Nicolaus Copernicus Short Quotes

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Mathematics is written for mathematicians...

Nicolaus Copernicus
The heavens are immense in comparison with the Earth.

Nicolaus Copernicus
First of all, we must note that the universe is spherical.

Nicolaus Copernicus
There is no one center of all the celestial circles or spheres.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Of all things visible, the highest is the heaven of the fixed stars.

Nicolaus Copernicus
The earth also is spherical, since it presses upon its center from every direction.

Nicolaus Copernicus
For I am not so enamoured of my own opinions that I disregard what others may think of them.

Nicolaus Copernicus
In so many and such important ways, then, do the planets bear witness to the earth's mobility.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Pouring forth its seas everywhere, then, the ocean envelops the earth and fills its deeper chasms.

Nicolaus Copernicus
We regard it as a certainty that the earth, enclosed between poles, is bounded by a spherical surface.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Those things which I am saying now may be obscure, yet they will be made clearer in their proper place.

Nicolaus Copernicus
The center of the earth is not the center of the universe, but only of gravity and of the lunar sphere.

Nicolaus Copernicus
More stars in the north are seen not to set, while in the south certain stars are no longer seen to rise.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Yet if anyone believes that the earth rotates, surely he will hold that its motion is natural, not violent.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Thus indeed, as though seated on a royal throne, the sun governs the family of planets revolving around it.

Nicolaus Copernicus
The massive bulk of the earth does indeed shrink to insignificance in comparison with the size of the heavens.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Therefore, having obtained the opportunity from these sources, I too began to consider the mobility of the earth.

Nicolaus Copernicus
For it is the duty of an astronomer to compose the history of the celestial motions through careful and expert study.

Nicolaus Copernicus
The first and highest of all is the sphere of the fixed stars, which comprehends itself and all things, and is accordingly immovable.

Nicolaus Copernicus
So, influenced by these advisors and this hope, I have at length allowed my friends to publish the work, as they had long besought me to do.

Nicolaus Copernicus
I shall now recall to mind that the motion of the heavenly bodies is circular, since the motion appropriate to a sphere is rotation in a circle.

Nicolaus Copernicus
The earth together with its surrounding waters must in fact have such a shape as its shadow reveals, for it eclipses the moon with the arc of a perfect circle.

Nicolaus Copernicus
For a traveler going from any place toward the north, that pole of the daily rotation gradually climbs higher, while the opposite pole drops down an equal amount.

Nicolaus Copernicus
But we should rather follow the wisdom of nature, which, as it takes very great care not to have produced anything superfluous or useless, often prefers to endow one thing with many effects.

Nicolaus Copernicus
Not a few other very eminent and scholarly men made the same request, urging that I should no longer through fear refuse to give out my work for the common benefit of students of Mathematics.

Nicolaus Copernicus