A Treatise on the Celestial Mechanism The Book That Influenced the Course of World History

Author: Poland.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-01-01
Features: This is the work in which Copernicus expounded his heliocentric theory. Published in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1543. The author did not provide a title when submitting the manuscript, and the publisher named it "Six Books on the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres," which was later shortened to "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres." The book is divided into six volumes. The first volume summarizes the key points of his heliocentric theory, the second volume applies trigonometry to explain the apparent motion of celestial bodies on the celestial sphere, the third volume discusses the apparent motion of the Sun and precession, the fourth volume explains the motion of the Moon, and the fifth and sixth volumes discuss the motion of the planets. The book not only proposes a new cosmic image but also provides rigorous mathematical arguments and quantitative discussions of the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets. The publication of this book revealed that the Earth is just an ordinary planet orbiting the Sun, refuting the religious doctrine that "the Earth was specially placed at the center of the universe by God," and undermining the theoretical pillars of the Church's doctrine of divine creation. It played a significant role in promoting the liberation of natural science from theological constraints and the development of astronomy.