The Copernican question : prognostication, skepticism, and celestial order / Robert S. Westman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Westman, Robert S.

Series:

ACLS Fellows' Publications.

The Fletcher Jones Foundation humanities imprint

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473-1543.

Copernicus, Nicolaus.

Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642.

Galilei, Galileo.

Kepler, Johannes, 1571-1630.

Kepler, Johannes.

Astronomy, Renaissance--Europe--History--16th century.

Astronomy, Renaissance.

Science--Philosophy--Europe--History--16th century.

Science.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (702 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Prognostication, skepticism, and celestial order

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus publicly defended his hypothesis that the earth is a planet and the sun a body resting near the center of a finite universe. But why did Copernicus make this bold proposal? And why did it matter? The Copernican Question reframes this pivotal moment in the history of science, centering the story on a conflict over the credibility of astrology that erupted in Italy just as Copernicus arrived in 1496. Copernicus engendered enormous resistance when he sought to protect astrology by reconstituting its astronomical foundations. Robert S. Westman shows that efforts to answer the astrological skeptics became a crucial unifying theme of the early modern scientific movement. His interpretation of this "long sixteenth century," from the 1490's to the 1610's, offers a new framework for understanding the great transformations in natural philosophy in the century that followed.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Literature of the Heavens and the Science of the Stars

2. Constructing the Future

3. Copernicus and the Crisis of the Bologna Prognosticators, 1496-1500

4. Between Wittenberg and Rome: The New System, Astrology, and the End of the World

5. The Wittenberg Interpretation of Copernicus's Theory

6. Varieties of Astrological Credibility

7. Foreknowledge, Skepticism, and Celestial Order in Rome

8. Planetary Order, Astronomical Reform, and the Extraordinary Course of Nature

9. The Second-Generation Copernicans: Maestlin and Digges

10. A Proliferation of Readings

11. The Emergence of Kepler's Copernican Representation

12. Kepler's Early Audiences, 1596-1600

13. The Third-Generation Copernicans: Galileo and Kepler

14. The Naturalist Turn and Celestial Order: Constructing the Nova of 1604

15. How Kepler's New Star Traveled to England

16. The Struggle for Order

17. Modernizing Theoretical Knowledge: Patronage, Reputation, Learned Sociability, Gentlemanly Veracity

18. How Galileo's Recurrent Novelties Traveled

Conclusion. The Great Controversy

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786613277459

9781283277457

128327745X

9780520948167

0520948165

OCLC:

739051461