To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge. Nicolaus Copernicus More Quotes by Nicolaus Copernicus More Quotes From Nicolaus Copernicus For it is the duty of an astronomer to compose the history of the celestial motions through careful and expert study. Nicolaus Copernicus astronomers study experts When, therefore, I had long considered this uncertainty of traditional mathematics, it began to weary me that no more definite explanation of the movement of the world-machine established in our behalf by the best and most systematic builder of all, existed among the philosophers who had studied so exactly in other respects the minutest details in regard to the sphere. Nicolaus Copernicus details machines long Although all the good arts serve to draw man's mind away from vices and lead it toward better things, this function can be more fully performed by this art, which also provides extraordinary intellectual pleasure. Nicolaus Copernicus intellectual men art Pouring forth its seas everywhere, then, the ocean envelops the earth and fills its deeper chasms. Nicolaus Copernicus pouring ocean sea Not only the phenomena of the others followed from this, but also it so bound together both the order and magnitude of all the planets and the spheres and the heaven itself, that in no single part could one thing be altered without confusion among the other parts and in all the universe. Nicolaus Copernicus confusion heaven order Therefore, in the course of the work I have followed this plan: I describe in the first book all the positions of the orbits together with the movements which I ascribe to the Earth, in order that this book might contain, as it were, the general scheme of the universe. Nicolaus Copernicus together order book Therefore I would not have it unknown to Your Holiness, the the only thing which induced me to look for another way of reckoning the movements of the heavenly bodies was that I knew that mathematicians by no means agree in their investigation thereof. Nicolaus Copernicus movement mean looks For a traveler going from any place toward the north, that pole of the daily rotation gradually climbs higher, while the opposite pole drops down an equal amount. Nicolaus Copernicus rotation traveler opposites In first place we must observe that the universe is spherical. This is either because that figure is the most perfect, as not being articulated, but whole and complete in itself; or because it is the most capacious and therefore best suited for that which is to contain and preserve all things. Nicolaus Copernicus astronomy perfect firsts Hence I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon, and the center of the earth, traverse this grand circle amid the rest of the planets in an annual revolution around the sun. Near the sun is the center of the universe. Moreover, since the sun remains stationary, whatever appears as a motion of the sun is really due rather to the motion of the earth. Nicolaus Copernicus circles moon earth Since, then, there is no objection to the mobility of the Earth, I think it must now be considered whether several motions are appropriate for it, so that it can be regarded as one of the wandering stars. For the fact that it is not the centre of all revolutions is made clear by the apparent irregular motion of the wandering stars, and their variable distances from the Earth, which cannot be understood in a circle having the same centre as the Earth. Nicolaus Copernicus distance stars science More stars in the north are seen not to set, while in the south certain stars are no longer seen to rise. Nicolaus Copernicus south certain stars We regard it as a certainty that the earth, enclosed between poles, is bounded by a spherical surface. Nicolaus Copernicus surface certainty earth The two revolutions, I mean the annual revolutions of the declination and of the centre of the Earth, are not completely equal; that is the return of the declination to its original value is slightly ahead of the period of the centre. Hence it necessarily follows that the equinoxes and solstices seem to anticipate their timing, not because the sphere of the fixed stars moves to the east, but rather the equatorial circle moves to the west, being at an angle to the plane of the ecliptic in proportion to the declination of the axis of the terrestrial globe. Nicolaus Copernicus stars mean moving Astronomy is written for astronomers Nicolaus Copernicus astronomers astronomy written So, influenced by these advisors and this hope, I have at length allowed my friends to publish the work, as they had long besought me to do. Nicolaus Copernicus advisors length long So if the worth of the arts were measured by the matter with which they deal, this art-which some call astronomy, others astrology, and many of the ancients the consummation of mathematics-would be by far the most outstanding. This art which is as it were the head of all the liberal arts and the one most worthy of a free man leans upon nearly all the other branches of mathe matics. Arithmetic, geometry, optics, geodesy, mechanics, and whatever others, all offer themselves in its service. Nicolaus Copernicus astrology men art I therefore took this opportunity and also began to consider the possibility that the Earth moved. Although it seemed an absurd opinion, nevertheless, because I knew that others before me had been granted the liberty of imagining whatever circles they wished to represent the phenomena of the stars, I thought that I likewise would readily be allowed to test whether, by assuming some motion of the Earth's, more dependable representations than theirs could be found for the revolutions of the heavenly spheres. Nicolaus Copernicus stars opportunity science The earth also is spherical, since it presses upon its center from every direction. Nicolaus Copernicus center direction every earth Not a few other very eminent and scholarly men made the same request, urging that I should no longer through fear refuse to give out my work for the common benefit of students of Mathematics. Nicolaus Copernicus mathematics fear work men
