Nicolaus Copernicus gave the world perhaps the most important
scientific insight of the modern age, the theory that the earth and
the other planets revolve around the sun. He was also the first to
proclaim that the earth rotates on its axis once every twenty-four
hours. His theory was truly radical: during his lifetime nearly
everyone believed that a perfectly still earth rested in the middle
of the cosmos, where all the heavenly bodies revolved around it.
One of the transcendent geniuses of the early Renaissance,
Copernicus was also a flawed and conflicted person. A cleric who
lived during the tumultuous years of the early Reformation, he may
have been sympathetic to the teachings of the Lutherans. Although
he had taken a vow of celibacy, he kept at least one mistress.
Supremely confident intellectually, he hesitated to disseminate his
work among other scholars. It fact, he kept his astronomical work a
secret, revealing it to only a few intimates, and the manuscript
containing his revolutionary theory, which he refined for at least
twenty years, remained "hidden among my things."
It is unlikely that Copernicus' masterwork would ever have been
published if not for a young mathematics professor named Georg
Joachim Rheticus. He had heard of Copernicus' ideas, and with his
imagination on fire he journeyed hundreds of miles to a land where,
as a Lutheran, he was forbidden to travel. Rheticus' meeting with
Copernicus in a small cathedral town in northern Poland proved to
be one of the most important encounters in history.
"Copernicus' Secret" recreates the life and world of the
scientific genius whose work revolutionized astronomy and altered
our understanding of our place in the world. It tells the
surprising, little-known story behind the dawn of the scientific
age.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(4)
