Copernicus’ Secret by Jack Repcheck

It is fitting that on the weekend in which the Phoenix landed on Mars that I was reading a book about Copernicus, the Father of modern astronomy. If “modern” can be said to start in the early 1500’s. Copernicus was the man who established that the planets moved around the sun and that Earth was continually rotating on its axis. Until then, science had believed that the Earth was static, (since movement would cause the atmosphere to blow away) and that our planet was the center of the solar system, with everything else, including the sun, circling Earth. This was Aristotle’s theory which Ptolemy later interpreted and it served for hundreds of years.
Nicolaus Copernicus was born in 1473 to a close knit and wealthy family and attended college until he was 30. After a few years as his influential uncle’s secretary, he became canon of Frombork, in northern Poland. A canon in those times was not only a religious position, but also a political one. Canons administered laws, appointed mayors and inspectors and checked shipments of coins and jewels. He was also trained as a doctor, which in those days meant reading astrological charts of their patients and prescribing herbal remedies. One of the most popular was called the Imperial Pill, a concoction of various flavorings and ingredients that was recommended for just about any ailment.
The third career prong of this Renaissance multi-tasker was as amateur astronomer. Unlike many in that field, he was not part of a university or scientific group, but rather studied the heavens from one of his three canonical residences, where he had his primitive instruments set up on a large patio. Though the telescope would not be invented for more than 50 years after his lifetime, Copernicus did have what was available; a quadrant, astrolabe and triquetrum, all strange, unwieldy and often inaccurate. From this humble setting came ideas to shake the very foundations of science. It’s quite remarkable to think of.
Though he continually wrote and observed throughout his adult life, it was in later years that he was able to devote more time to astronomy and collaborate with others in the field. This was because his canonical duties were lessening, due both to age and a scandal involving a longtime mistress. His partnership with the young astronomer Rheticus encouraged him to finally publish On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, the book he had been working on for years and the ‘secret’ of the title. His reluctance to publish it was due to the shock and uproar it would cause, indeed, the church placed it on the Index of Forbidden Books, where it remained for over 200 years. He almost waited too long, as he received the first printed copy as he lay dying after a stroke at age 70. “One hopes that he had at least a glimmer of the ultimate impact of his achievement as he lay on his bed….waiting to meet his God, whose beautiful creation he had seen more clearly than any human before him.”
The author writes in an almost conversational style, making complex science simple, yet never condescending. He sets Copernicus not only in time period, but also in his place in history, telling us of his forerunners and those who followed in his footsteps, such as Galileo. The subject is not one I knew much about, yet I came away with a basic understanding of the principles and the people. I highly recommend this very interesting and informative book.

Simon and Schuster 2007 239 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8951-1