Includes bibliographical references and index.

Copernicus, the young scholar -- The architecture of the heavens -- Copernicus' vision -- Canon days and the little commentary -- Competing with Ptolemy -- Rheticus -- De revolutionibus -- The book nobody read -- Appendix 1. Copernicus : alternative to the equant -- Appendix 2. De revolutionibus as a recipe book for planetary positions.

"Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) is a pivotal figure in the birth of modern science. His vision of a sun-centered universe, shocking to many and unbelievable to most, turned out to be the essential blueprint for a physical understanding of celestial motions, triggering what is commonly called the In Copernican revolution. Owen Gingerich sets Copernicus in the context of a rapidly changing world, revealing that the heliocentric revolution was not dictated by observational 'proofs, ' but by a new way of looking at the cosmos in an era when both political and religious beliefs were shifting."--Front flap.

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