The Geometrical equivalence of the geostatic and heliostatic systems for representing apparent motions is often not sufficiently emphasized, though it is easily demonstrated. Superior Planets (Figure 1). In the Copernican hypothesis, O is the sun, B the earth–which revolves through any angle COB–and D is a planet which in the same period revolves through angle COD. […]
The Copernican System – Periods & Distances
The Copernican System – Inferior Planets
Periodic Motions & Relative Distances
The Copernican System – Earth & Lunar Theory
Copernicus’ Lunar Theory
Let O be the center of the Earth and the center of the lunar deferent GAE. Let A be the 7, center of the first (larger) epicycle BF . . ., and B the center of the second (smaller) epicycle CD . . . which carries the Moon. Copernicus postulated that A, the center of […]
Seventeenth-Century Astronomers
Lysis to Hipparchus: Greetings!
A DELETED LETTER FROM COPERNICUS’ HOLOGRAPH COPY OF THE DE REVOLUTIONIBUS The letter which follows in translation–at once self-negating and ever-revealing–was intended by Copernicus to be a major document in his Introduction to his magnum opus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestiam (1543). That the original letter was spurious did not matter. Somehow, it was not printed […]
The Sun Rising – Poets on the World
If the Lord Almighty had consulted me before embarking upon the Creation, I should have recommended something simpler. – Alphonso X, the Wise, of Spain (1223-1284), upon being instructed in Ptolemaic astronomy. From man or angel the great Architect did wisely to conceal, and not divulge, His secret to be scanned by them who ought […]
The Hermetic Philosophy A Geneology of Knowledge
The Sun: Hermetic Mystical & Scientific
Marsilio Ficino: Liber de sole (1487), Chapter 4 In the heavens, definite spaces are noted in regard to the sun itself, within which the planets wander and regularly change their motions. . . Venus and Mercury wander a certain limited distance to and from the Sun. Venus is restricted to 49 degrees and Mercury to […]