On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (Concise Edition)
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres (Concise Edition)

Author: Copernicus

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2024-03-12

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 1804175714

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Controversial at the time, Copernicus's discoveries led to the scientific revolution, and a greater understanding of our place in the universe. An accessible, abridged edition with a new introduction. Renaissance Natural philosopher Nicolaus Copernicus's pioneering discovery of the heliocentric nature of the solar system is one of the few identifiable moments in history that define the understanding of the nature of all things. His great work was the consequence of long observation and resulted in the first stage of the Scientific Revolution by correctly positing that the earth and other planets of the solar system revolved around the sun. Not only did this promote further study to understand the place of humanity in the world and the universe, it questioned the authority of the organised Christian Church in the West to be the keeper of fundamental truths. Ultimately this would lead to the Enlightenment, and the separation of religion, government and science. The FLAME TREE Foundations series features core publications which together have shaped the cultural landscape of the modern world, with cutting-edge research distilled into pocket guides designed to be both accessible and informative.

Copernicus' Secret
Copernicus' Secret

Author: Jack Repcheck

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2007-12-04

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1416553568

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The surprising, little-known story of the scientific revolution that almost didn't happen: how cleric and scientific genius Nicolaus Copernicus's work revolutionized astronomy and altered our understanding of our place in the world. Nicolaus Copernicus gave the world perhaps the most important scientific insight of the modern age, the theory that the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun. He was also the first to proclaim that the earth rotates on its axis once every twenty-four hours. His theory was truly radical: during his lifetime nearly everyone believed that a perfectly still earth rested in the middle of the cosmos, where all the heavenly bodies revolved around it. One of the transcendent geniuses of the early Renaissance, Copernicus was also a flawed and conflicted person. A cleric who lived during the tumultuous years of the early Reformation, he may have been sympathetic to the teachings of the Lutherans. Although he had taken a vow of celibacy, he kept at least one mistress. Supremely confident intellectually, he hesitated to disseminate his work among other scholars. It fact, he kept his astronomical work a secret, revealing it to only a few intimates, and the manuscript containing his revolutionary theory, which he refined for at least twenty years, remained "hidden among my things." It is unlikely that Copernicus' masterwork would ever have been published if not for a young mathematics professor named Georg Joachim Rheticus. He had heard of Copernicus' ideas, and with his imagination on fire he journeyed hundreds of miles to a land where, as a Lutheran, he was forbidden to travel. Rheticus' meeting with Copernicus in a small cathedral town in northern Poland proved to be one of the most important encounters in history. Copernicus' Secret recreates the life and world of the scientific genius whose work revolutionized astronomy and tells the fascinating story behind the dawn of the scientific age.

The Symbiotic Phenomenon
The Symbiotic Phenomenon

Author: Joanna Mikolajewska

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9400929692

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Symbiotic stars were identified spectroscopically as M giants with a very strong He II 4686 emission line. After five decades of study by many astronomers, the first internatioinal meetings devoted to symbiotics were held at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and at the Haute Provence Observatory during the Summer of 1981. These conferences emphasized exciting new results obtained by modern satellite (EINSTEIN, IUE) and ground-based observatories. Although the vast majority of the participants were already fairly sure that symbiotics are almost certainly interacting binary systems, and not extremely peculiar single stars, it was not clear exactly which types of physical processes were needed to be invoked to explain their observed behaviour. Many were even worried that it might not be possible to clearly define a class of "symbiotic stars" , and thus establish a unique model applicable to any system. Since the publication of the Haute-Provence proceedings, our understanding of the physical processes occuring in symbiotic stars (and in related objects such as cataclysmic variables and compact planetary nebulae) has greatly improved. We now speak confidently of a "symbiotic phenomenon" , in which an evolved red giant and a hot companion object (usually thought to be an accreting main sequence star or a luminous white dwarf star) happily coexist.

Before Copernicus
Before Copernicus

Author: Rivka Feldhay

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2017-06-12

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 0773550119

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In 1984, Noel Swerdlow and Otto Neugebauer argued that Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) explained planetary motion by using mathematical devices and astronomical models originally developed by Islamic astronomers in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Was this a parallel development, or did Copernicus somehow learn of the work of his predecessors, and if so, how? And if Copernicus did use material from the Islamic world, how then should we understand the European context of his innovative cosmology? Although Copernicus’s work has been subject to a number of excellent studies, there has been little attention paid to the sources and diverse cultures that might have inspired him. Foregrounding the importance of interactions between Islamic and European astronomers and philosophers, Before Copernicus explores the multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-lingual context of learning on the eve of the Copernican revolution, determining the relationship between Copernicus and his predecessors. Essays by Christopher Celenza and Nancy Bisaha delve into the European cultural and intellectual contexts of the fifteenth century, revealing both the profound differences between “them” and “us,” and the nascent attitudes that would mark the turn to modernity. Michael Shank, F. Jamil Ragep, Sally Ragep, and Robert Morrison depict the vibrant and creative work of astronomers in the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish worlds. In other essays, Rivka Feldhay, Raz Chen-Morris, and Edith Sylla demonstrate the importance of shifting outlooks that were critical for the emergence of a new worldview. Highlighting the often-neglected intercultural exchange between Islam and early modern Europe, Before Copernicus reimagines the scientific revolution in a global context.

