Dimensions
110 x 176 x 19mm
Part of the 'Revolutions in Science' series.
When Nicolaus Copernicus claimed the Earth was not stationary at the centre of the universe but circled the Sun, he brought about a total revolution in the science and consternation in the Church - a twin upheaval that would eventually lead to the trail of Galileo before the Inquisition in Rome. His astronomical theory demanded a new physics to explain motion and force, a new theory of space, and a completely new conception of the nature of our universe.
But that wasn't all. The theory that moved heaven and earth also showed for the first time that a common-sense view of things isn't necessarily correct, and that mathematics - no matter how abstract it might seem - can and does reveal the true nature of the material world. No other single innovation could have had the same far-reaching consequences in 16th century society, where pure knowledge was though to rest only in surviving fragments of Ancient wisdom.
Copernicus sowed the seed from which science has grown to be a dominant aspect of modern culture, fundamental in shaping our understanding of the workings of the cosmos. In this book, John Henry not only explains how these changes followed upon Copernicus's theory, but also reveals why, in the first place, Copernicus was led to such a seemingly outrageous and implausible idea as a swiftly moving Earth.
