prussian Tables (Latin: , German: ) of 1551 were astronomical tables that replaced the Alphonsine tables which had been used for 300 years. ... Pope Gregory XIII (January 7, 1502 – April 10, 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. ... Johannes Müller von Königsberg (June 6, 1436 – July 6, 1476), known by his Latin pseudonym Regiomontanus, was an important German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. ...

Copernicus' mocking of Lactantius

Nicolaus Copernicus mocked Lactantius, who was an early Christian author (ca. 240 - ca. 320), in De revolutionibus: Lucius Caelius (or Caecilius?) Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who wrote in Latin (c. ...

Perhaps there will be babblers who claim to be judges of astronomy although completely ignorant of the subject and, badly distorting some passage of Scripture to their purpose, will dare to find fault with my undertaking and censure it. I disregard them even to the extent of despising their criticism as unfounded. For it is not unknown that Lactantius, otherwise an illustrious writer but hardly an astronomer, speaks quite childishly about the Earth's shape, when he mocks those who declared that the Earth has the form of a globe. Hence scholars need not be surprised if any such persons will likewise ridicule me. Astronomy is written for astronomers.

German TV documentary on "The worlds 7 greatest lies" [1] states that medieval scholars knew very well that the Earth was a sphere. Copernicus is blamed for omitting that Lactantius was the exception rather than the rule.

Recent research

For a long time, historians believed that the book was not widely read at the time of its first publication. Owen Gingerich, a widely recognized authority on both Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler, disproved that belief after a 35-year long project to examine every surviving copy of the original book. His efforts and conclusions are recounted in The Book Nobody Read, published in 2004 by Walker & Co. That book and the research behind it earned the Polish government's Order of Merit in 1981. Due largely to Dr. Gingerich's scholarship, De revolutionibus has been researched and catalogued better than any first-edition historical text except for the original Gutenberg Bible.^[3] Owen Gingerich Dr. Owen Jay Gingerich (1930-) was Research Professor of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ... Kepler redirects here. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A copy of the Gutenberg Bible owned by the U.S. Library of Congress The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible or the Mazarin Bible) is a printed version of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible that was printed by Johannes Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany in...

Editions

• 1543, Nuremberg, by Johannes Petreius
• 1566, Basel, by Henricus Petrus
• 1617, Amsterdam, by Müller of Göttingen [2]
• 1854, Warsaw, with Polish translation and the real preface of Copernicus
• 1873, Thorn (Torun), by the local Copernicus Society, with all the corrections of the text, made by Copernicus, given as foot-notes.

Johann(es) Petreius (died 1550) was a German printer in Nuremberg. ... Events January 7 - Pius V becomes Pope Selim II succeeds Suleiman I as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Religious rioting in the Netherlands signifies the beginning of the Eighty Years War in the Netherlands. ... For other uses, see Basel (disambiguation). ... De revolutionibus orbium coelestium by Nicolaus Copernicus, title page of 2nd edition of 1566, Basilea, Ex Officina Henricpetrina Henricus Petrus or Sebastian Henric Petri are two of the names used for publications from a 16th century printer of Basel (Basilae in Latin), also called Officina Henricpetrina. ... Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed I (1603-1617) to Mustafa I (1617-1623). ... For other uses, see Amsterdam (disambiguation). ... The Germanic word Müller means Miller (as a profession). ... Göttingen marketplace with old city hall, Gänseliesel fountain and pedestrian zone Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation). ... 1873 (MDCCCLXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Toruń (pronounce: [:tɔruɲ], Kashubian: Torń, German Thorn, see also other names) is a city in northern Poland, on the Vistula river. ...

References

1. ^ "Nicolaus Copernicus," Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04352b.htm.
2. ^ "Benedict XIV." Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04352b.htm
3. ^ Peter DeMarco. "Book quest took him around the globe". Boston Globe. April 13, 2004

Further reading

• Gassendi, Pierre: The Life of Copernicus, biography (1654), with notes by Olivier Thill (2002), ISBN 1-59160-193-2 [3]
• Gingerich, Owen: An annotated census of Copernicus' De revolutionibus (Nuremberg, 1543 and Basel, 1566). Leiden : Brill, 2002 ISBN 90-04-11466-1 (Studia copernicana. Brill's series; v. 2)
• Gingerich, Owen: The Book Nobody Read : Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus. New York : Walker, 2004 ISBN 0-8027-1415-3
• Giovanni, Pastore: ANTIKYTHERA E I REGOLI CALCOLATORI, Rome, 2006, privately published
• Hannam, James (2007). Deconstructing Copernicus. Medieval Science and Philosophy. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. Analyses the varieties of argument used by Copernicus.
• Heilbron, J.L.: The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-674-85433-0
• Swerdlow, N.M., O. Neugebauer: Mathematical astronomy in Copernicus's De revolutionibus. New York : Springer, 1984 ISBN 0-387-90939-7 (Studies in the history of mathematics and physical sciences ; 10)
• Vermij, R.H.: The Calvinist Copernicans: The Reception of the New Astronomy in the Dutch Republic, 1575-1750. Amsterdam : Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, 2002 ISBN 90-6984-340-4 [4]
• Westman, R.S., ed.: The Copernican achievement. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1975 ISBN 0-520-02877-5
• Zinner, E.: Entstehung und Ausbreitung der coppernicanischen Lehre. 2. Aufl. durchgesehen und erg. von Heribert M. Nobis und Felix Schmeidler. München : C.H. Beck, 1988 ISBN 3-406-32049-X

Pierre Gassendi (January 22, 1592 – October 24, 1655) was a French philosopher, scientist and mathematician, best known for attempting to reconcile Epicurean atomism with Christianity and for publishing the first official observations of the Transit of Mercury in 1631. ... Owen Gingerich Dr. Owen Jay Gingerich (1930-) was Research Professor of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

English translations of De revolutionibus

• On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres [translated] with an introd. and notes by A. M. Duncan. Newton Abbot : David & Charles; New York : Barnes and Noble, 1976 ISBN 0-7153-6927-X (David & Charles) ISBN 0-06-491279-5 (Barnes and Noble)

• On the revolutions ; translation and commentary by Edward Rosen. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992 ISBN 0-8018-4515-7 (Foundations of natural history) (originally published Warsaw, 1978)

• On the revolutions of the heavenly spheres ... transl. by C.G. Wallis. (First published Annapolis : St John's Bookstore, 1939. Later republished in v. 15 of the series Great Books of the Western World (Chicago : Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1952) and in the series of the same name published by the Franklin Library, Franklin Center, Philadelphia, 1985 and also in 1995 by Prometheus Books (Amherst, NY.) in its Great minds series - Science (ISBN 1-57392-035-5)

Links

• De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, from Harvard University.
• De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, from Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Poland.
• De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, from Rare Book Room.
• On the Revolutions, from WebExhibits. English translation.
• The Antikythera Calculator (Italian and English versions)
• De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, Norimbergae, J. Petreium, 1543 (Vicifons)