Copernicus: Platonist Astronomer-Philosopher: Cosmic Order, the Movement of the Earth, and the Scientific Revolution

454 Pages·2014·7.922 MB·English

by  Matjaz Vesel

el
s
e
V
ž
a
atj Matjaž Vesel
Matjaž Vesel M
Copernicus: Platonist Astronomer-Philosopher r Copernicus: Platonist
e
h
In 1543, Copernicus publicly defended ence to his project and provides historical p
geokinetic and heliocentric universe. This background of his contributions to the o Astronomer-Philosopher
s
book examines why and how he became Scientific Revolution. o
a Copernican and what his affirmation il
of heliocentrism means in the context of h
P
the Scientific Revolution. Close reading
- Cosmic Order, the Movement of the Earth,
of Copernicus’ texts and examination The Author r
e
of his sociocultural context reveals his Matjaž Vesel, Ph.D. in Philosophy from m and the Scientific Revolution
commitment to the Platonist program of the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), o
True Astronomy, which is to discover the is a Research Adviser at the Institute of n
well-proportioned, harmonious universe, Philosophy, SRC SASA, Ljubljana. He o
r
hidden beyond visible appearances, but has published monographs on Nicholas t
s
accessible through mathematical reason- of Cusa, Nicolaus Copernicus and A
ing. The principal goal of the work is to Galileo Galilei, and numerous articles on t
show that the hypothesis of Copernicus’ medieval and early modern science and s
i
Platonism brings unity and internal coher- philosophy. n
o
t
a
l
P
:
s
u
c
i
n
r
e
p
o
C
ISBN 978-3-631-64242-9
264242_Vesel_TH_A5HC PLE edition new.indd 1 26.03.14 10:28
el
s
e
V
ž
a
atj Matjaž Vesel
Matjaž Vesel M
Copernicus: Platonist Astronomer-Philosopher r Copernicus: Platonist
e
h
In 1543, Copernicus publicly defended ence to his project and provides historical p
geokinetic and heliocentric universe. This background of his contributions to the o Astronomer-Philosopher
s
book examines why and how he became Scientific Revolution. o
a Copernican and what his affirmation il
of heliocentrism means in the context of h
P
the Scientific Revolution. Close reading
- Cosmic Order, the Movement of the Earth,
of Copernicus’ texts and examination The Author r
e
of his sociocultural context reveals his Matjaž Vesel, Ph.D. in Philosophy from m and the Scientific Revolution
commitment to the Platonist program of the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), o
True Astronomy, which is to discover the is a Research Adviser at the Institute of n
well-proportioned, harmonious universe, Philosophy, SRC SASA, Ljubljana. He o
r
hidden beyond visible appearances, but has published monographs on Nicholas t
accessible through mathematical reason- of Cusa, Nicolaus Copernicus and As
ing. The principal goal of the work is to Galileo Galilei, and numerous articles on t
show that the hypothesis of Copernicus’ medieval and early modern science and s
i
Platonism brings unity and internal coher- philosophy. n
o
t
a
l
P
:
s
u
c
i
n
r
e
p
o
C
264242_Vesel_TH_A5HC PLE edition new.indd 1 26.03.14 10:28
Copernicus: Platonist Astronomer-Philosopher

Matjaž Vesel

Copernicus: Platonist
Astronomer-Philosopher
Cosmic Order, the Movement of the Earth,
and the Scientific Revolution
Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche
Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication
in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic
data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Vesel, Matjaž, 1965–
[Astronom, filozof. English]
Copernicus : Platonist astronomer-philosopher : cosmic order, the move-
ment of the Earth, and the scientific revolution / Matjaž Vesel.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-3-631-64242-9
1. Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473-1543. 2. Astronomers—Poland—Biography.
3. Astronomy, Medieval. I. Title. II. Title: Platonist astronomer-philosopher.
QB36.C8V4113 2014
520.92—c22
[B]
2013049788

Published with the financial support of Research Centre
of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Translation from Slovene: Manca Gašperšič
English editing: Cornelia Lambert
Page layout: Brane Vidmar

Cover image:
Copernicus' seal and his Uppsala notes.
Design by Mateja Goršič.

ISBN 978-3-631-64242-9 (Print)
E-ISBN 978-3-653-03793-7 (E-Book)
DOI 10.3726/978-3-653-03793-7

© Peter Lang GmbH
Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Frankfurt am Main 2014
All rights reserved.
Peter Lang Edition is an Imprint of Peter Lang GmbH.

