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Apr. 21st, 2024 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiBook Review: A More Perfect Heaven - How Copernicus Revolutionised the Cosmos, by Dava Sobel
This was a makeweight on an Amazon order. It turned out to be rather odd in format, containing a two-act play in the centre, surrounded by a more conventional narrative. This was a worthwhile experiment, but it didn't really work for me; it wasn't The Life of Galileo. Copernicus, born in Torun, was a canon at Frauenberg in Prussia. His heliocentric ideas began around 1510, but it was only towards the end of his life, when he was visited in 1539 by a German mathematician, Georg Joachim Rheticus, that he was compelled to publish his work. Typical for the era, the religious schism between Catholicism and Lutheranism is prominent, and in addition, Copernicus fears the backlash his ideas will provoke. In the play he is, however, adamant about his ideas and doesn't want them phrased ambiguously for publication. Reception of the book is muted: for a few, it is remarkable, for others, it provides a convenient model for improved calculations, and for yet others, it is heresy. Interestingly, On the Revolutions never quite makes it to the banned books list of the Catholic church, because of its convenience in adjusting the calendar; instead, a list of neutering "corrections" is issued. The rest is history.
This was a makeweight on an Amazon order. It turned out to be rather odd in format, containing a two-act play in the centre, surrounded by a more conventional narrative. This was a worthwhile experiment, but it didn't really work for me; it wasn't The Life of Galileo. Copernicus, born in Torun, was a canon at Frauenberg in Prussia. His heliocentric ideas began around 1510, but it was only towards the end of his life, when he was visited in 1539 by a German mathematician, Georg Joachim Rheticus, that he was compelled to publish his work. Typical for the era, the religious schism between Catholicism and Lutheranism is prominent, and in addition, Copernicus fears the backlash his ideas will provoke. In the play he is, however, adamant about his ideas and doesn't want them phrased ambiguously for publication. Reception of the book is muted: for a few, it is remarkable, for others, it provides a convenient model for improved calculations, and for yet others, it is heresy. Interestingly, On the Revolutions never quite makes it to the banned books list of the Catholic church, because of its convenience in adjusting the calendar; instead, a list of neutering "corrections" is issued. The rest is history.