NICOLAUS COPER-

NICUS ON THE REVOLUTIONS

BOOK ONE.

That the universe is spherical. Chapter I.

1\. Reason 2. 3. 4.

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FIRST, we must note that the universe original: "mundus." In the 16th century, this term referred to the entire cosmos or the world-system. is spherical, either because that form is the most perfect of all, needing no joint, a whole complete in itself; or because it is the most capacious of shapes, which most suits that which is to contain and preserve all things; or even because the most finished parts of the universe, I mean the Sun, the Moon and the stars, are seen in such a form; or because all things desire to be bounded by this shape, which is apparent in drops of water and other liquid bodies when they desire to be bounded by themselves. Thus, no one will doubt that such a form is attributed to the celestial bodies.

That the earth is also spherical. Chapter II.

1\. Resolves an objection that could have been made. 2\. Proves it by the poles [of the stars] of Eridanus. 3.

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The Earth is also spherical, since it presses upon its center from every side. Although a perfect sphere is not immediately apparent because of the great height of mountains and the depth of valleys, these nevertheless vary the universal roundness of the earth very little. This is manifest in this way: for to those traveling everywhere toward the North, that pole of the daily revolution is gradually raised, while the other sinks by the same amount on the opposite side; more stars around the North are seen not to set, and in the South some stars no longer rise. Thus Italy does not see Canopus A bright star in the southern constellation of Carina, visible only from lower latitudes., which is visible in Egypt. And Italy sees the last star of the River The constellation Eridanus, "the River," which stretches far into the southern sky., which our region of a colder climate Copernicus lived and worked in Frombork, Poland, a much higher latitude than Italy or Egypt. does not know. Conversely, to those traveling into the South, those stars are raised, while those which are high to us sink down. Meanwhile, even the inclinations of the poles have everywhere the same ratio to the measured spaces of the earth, which...