Taking Johannes Kepler as his guide, Gingerich argues that an individual can be both a creative scientist and a believer in divine design--that indeed the very motivation for scientific research can derive from a desire to trace God's handiwork.
Many scientists look at the universe and conclude we are here by chance. The astronomer and historian Owen Gingerich looks at the same evidence—and the fact that the universe is comprehensible to our minds—and sees it as proof for the intentions of a Creator-God. The more rigorous science becomes, the more clearly God’s handiwork can be understood.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) is a pivotal figure in the birth of modern science, the astronomer who "stopped the sun and set the earth in motion." Born in Poland, educated at Cracow and then in Italy, he served all of his adult life as a church administrator. His vision of a sun-centered universe, shocking to many and unbelievable to most, turned out to be the essential blueprint for a physical understanding of celestial motions, thereby triggering what is commonly called "the Copernican revolution." A first edition of his world-changing treatise, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, has most recently been auctioned for more than $2 million. In this book, leading historian of science Owen Gingerich sets Copernicus in the context of a rapidly changing world, where the recent invention of printing with moveable type not only made sources more readily available to him, but also fueled Martin's Luther's transformation of the religious landscape. In an era of geographical exploration and discovery, new ideas were replacing time-honored concepts about the extent of inhabited continents. Gingerich reveals Copernicus' heliocentric revolution as an aesthetic achievement not dictated by observational "proofs," but another new way of looking at the ancient cosmos. Deftly combining astronomy and history, this Very Short Introduction offers a fascinating portray of the man who launched the modern vision of the universe. Out of Gingerich's engaging biography emerges the image of a scientist, intellectual, patriot, and reformer, who lived in an era when political as well as religious beliefs were shifting.
After three decades of investigation, and after traveling hundreds of thousands of miles across the globe-from Melbourne to Moscow, Boston to Beijing-Gingerich has written an utterly original book built on his experience and the remarkable insights gleaned from examining some 600 copies of De revolutionibus. He found the books owned and annotated by Galileo, Kepler and many other lesser-known astronomers whom he brings back to life, which illuminate the long, reluctant process of accepting the Sun-centered cosmos and highlight the historic tensions between science and the Catholic Church. He traced the ownership of individual copies through the hands of saints, heretics, scalawags, and bibliomaniacs. He was called as the expert witness in the theft of one copy, witnessed the dramatic auction of another, and proves conclusively that De revolutionibus was as inspirational as it was revolutionary. Part biography of a book, part scientific exploration, part bibliographic detective story, The Book Nobody Read recolors the history of cosmology and offers new appreciation of the enduring power of an extraordinary book and its ideas.
An engaging anthology of thirty-six incidents drawn from the history of astronomy, this volume covers subjects that range from Stonehenge and astronomy in ancient Egypt to the Great Comet of 1965 and Albert Einstein. Professor Gingerich covers all the important periods and developments in astronomy and generously illustrates the text throughout with historical pictures. The Great Copernicus Chase refers to Owen Gingerich's attempt to take a census of all extant copies of Copernicus's great work, De Revolutionibus. Some of the many adventures that have befallen him in this quest are featured in the book. Owen Gingerich is Senior Astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Professor of Astronomy and History of Science at Harvard University. He is the editor of the multi-volume General History of Astronomy, and his articles appear regularly in Sky and Telescope. Comet Gingerich is named in his honor.
A brief biography of Nicolaus Copernicus, the doctor, lawyer, and church official who developed the theory that the planets revolved around the sun, and includes information on his early life, and the events that lead to his discovery.
The Annotated Census lists and describes - on the basis of direct examination - all of the 560 located copies of the first and second editions of Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium that survive in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as several copies of known provenance destroyed, stolen or otherwise lost in modern times. The entry for each copy lists its present location and describes particulars of its binding, size, and any shelf marks. A short history is given of the provenance of each copy, wherever possible with identification of owners and dates of ownership. Marginalia and interlinear notes are also indicated together with transcription and translation of the more important ones. The content of the more significant notes is discussed (with reference to the modern literature), analyses that sometimes develop into substantial essays. Numerous plates show examples of the handwriting of the major annotators. Appendices list the other works bound with De revolutionibus, and prices at auction going back to the 18th century. The density and quality of the data provided about the copies make this a fascinating reference work not only for scholars interested in the history of astronomy but especially for all those interested in printing in the early modern period. The census will also provide an almost inexhaustible mine of information concerning the spread of ideas, scholarly networks, book collecting, and library development from the 17th to 20th centuries.
Contents: Introduction; (1) The Libraries of Tycho Brahe & of Paul Wittich: The Misleading Attribution of the Copernican Annotations; Master Paul Wittich; Tycho's Attempts to Acquire Wittich's Library; & The Prague Tychoniana; (2) Wittich's Copernican Annotations: Reinhold's Annotations & the Liege "De revolutionibus"; The Vatican Wittich Copy; The Prague & Wroclaw Wittich Copies; & Why Annotate Four Copes of "De revolutionibus"?; (3) Reconstructing the Universe: Tycho's Early Transformations & Wittich's Visit; A Theft in the Castle?: Thycho's "Legal Brief" on the Ursus Affair, & Ursus' Account & Kepler's Interpretation; & Constructing Tycho's Cosmology. Appendix: The Vatican Annotations; & Wittich's Obituary in "Silesia Togata." Illus.
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