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Christoph Rothmann’s Discourse on the Comet of 1585: An Edition and Translation with Accompanying Essays PDF

396 Pages·2014·1.82 MB·English
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Christoph Rothmann’s Discourse on the Comet of 1585 History of Science andMedicine Library volume 44 Medieval and Early Modern Science Editors J.M.M.H. Thijssen (Radboud University Nijmegen) C.H. Lüthy (Radboud University Nijmegen) P.J.J.M. Bakker (Radboud University Nijmegen) Editorial Consultants Joël Biard (University of Tours) Simo Knuuttila (University of Helsinki) Jürgen Renn (Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science) Theo Verbeek (University of Utrecht) volume 22 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/mems Christoph Rothmann’s Discourse on the Comet of 1585 An Edition and Translation with Accompanying Essays By Miguel A. Granada AdamMosley Nicholas Jardine leiden | boston Cover illustration: W. Schickard, Cometenbeschreibung in zwen underschidliche Partes abgetheilt. Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, Cod. math. qt. 43, f. 77v/old Pag. 140. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rothmann, Christoph, active 16th century. Christoph Rothmann's Discourse on the comet of 1585 : an edition and translation with accompanying essays / by Miguel A. Granada, AdamMosley, Nicholas Jardine. pages cm – (History of science and medicine library ; volume 44. Medieval and early modern science, ISSN 1567-8393 ; volume 22) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-26034-4 (hardback : alk. paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-26035-1 (e-book) 1. Comets–1585–Early works to 1800. 2. Astronomy, Medieval–Early works to 1800. 3. Cosmology, Medieval–Early works to 1800. I. Granada, Miguel Angel, 1949- II. Mosley, Adam, 1974- translator. III. Jardine, Nicholas, translator. IV. Rothmann, Christoph, active 16th century. Dialexis cometae. V. Rothmann, Christoph, active 16th century. Dialexis cometae. English. VI. Title. VII. Title: Discourse on the comet of 1585. QB721.R6813 2014 523.6'4–dc23 2014011554 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1567-8393 isbn 978-90-04-26034-4 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-26035-1 (e-book) Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. To the memory of Alain-Philippe Segonds (1942–2011) ∵ Contents Preface xi Miguel A. Granada 1 Introduction 1 Miguel A. Granada 1 Christoph Rothmann and Astronomy in Wittenberg 1 2 Astronomy in Kassel: Landgrave Wilhelm IV and His Programme of Stellar Astronomy 19 3 The Comet of 1585 and the Dialexis cometae 24 4 Phases of Composition of the Dialexis cometae 30 5 Rothmann’s Cosmological Innovations in the Dialexis cometae 36 6 The Status of Astronomical Hypotheses 55 7 The Title of the Work 64 2 Dialexis Cometae qui Anno Christi M.D.LXXXV.mensibus Octobri et Novembri apparuit 67 Latin text prepared by Miguel A. Granada ADiscourse on the CometWhich Appeared in theMonths of October and November of 1585 67 Translation by Nicholas Jardine and AdamMosley, with annotations by Miguel A. Granada, Nicholas Jardine and AdamMosley Chapter 1. On the Observations of This Comet 78 Chapter 2. Concerning the Motion of This Comet in Longitude and Latitude 92 Chapter 3. Whether This Comet Had Parallax 104 Chapter 4. In Which Sphere This Comet Was 114 Chapter 5. Since It Is Commonly Believed That the Spheres of the Planets Are Solid Bodies, How Could the Comet Have Progressed in Them? AndWhat Is to Be Thought on This Question? 120 Chapter 6. A Refutation of Some Opinions Concerning Comets; Namely, That They Are Neither Species Appearing without Matter, Nor Perpetual Bodies Together with the Rest of the Stars, Nor Vapours Ignited in the Air 146 Chapter 7. The Opinion of the Author about the Matter and Essence of Comets 164 viii contents Chapter 8. The Uses of the Examination of Comets 178 Chapter 9. That That Matter Flowing around the Planets Differs Not at All from Pure Sublunar Air, andWhere, Moreover, the Contrary Arguments Are Refuted 186 Description of the Comet Which Shone in the Year 1596 in the Month of July, but Set Out in a Fuller Form from the Papers of the Same Rothmann 202 3 Appendices: Related Texts and Translations 207 Miguel A. Granada, Nicholas Jardine and AdamMosley 1 Letters of Christoph Rothmann to Landgrave Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel, 1585–1586 208 2 Letter of Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel to Heinrich Rantzau, 20 October 1585 246 3 Letter of Wilhelm IV to Christoph Rothmann of 18 November 1585, Authorising the Drafting of a scriptum on the Comet 250 4 Elias Olsen Morsing’s Account of the Comet of 1585 252 4 How to Present a Copernican Comet: The Form and Tactics of Christoph Rothmann’s Dialexis on the Comet of 1585 258 Nicholas Jardine 1 Introduction 258 2 Disciplines: Mathematics vs. Philosophy 260 3 Disciplines: Theology 262 4 Genres: Dialexis, ‘Critical Doxography’, Historia, Observationes 267 5 Persuasive Tactics 273 6 Comets as Boundary Objects 280 5 The History and Historiography of Early Modern Comets 282 AdamMosley 1 1577 and All That: What Every Historian of Astronomy Knows 282 2 Historia: Comets, Astronomy, and Historical Astrology 287 3 1577 and All That Revisited 323 6 A Brief Note on Cometary Parallax 326 AdamMosley 1 Tycho, Regiomontanus, and the Problems of Parallax 326 2 Rothmann and the Parallax of the Comet of 1585 334 3 Conclusion 339 contents ix Bibliography 341 Index of Persons 367 Index of Places 373 Index of Subjects 374

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