見呢套動畫終於出, 單純想分享一下啲歷史
其實當時既教會並唔係好似想像中咁抗拒heliocentrism, 至少係哥白尼Copernicus在生時教會對heliocentrism既睇法甚至可以話係正面
喺1533年, 時任教宗Clement VII既秘書Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter 曾經喺梵蒂岡開過lecture, 向教會講解Copernicus既theory (內容應該based on
Commentariolus, Copernicus 早期既著作, 包含咗對heliocentrism既outline, 無公開出版過, 只係傳咗俾佢既朋友同同事, 當中如無意外亦包括Tiedemann Giese of Culm, 一位多次sponsor Copernicus既主教兼朋友), 而當時Clement VII同教會人員係對Copernican model有非常大既興趣, 除咗Clement VII之外, 有份聽lecture既仲有樞機Franciotto Orsini, 樞機 Giovanni Salviati , 主教Giampietro Grassi [1 - 3]. Clement VII甚至送咗一本珍貴既manuscript (written by Alexander of Aphrodisias) 俾Widmannstetter作為報酬
後來Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter成為咗樞機Nikolaus von Schönberg of Capua既秘書, 而係1536年Nikolaus von Schönberg曾經寫信俾Copernicus [4]:
Some years ago word reached me concerning your proficiency, of which everybody constantly spoke. At that time I began to have a very high regard for you, and also to congratulate our contemporaries among whom you enjoyed such great prestige. For I had learned that you had not merely mastered the discoveries of the ancient astronomers uncommonly well but had also formulated a new cosmology. …
…I have also learned that you have written an exposition of this whole system of astronomy, and have computed the planetary motions and set them down in tables, to the greatest admiration of all. Therefore with the utmost earnestness I entreat you, most learned sir, unless I inconvenience you, to communicate this discovery of yours to scholars, and at the earliest possible moment to send me your writings on the sphere of the universe together with the tables and whatever else you have that is relevant to this subject.
除咗Copernicus之外, 當時亦都有其他針對天體運行既科學著作, 佢亦都唔係當時唯一一個challenge Ptolemaic model既人: 例如 Celio Calcagnini (本身亦都識得Copernicus) 係~1510-20年代寫 (1544年出版)既
Quod caelum stet, terra moveatur vel de perenni motu terrae (The Heavens Stand, the Earth Moves, or the Perennial Motion of the Earth) [5], Girolamo Fracastoro 1538年既
Homocentrica (不過呢個假說依然係地球喺中心) , 教會都無明言反對過
Copernicus大約1510-1514年嗰陣開始建立佢既heliocentric theory, 亦喺佢死嗰年 (1543年) 以
De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium既名出版 本著作岩岩出版嗰陣並無受到好大迴響, 本書以當時科學水平而言係好technical, 而當時既科學家對Copernican model亦唔係完全認同 Copernican model的確又岩唔曬 Bartolomeo Spina of Pisa曾經想condemn
De Revolutionibus, 但係佢係1546年就死咗所以做唔到 [6]
不過本書一直都無觸動到教會既神經 (Copernicus亦將本書dedicated to Pope Paul III), Martin Luther曾經反對Heliocentrism教會都無理過呢樣野 至少係1600年之前, 教會對本書係無官方立場 [6], 要去到1610年代Galileo affair 之後
De Revolutionibus先被列為禁書, 而Galileo affair背後多少係政治同個人因素多過科學立場既對立
[1]: N. M. Swerdlow , O. Neugebauer, Mathematical Astronomy in Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus
[2]: J. Repcheck, Copernicus' Secret: How the Scientific Revolution Began
[3]: L. Birkenmajer, Mikołaj Kopernik. Studya nad pracami Kopernika oraz materyały biograficzne (Nicholas Copernicus: Studies on Copernicus’s Works and Biographical Materials)
[4]: Letter OF Nicholas Schönberg,
https://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/year-text-Copernicus.html
[5]: P. D. Omodeo, A. Bardi, Celio Calcagnini on the Motion of the Earth at the Dawn of Modern Astronomy
[6]: Nicolaus Copernicus, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Archive