Peter Lang – Frankfurt am Main · Bern · Bruxelles · New York ·
Oxford · Warszawa · Wien

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright.
Any utilisation outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without
the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution.
This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming,
and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.

www.peterlang.com
5
Acknowledgements
My first and greatest acknowledgement goes to other scholars in the field. Without their
research and publications, past and present, this book would not be possible. I discussed parts
of the book in different stages of its elaboration at different occasions with many scholars.
Not all of them can be listed here, but some deserve to be mentioned by name. I would like to
thank my colleagues from the Institute of Philosophy of SRC SASA, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Jelica
Šumič Riha and Vojislav Likar, for their comments and suggestions on the earlier, Slovenian
version of the book. Among more specific debts I accumulated during the work on the English
version are those to my American colleagues from the Department of the History of Science,
University of Oklahoma, Norman. I would like to express my gratitude to the head of the
Department and President of the Mellon Fellowship Committee Steven J. Livesey, for host-
ing me there as a Mellon Fellow on several occasions. I would also like to thank the staff of
the History of the Science Collections, especially JoAnn Palmeri, acting curator, and Kerry
Magruder, curator, for providing me with an excellent research environment. During my
stays in Norman I had the opportunity to discuss my ideas with students and faculty of the
Department, especially Kathleen Crowther, Rienk Vermij and Peter Barker; the latter read
and commented on the entire book. Last but not least, I would also like to thank my translator
Manca Gašperšič and Cornelia Lambert for English editing and proofreading.
A Note on Primary Texts and Translations
Primary sources are cited by standard references to book, chapter and, if applicable, line.
Included in brackets are references to the translator and page number of the English transla-
tion (if available) and a reference to editor and page number of the critical edition or original
text. Whenever possible I checked existing translations against the (mostly Latin) original.
Any modifications of existing translations are intended to give a more literal rendition. These
changes of existing translations are – for practical reasons – unmarked.
Copernicus_Vesel_Corrected manuscript.indd 5 11.12.2013 12:41:04
Copernicus_Vesel_Corrected manuscript.indd 6 11.12.2013 12:41:04
List of figures
Figure 1. The homocentric model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Figure 2. The eccentric model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Figure 3a. The epicycle model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Figure 3b. The path of a planet in the epicycle model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Figure 4. The equant model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Figure 5. Ptolemy’s model for Saturn from the Planetary Hypotheses . . . . . .55
Figure 6. Ibn al-Haytham’s model for Venus and the superior
planets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Figure 7. Geometric and physical model for the earth’s path between
the spheres of Venus and Mars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Figure 8. The Ptolemaic universe according to Johannes Kepler,
Mysterium cosmographicum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Figure 9. Aristotelian cosmos from Gregor Reisch, Margarita
philosophica nona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Figure 10. Aristotelian cosmos from Peter Apian, Cosmographicus
liber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Figure 11. Retrograde motion of the planets in the geocentric system
and an explanation of these motions in the heliocentric system . . . . . 213
Figure 12. Figure of the relative sizes of the sphere of the moon, the
spheres of Mercury and Venus, and the sphere of the sun in
nesting spheres model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
Figure 13a. The inferior planets passing between the earth and the
sun can be only in conjunction and never in opposition. . . . . . . . . . 225
Figure 13b. A superior planet is in conjunction when in line with the
sun and the earth, describing the earth–sun–planet alignment. . . . . .226
Figure 14. Copernicus’ explanation of the limited elongation of the
inferior planets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Figure 15a. The retrogradation of the superior planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Copernicus_Vesel_Corrected manuscript.indd 7 11.12.2013 12:41:04
8
Figure 15b. The apparent motion of a superior planet against the
sphere of the fixed stars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Figure 16a. The Copernican system from De revolutionibus. . . . . . . . . . . 232
Figure 16b. The Copernican system according to Johannes Kepler,
Mysterium cosmographicum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Figure 17. Roger Bacon’s model for the moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Figure 18. Peurbach’s model for the sun from Theoricae novae
planetarum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Figure 19. Copernicus’ seal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Figure 20. Franchino Gafurio’s frontispiece in his Practica musicae . . . . . . 313
Figure 21. Ibn al-Shātir’s model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Figure 22. The Capellan system from Valentin Naibod, Primarum
de coelo et terra institutionum quotidianarumque mundi
revolutionum, libri tres � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 359
Copernicus_Vesel_Corrected manuscript.indd 8 11.12.2013 12:41:04