The Book Nobody Read by Owen Gingerich

The Book Nobody Read by Owen Gingerich

Author:Owen Gingerich
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2009-03-24T16:00:00+00:00


Herein was fulfilled one of the most touching of prophecies. Years before, the opponents of Copernicus had said to him, "If your doctrines were true, Venus would show phases like the moon." Copernicus answered: "You are right; I know not what to say; but God is good, and will in time find an answer to this objection." The God-given answer came when, in 1611, the rude telescope of Galileo showed the phases of Venus.

It is true that Galileo's telescope revealed for the first time that Venus went around the Sun, contrary to the Ptolemaic arrangement, but neither Copernicus nor his opponents ever considered such a test. The seeds for this myth were planted, perhaps inadvertently, by the English astronomer John Keill in a Latin textbook he published in 1718. With each retelling the story was more richly embroidered, reaching its apotheosis with White's well-embellished vignette.



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