The Birth of Science
The Birth of Science

Author: Alex Ely Kossovsky

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-08-14

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 3030517446

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This book reveals the multi-generational process involved in humanity's first major scientific achievement, namely the discovery of modern physics, and examines the personal lives of six of the intellectual giants involved. It explores the profound revolution in the way of thinking, and in particular the successful refutation of the school of thought inherited from the Greeks, which focused on the perfection and immutability of the celestial world. In addition, the emergence of the scientific method and the adoption of mathematics as the central tool in scientific endeavors are discussed. The book then explores the delicate thread between pure philosophy, grand unifying theories, and verifiable real-life scientific facts. Lastly, it turns to Kepler’s crucial 3rd law and shows how it was derived from a mere six data points, corresponding to the six planets known at the time. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, the book will inform and fascinate all aficionados of science, history, philosophy, and, in particular, astronomy.

The Copernican Revolution
The Copernican Revolution

Author: Thomas S. Kuhn

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1957

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 9780674171039

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An account of the Copernican Revolution, focusing on the significance of the plurality of the revolution which encompassed not only mathematical astronomy, but also conceptual changes in cosmology, physics, philosophy, and religion.

Polish astronomical facilities
Polish astronomical facilities

Author: Krzysztof Czart

Publisher: Polish Astronomical Society

Published: 2021-03-30

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13: 839600501X

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Do you know where are astronomical observatories in Poland and which institutions conduct research in astronomy and astrophysics? Extensive catalog of astronomical institutes and facilities, as well as a map of observatories, telescopes and other interesting information about astronomy in Poland. Polish astronomy is proud of its long history and tradition dating back to Nicolaus Copernicus and Johannes Hevelius. It also has many achievements and outstanding scientists today. This publication presents major facilities dealing with astronomical research in Poland. Additionally, it provides a catalog of locations where one can study astronomy, a map of planetariums, as well as an index of scientific media and main amateur organizations. We hope that this publication will help anyone interested in establishing scientific and educational cooperation, assist young people in choosing the most interesting place for studying science, offer journalists contact with leading Polish astronomers and develop cooperation between scientific facilities and industry. In addition, it will present a current outline of scientific research in astronomy and astrophysics conducted in Poland.

The Birth of Modern Astronomy
The Birth of Modern Astronomy

Author: Harm J. Habing

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-03-23

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 3319990829

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This richly illustrated book discusses the ways in which astronomy expanded after 1945 from a modest discipline to a robust and modern science. It begins with an introduction to the state of astronomy in 1945 before recounting how in the following years, initial observations were made in hitherto unexplored ranges of wavelengths, such as X-radiation, infrared radiation and radio waves. These led to the serendipitous discovery of more than a dozen new phenomena, including quasars and neutron stars, that each triggered a new area of research. The book goes on to discuss how after 1985, the further, systematic exploration of the earlier discoveries led to long-term planning and the construction of new, large telescopes on Earth and in Space. Key scientific highlights described in the text are the detection of exoplanets (1995), the unexpected discovery of the accelerated expansion of the Universe (1999), a generally accepted model for the large-scale properties of the Universe (2003) and the ΛCDM theory (2005) that explains how the galaxies and stars of the present Universe were formed from minute irregularities in the (almost) homogenous gas that filled the early Universe. All these major scientific achievements came at a price, namely the need to introduce two new phenomena that are as yet unexplained by physics: inflation and dark energy. Probably the deepest unsolved question has to be: Why did all of this start with a Big Bang?

The Copernican Question
The Copernican Question

Author: Robert Westman

Publisher: University of California Press

Published: 2020-04-21

Total Pages: 702

ISBN-13: 0520355695

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In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus publicly defended his hypothesis that the earth is a planet and the sun a body resting near the center of a finite universe. But why did Copernicus make this bold proposal? And why did it matter? The Copernican Question reframes this pivotal moment in the history of science, centering the story on a conflict over the credibility of astrology that erupted in Italy just as Copernicus arrived in 1496. Copernicus engendered enormous resistance when he sought to protect astrology by reconstituting its astronomical foundations. Robert S. Westman shows that efforts to answer the astrological skeptics became a crucial unifying theme of the early modern scientific movement. His interpretation of this long sixteenth century, from the 1490s to the 1610s, offers a new framework for understanding the great transformations in natural philosophy in the century that followed.