the center of the planetary movements (the solar system).

His first description of his theory, the Commentariolus (1514; English translation, 1939), circulated among his friends for many years. Eventually, it came to the ears of Cardinal Schönberg, who wrote a letter asking Copernicus to publish a fuller account. This letter was ultimately published in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543; On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres, 1939) as a proof that high officials in the papal curia approved of scholars’ discussing the existence of a solar system. Copernicus made no answer. Instead, he asked his bishop to assign him light duties at some parish center where he could make his observations and concentrate on mathematical calculations. This request was difficult to grant, because Copernicus was known to be one of the more capable diocesan administrators.

For several years his work was interrupted by war. In 1520, the last grandmaster of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht of Brandenburg, made a final effort to reestablish his religious order as ruler of all Prussia. Copernicus led the defense of Allenstein (Olsztyn) and participated in the peace negotiations. In 1525, Albrecht, defeated at every turn, secularized the Teutonic Order in Prussia and became a Protestant vassal of the King of Poland. This brought about an immediate improvement of Albrecht’s relationship to the rest of Prussia. Albrecht later called on Copernicus’ services as physician, and, in 1551, he published a volume of Copernicus’ astrological observations.

Copernicus labored for several years to restore order to the war-ravaged Ermland finances. He advised the Prussian diet to reform the monetary system, explaining that since everyone was hoarding good coins and paying taxes with debased coins, the income of the diet was being reduced significantly. Having expounded this early version of English financier Sir Thomas Gresham’s law, he recommended that all coins be called in and new ones issued. The diet, aware that it did not have the bullion to mint a sufficient number of full-weight coins, took no action. There were other, more pressing problems: politics and religion.

The spread of Lutheran reforms through Poland was halted by royal action, but not before many cities and some prominent nobles had become Protestant. The ensuing era was filled with strident debate as fanatics on both sides denounced their opponents and demanded that all parties commit themselves to what they perceived as a struggle against ultimate evil. Copernicus sought to avoid this controversy but could not. When Ermland Bishop Johann Dantiscus sought to rid himself of all canons who gave any appearance of Protestant leanings, his eye fell on Copernicus, whose friends were corresponding with prominent Protestants and who, moreover, had as his housekeeper a young woman with children. Copernicus responded that his housekeeper was a widowed relative who could have no interest in a man as aged as he, but he argued in vain. He dismissed his housekeeper and watched as his friends went into exile. His health failing, Copernicus was indeed isolated from friends and family.

In 1539, a Lutheran mathematician at Wittenberg, Georg Joachim Rheticus, made a special journey to Frauenburg to visit Copernicus. Finding him ill and without prospect of publishing the manuscript he had completed at great labor, Rheticus extended his stay to three months so that he could personally copy the manuscript. He then arranged for the publication of Narratio prima de libris revolutionum (1540; The First Account, 1939) in Danzig and for the publication of the mathematical section in Nuremberg in 1542. Unable to supervise the printing of the theoretical section personally, Rheticus gave that task to another Protestant scholar, Andreas Osiander of Wittenberg.

Osiander was at a loss as to how to proceed. He saw that Copernicus had not been able to prove his case mathematically. Indeed, it would have been difficult for him to do so without inventing calculus (which was later created by Gottfreid Wilhelm Leibniz and Sir Isaac Newton independently of each other for the very purpose of calculating the elliptical orbits of the planets). Consequently, Copernicus had defended his ideas by demonstrating that Ptolemy’s was not the only ancient theory describing the universe; indeed, there were ancient philosophers who believed that the sun was the center of a solar system. Moreover, he had argued that free inquiry into science was as necessary as freedom to write literature or produce fine art. In this respect, Copernicus was presenting his case to Renaissance Humanists, especially to the well-educated pope to whom he dedicated his book, as a test of free thought. Osiander, who perceived that the Catholic world was hostile to all innovations and was equally well aware of the debates raging in the Protestant world over biblical inerrancy, saw that Copernicus was treading on dangerous ground by suggesting an alternate view of the universe than the one presented in Scripture. Consequently, there was a real danger that the theory would be rejected entirely without having been read. To minimize that possibility, he wrote an unauthorized introduction which readers assumed was by Copernicus. This stated that the solar system was merely a hypothesis, a way of seeing the universe which avoided some of the problems of the Ptolemaic system. This led to much confusion and angered Copernicus considerably when he saw the page proofs. Copernicus, however, was too weak and ill to do anything about it. With a justice that is all too rare in this world, a copy of On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres arrived in time for him to know that his life’s work was to survive.

Summary

Nicolaus Copernicus’ theory was not immediately accepted, and not because of the controversies of the Reformation alone—although they made it dangerous for any scientist to suggest that the biblical descriptions of the heavens were incorrect. Copernicus’ idealistic belief that God would create only perfectly circular planetary orbits made it impossible for him to prove his assertions mathematically. Nevertheless, Copernicus’ theory was the only one to offer astronomers a way out of a Ptolemaic system of interlocking rings, which was becoming impossibly complex. His insights undermined the intellectual pretensions of astrology and set astronomy on a firm foundation of observation and mathematics.

Although Copernicus’ defense of the freedom of inquiry was less important in the struggle against religious dogmatism than later demonstrations of the existence of the solar system, Copernicus became a symbol of the isolated and despised scientist who triumphs over all efforts by religious fundamentalists to silence him.

Bibliography

Armitage, Angus. Sun, Stand Thou Still: The Life and Works of Copernicus, the Astronomer. New York: Henry Schuman, 1947. The best-known of many biographies, its explanation of the conceptual problems facing Copernicus is easily followed by any sophisticated reader.

Beer, Arthur. Copernicus Yesterday and Today. Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press, 1975. A collection of useful essays which were delivered during the Copernicus celebration.

Copernicus, Nicolaus. Three Copernican Treatises: The Commentariolus of Copernicus, The Letter Against Werner, The Narratio Prima of Rheticus. Edited and translated by Edward Rosen. New York: Columbia University Press, 1939. This timeless translation of basic documents relating to Copernicus’ achievement is accompanied by an extensive learned commentary. Rosen demonstrates that Copernicus put forward a “hypothesis” rather than a “theory” out of a fear of arousing opposition from religious fundamentalists rather than from any doubt that he was right.

Kesten, Hermann. Copernicus and His World. New York: Roy Publishers, 1945. This literate biography deals with Copernicus’ contemporaries as much as with the astronomer himself. Kesten presents Copernicus as a warrior in the contest between science and religion. He concludes with chapters on Bruno, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo.

Rusinek, Michat. The Land of Nicholas Copernicus. Translated by A. T. Jordan. New York: Twayne, 1973. The text is relatively sparse, but the pictures and subtitles are unequaled in quality. The author traces the life of the astronomer through photographs of cities, castles, and personal possessions.

Stachiewicz, Wanda M. Copernicus and the Changing World. New York: Polish Institute, 1973. The four hundredth anniversary of Copernicus’ birth brought forth a plethora of publications. This one is unique.