The dawn of modern cosmology

£16.99

In the late fifteen-century, the earth stood motionless at the centre of a small, ordered cosmos. Around us, it was believed, the moon, the sun and the planets revolved in crystalline spheres, their orbits perfect, eternally unchanging circles. Just over a century later, the sun was now the centre of creation; the earth just another planet hurtling through empty, near-infinite space. This is the story of an astonishing change, a transformation in human thought, about both the universe and our place within it, told through the words of the astronomers and mathematicians at its heart.

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Description

New to Penguin Classics, the astonishing story of the Copernican Revolution, told through the words of the ground-breaking scientists who brought it about

In the late fifteenth century, it was believed that the earth stood motionless at the centre of a small, ordered cosmos. Just over two centuries later, everything had changed. Not only was the sun the centre of creation, but the entire practice of science had been revolutionised. This is the story of that astonishing transformation, told through the words of the astronomers and mathematicians at its heart. Bringing together excerpts from the works and letters of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and others for the first time, The Dawn of Modern Cosmology is the definitive record of one of the great turning points in human history.

Edited with Translations, Notes and an Introduction by Aviva Rothman

Additional information

Weight 0.459 kg
Dimensions 19.8 × 12.9 × 2.8 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

624

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

523.109 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K