Commentariolus
Encyclopedia
The "Commentariolus" is Nicolaus Copernicus
's forty-page outline of an early version of his revolutionary heliocentric theory
of the universe. After further long development of his theory, Copernicus published the mature version in 1543 in his landmark work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
(On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres).
Copernicus wrote the "Commentariolus" some time before 1514 and circulated copies to his friends and colleagues. It thus became known among Copernicus's contemporaries, though it was never printed during his lifetime. In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter
delivered a series of lectures in Rome
outlining Copernicus' theory. Pope Clement VII
and several Catholic cardinals
heard the lectures and were interested in the theory. On 1 November 1536, Nikolaus von Schönberg, Archbishop of Capua and since the preceding year a cardinal, wrote to Copernicus from Rome and asked him for a copy of his writings "at the earliest possible moment".
Although copies of the "Commentariolus" circulated for a time after Copernicus's death, it subsequently lapsed into obscurity, and its previous existence remained known only indirectly, until a surviving manuscript copy was discovered and published in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
's forty-page outline of an early version of his revolutionary heliocentric theory
Copernican heliocentrism
Copernican heliocentrism is the name given to the astronomical model developed by Nicolaus Copernicus and published in 1543. It positioned the Sun near the center of the Universe, motionless, with Earth and the other planets rotating around it in circular paths modified by epicycles and at uniform...
of the universe. After further long development of his theory, Copernicus published the mature version in 1543 in his landmark work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus...
(On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres).
Copernicus wrote the "Commentariolus" some time before 1514 and circulated copies to his friends and colleagues. It thus became known among Copernicus's contemporaries, though it was never printed during his lifetime. In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter
Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter
Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter , was a German humanist, orientalist, philologist, and theologian.-Life:...
delivered a series of lectures in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
outlining Copernicus' theory. Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
and several Catholic cardinals
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
heard the lectures and were interested in the theory. On 1 November 1536, Nikolaus von Schönberg, Archbishop of Capua and since the preceding year a cardinal, wrote to Copernicus from Rome and asked him for a copy of his writings "at the earliest possible moment".
Although copies of the "Commentariolus" circulated for a time after Copernicus's death, it subsequently lapsed into obscurity, and its previous existence remained known only indirectly, until a surviving manuscript copy was discovered and published in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Summary
Copernicus offered seven postulates:- Celestial bodies do not all revolve around a single point
- The centre of Earth is the centre of the lunar sphere—the orbit of the moon around the Earth
- All the spheres rotate around the Sun, which is near the centre of the Universe
- The distance between the Earth and the Sun is an insignificant fraction of the distance from the Earth and Sun to the stars, so parallaxParallaxParallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. The term is derived from the Greek παράλλαξις , meaning "alteration"...
is not observed in the stars - The stars are immovable; their apparent daily motion is caused by the daily rotation of the Earth
- Earth is moved in a sphere around the Sun, causing the apparent annual migration of the Sun; the Earth has more than one motion
- Earth's orbital motion around the Sun causes the seeming reverse in direction of the motions of the planets.
External links
- http://www.fh-augsburg.de/%7Eharsch/Chronologia/Lspost16/Copernicus/kop_c00.html Complete Latin text online at Bibliotheca Augustana.
- http://dbanach.com/copernicus-commentarilous.htm — Edward Rosen's (2004, pp.57–65)) English translation of the first four sections.
- http://bertie.ccsu.edu/~dsb/naturesci/Cosmology/Cosmo2Copernicus.html
- http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/soho/gallery/8084/copernicus.htm&date=2009-10-26+02:55:34