Copernicus and Astronomy

Continuity, Reform, and Dissemination

Book cover: Copernicus and Astronomy

Extent: 362 pages

Publisher: Wiley-VCH

Subjects: Early Modern & Renaissance Studies

Series: Studia Copernicana

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(October 2026)

ISBN: 9782503623399

7.01 x 10 inches

Price: $169.00

The studies collected in this book focus on three main themes. The first theme addressed is geocentric astronomy, its methods and the twists and turns of its evolution, beginning with the classical form given to it by Claudius Ptolemy in the second century CE to the astronomy taught at medieval and renaissance universities and practiced in independent research centers, such as Nuremberg, and therefore the astronomy which Copernicus had studied before he developed his own world model. The theme also encompasses research on the development of astronomy outside Europe and the influence of astronomical treatises originating in Islamic countries on European science. The second theme focuses specifically on Copernicus’s work and on attempts to identify the original impulse which spurred the creation of heliocentric astronomy. The third theme is an overview of the early reception of heliocentric astronomy in Europe, both with regard to cosmological concepts and mathematical solutions originating in De revolutionibus, and an analysis of the influence of Copernicus’s planetary models on the procedures for calculating astronomical tables. The book thus aims to create a multidimensional synthesis of modern Copernican research.


The studies collected in this book focus on three main themes. The first theme addressed is geocentric astronomy, its methods and the twists and turns of its evolution, beginning with the classical form given to it by Claudius Ptolemy in the second century CE to the astronomy taught at medieval and renaissance universities and practiced in independent research centers, such as Nuremberg, and therefore the astronomy which Copernicus had studied before he developed his own world model. The theme also encompasses research on the development of astronomy outside Europe and the influence of astronomical treatises originating in Islamic countries on European science. The second theme focuses specifically on Copernicus’s work and on attempts to identify the original impulse which spurred the creation of heliocentric astronomy. The third theme is an overview of the early reception of heliocentric astronomy in Europe, both with regard to cosmological concepts and mathematical solutions originating in De revolutionibus, and an analysis of the influence of Copernicus’s planetary models on the procedures for calculating astronomical tables. The book thus aims to create a multidimensional synthesis of modern Copernican research.