Author Bio: Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) is mostly credited for being a polish astronomer and mathematician in the renaissance, however Copernicus is truly a renaissance man due to his well roundedness and contributions in other fields. In his time he was also a polyglot, polymath, physician, governor, diplomat and economist. He is most noted for his work On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres which he published at the end of his life. Many think that he might have done this because of the church’s strong refutation of science at this time. Case in point, if he published his life’s work on his death bed the church could not condemn him directly.
Speaker: See previous description above.
Date/Context: During this period, Europe was creeping out of the middle ages with an explosion of scientific discoveries. However, two fields collided when the church put the kibosh on a lot of scientific advances because it felt threatened. Copernicus directly resembles that strongly because he had to publish his life’s work on his death bed, but when his work finally made a presence in the scientific community, it catalyzed the Copernican Revolution. Scientist like Brahe and Kepler joined this revolution and made adjustment to the previous’ theories as time passed.
Summary: In this passage, Copernicus directly address that many of the people reading the book will disregard his researched information just because it rejects the reasoning of the church. Copernicus then goes on to explain his complex before writing this book. In summary, the research before his own was very inconsistent and inconclusive. The previous mathematicians refused to use the same principals and ask the same controlled questions. Therefore, Copernicus could not base any of his new research on their incorrect results. He then went on the research many philosophers to figure out if anyone contemplated the motion of our solar system. Through his readings, Copernicus discovered that a handful of individuals agreed that the Earth had motion. He then deduced that the other planets should have the same motion as the Earth.
Key Quotations:
- I have at last discovered that, if the motions of the rest of the planets be brought into relation to the circles of the earth and be reckoned in proportion to the circles of each plaent
Copernicus references that many people will deny his heliocentric theory due to their loyalty to the Church which states a lot about the time period this was written in. People were beginning to support empiric science, but much of the civilian population still felt scared while deviating from the church. Also, the reader knows that this was written in the same book as the heliocentric theory because he mentions that he stated it earlier. This supports the proof that Copernicus made many controversial statements in On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres. Finally, Copernicus’s research on past philosophers discoveries shows that Copernicus had a significant historical perspective especially concerning the Greek. He mentions both Ptolemy and Hicetas of Syracuse who both have relations to the Greek empire. This insinuates that this was written during the Renaissance as it was a time of rebirth for Greco-Roman values.
ReplyDeleteLara, it was very hard for me to come up with three criticisms for this PDP. It was very good overall! However, the language you use could be a bit more professional. Words like “kibosh” should be saved for informal conversations and not be used in formal school assignments. Also, you must make sure to emphasize bias in the future. Especially in a first-person document such as this one, bias can completely change the tone and overall meaning of a document. Finally, make sure to define terms like “Copernican Revolution” and “polyglot.” Because they are significant in terms of the document, the reader must know them. However, it is a thorough and informative PDP overall!
Good! The most notable quotation from Copernicus was the heliocentric theory (published before "On the Movement of the Earth") - "What appears to us as motions of the sun arise not from its motion but from the motion of the earth and our sphere, with which we revolve about the sun like any other planet. The earth has, then, more than one motion."
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