The first Copernican was Copernicus: the difference between Pre-Copernican and Copernican heliocentrism
@article{Carman2018TheFC, title={The first Copernican was Copernicus: the difference between Pre-Copernican and Copernican heliocentrism}, author={Christi{\'a}n C. Carman}, journal={Archive for History of Exact Sciences}, year={2018}, volume={72}, pages={1-20} }
It is well known that heliocentrism was proposed in ancient times, at least by Aristarchus of Samos. Given that ancient astronomers were perfectly capable of understanding the great advantages of heliocentrism over geocentrism—i.e., to offer a non-ad hoc explanation of the retrograde motion of the planets and to order unequivocally all the planets while even allowing one to know their relative distances—it seems difficult to explain why heliocentrism did not triumph over geocentrism or even…
2 Citations
What's in a name: the etymology of astrobiology
- PhysicsInternational Journal of Astrobiology
- 2020
Abstract Astrobiology has been gaining increasing scientific prominence and public attention as the search for life beyond Earth continues to make significant headway on multiple fronts. In view of…
Mathematics, the mathematical sciences, and historical contingency: Some thoughts on reading Netz
- PhysicsInterdisciplinary Science Reviews
- 2022
ABSTRACT The history of mathematics is replete with multidimensionality and multiculturalism. This essay attempts to use the history of astronomy (one of the mathematical sciences) to emphasize the…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 52 REFERENCES
Did Copernicus Owe a Debt to Aristarchus?
- Physics
- 1985
During Copernicus's lifetime, in the early years ofthe sixteenth century, very little was known in western Europe of Aristarchus. Our best source for Aristarchus's heliocentric ideas, the…
Heraclides and Heliocentrism: Texts, Diagrams, and Interpretations
- Physics
- 1992
For over a century Heraclides of Pontus (4th century B.C.) has stood with Aristarchus of Samos (3rd century B.C.) as one of the ancient precursors of Copernicus. Heraclides is supposed to have…
Archimedes' Sand-Reckoner: Aristarchos and Copernicus
- Physics
- 1942
T HE present study analyzes the famous heliocentric passage in the Sand-Reckoner (4auATr77s), a short treatise attributed to the great ARCHIMEDES of Syracuse (ca. 287-212 B.C.). This passage has been…
[Tdotu]ūsī and Copernicus: The Earth's Motion in Context
- PhysicsScience in Context
- 2001
A passage in Copernicus's De Revolutionibus regarding the rotation of the Earth provides evidence that he was aware, whether directly or indirectly, of an Islamic tradition dealing with this problem…
Mathematical astronomy in Copernicus's De revolutionibus
- Physics
- 1984
When I first laid out the framework for A History of Ancient Mathe matical Astronomy, I intended to carry the discussion down to the last applications of Greek astronomical methodology, i. e.…
Aristarchus of Samos, the Ancient Copernicus: A History of Greek Astronomy to Aristarchus, Together with Aristarchus's Treatise on the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon
- Physics
- 2013
Aristarchus of Samos was the first man to suggest that the sun, and not the earth, is the real centre of our system, and thus for the first time to assign to the earth a subordinate rank. In this…
On the Determination of Planetary Distances in the Ptolemaic System
- Physics
- 2010
In 1975, Imre Lakatos and Elie Zahar claimed that the determination of planetary distances represents excess empirical content of Copernicus’s theory over that of Ptolemy. This claim provoked an…
The Copernican Question: Prognostication, Skepticism, and Celestial Order
- Physics
- 2020
List of Figures List of Tables Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction The Historical Problematic Summary and Plan of This Work Categories of Description and Explanation Part I. Copernicus's Space…
The methodology of scientific research programmes: Why did Copernicus's research programme supersede Ptolemy's?
- Philosophy
- 1978
INTRODUCTION I first should like to offer an apology for imposing a philosophical talk upon you on the occasion of the quincentenary of Copernicus's birth. My excuse is that a few years ago I…
The Transmission of Planetary Theories in Ancient and Medieval Astronomy
- History
- 1983
In Toledo in the year A.D. 1068 Abū’l-Qāsim Sā’id ibn Ahmad, also known as Qādi Sā’id, wrote a book entitled The Categories of Nations.1 In this work he discusses the people of the world from the…