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The copernican revolution: Planetary Astronomy in The development of western Thought

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Kuhn masterfully depicts the changes which, not only brought about the Copernican Revolution, but also, more abstractly, links them to prevaling modes of western thought as they differ from eastern models of the universe. Kuhn's attempt succeeds at placing the reader on the road to scientific revelation, not only the Copernican Revolution per se, but the political and religious currents which not only resisted it, but made it necessary. His work traces the early work of Greek astronomers and the problems they dealt with in depicting the motions of the planets and the position of the earth in the universe. He moves into Copernicus' work as a quasi-scientific endeavor synthesizing neo-Platonic forms and astute astronomical observation. This he elucidates fully, by infusing the work of other astronomers, namely Kepler,Galileo and Brahe. On a whole the book is a good example of how attitudes are changed by a revolutionary figure and a radical departure from established "paradigms" of science. Moreover, Kuhn shows us the genre of scientific history which is so important to understanding these types of issues. His book is easy to understand given cursory astronomical background and will prove invaluable in understanding not only the thought of Copernicus himself, but more precisely, the real revolution which it began. It is a must for all history students and would provide interesting topical information for science majors and star-gazers alike. You should come away with the idea that "astronomers" of the past were not as scientific as we would expect them to be, and furthermore, revolutions do not take place in a vacuum but rather are dependent on an atmosphere and necessity for acceptance.

This book, written before his Structures, is condensed, well written and, for me at any rate, highly entertaining. No one with a casual understanding of the history of astronomy can read this and not be surprised. Of special interest is the illumination of the fact that at the time Copernicus offered his Helio-centric cosmology there was no good, scientific reason for accepting it - it being a geometric inversion of the Ptolemaic system and thus inheriting exactly all of the Ptolemaic deficiencies. Kuhn explores the reason for the gradual shift to Copernicanism and the effects a moving earth had on other sciences.

This book is an excellent and entertaining book for a scientific reader and/or for a general reader who doesn't mind being challenged a bit by logical arguments. Don't let this discourage you, though, since the logical arguments are not too difficult and really need to be discussed for completeness sake. The historical background adds to the book in a way comparable to Carl Sagan's 'COSMOS' series or to 'The Mechanical Universe' series. This book should be required reading for all enlightened westerners. It's THAT good.

I just want to focus on one aspect of this book. The first chapter and the appendix forms a very nice introduction to basic astronomy. If you want to read a book like "The Sun in the Church, Cathedrals as Solar Observatories" by Heilbron, but get shell shocked by the astronomy, then Kuhn's book is a good place to start. It's not easy reading, but Kuhn has a lot of very good pictures.

It is a pity that the Amazon rating system is limited to only 5-stars. This book is, in my opinion, worth many more. I must admit that I hesitated getting this book for many years as I was misled by the sub-title "Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought". I believed this to be a thick and imponderable philosophical tome - it is not. The book is clearly written, and does not require that the reader have a mathematical, philosophical or astronomical background. The book describes the paradigm shift from an earth-centered universe to a sun-centered one. It thus begins with the astronomical beliefs of the ancient Greeks and shows the evolution of astronomy from this to that of Copernicus and then to Newton's explanation using his equations of gravity.

I learned a lot from this book. For instance,
1. I learned a bit about solar and celestial navigation.
2. I never even realized that the seasons are of unequal length, now I do and I understand why.
3. I now have a reasonable idea of the complexity of the Ptolemaic (earth-center) view of the cosmos and why it was believed for 2000 years. Kuhn does a great job of explaining and describing the essence of this very complex system.
4. I now understand some of the influences that led Copernicus to believe that the Ptolemaic paradigm needed to be replaced. The reasons for this shift were many and complex, but are clearly stated.
5. I always thought that the system developed by Copernicus was what we believe today, but now I realize that it was much more complex, but that while it was as complex as that of Ptolemy it was not more accurate in its predictions. I also see why some of the incorrect assumptions made by Copernicus led to this complexity and lack of accuracy.
6. I clearly see why in spite of its complexity and lack of increased accuracy the Copernican paradigm gradually replaced the Ptolemaic paradigm, but not without overcoming a considerable amount of resistance.
7. I understand the importance of the contributions of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler to the ultimate dominance of the Copernican system.
8. I learned how Johannes Kepler, Rene Descartes and Robert Hooke influenced the work of Isaac Newton and that Newton's laws of gravity were not a unique creation of his alone, although its complete mathematical formulation certainly was.

These ideas in this book are presented in a very clear and very accessible manner. I now have to add this book to my short list of those that I think anyone who considers himself/herself well educated should be acquainted with.

Kuhn's The Copernican Revolution was written as a text for an undergraduate course in the intellectual history of science. As such, its approach is focused and temporally expansive. The drawback of such an approach is the deficit of analysis in key areas. The analysis of the Church's role in science during the late middle ages and Renaissance was rather one-dimensional, but this obviously is not Kuhn's focus. Instead, he would like the reader to realize that any set of data can be modeled to an infinite number of paradigms (in anticipation of Structure of Scientific Revolutions). The heliocentric argument solved some qualitative problems but was largely Ptolemaic in articulation. Its aesthetic and geometric harmonies were extracted by astronomers who could could apply a mathematical rigor to it, in a post-Ptolemaic tradition (Kepler and Newton).

Kuhn challenges the reader's imagination to decipher the heavenly phenomena in the same way Ptolemy might have, without being hampered by the technical minutia of astronomy. He writes so lucidly as to pick the reader up and drop him or her under the ancient sky, and to follow a long, through time. Paramount to Kuhn is the practical importance of astronomical data and the logic of its categorization.

Perhaps the most persuasive analysis that Kuhn endeavors is that of the progression of the Renaissance neo-Platonics: Brahe, Galilei, Kepler, Descartes, and the mutation of the Copernican system into Newtonian synthesis. In one sense, his analysis is very non-Kuhnian as it can't point to a singular moment, and involves more of a patchwork of adopting new features (that is until Newton).

A concise introduction to the evolution of astronomical thought from antiquity to newton and a compelling classic.

Unlike 'the Structure of Scientific Revolutions', this book is well-written and informative, if you want to know about the development of ancient astronomy. Belongs with serious, entertaining and informative books on the history of science like those by Hoyle (who explains what Copernicus really did) and Barbour (who pointed me to Hoyle in the first place).

This book was interesting, but is not for the casual reader. Kuhn's condensed summary of pre-Copernican cosmology is still too technical for many readers; I found some passages difficult to slog through myself. Many of his insights and connections were wonderfully interesting, but I was a little disappointed that after the long, technical build-up there wasn't a little "more" there. Usually a book that leaves you wanting more is a sign of a satisfying read, but although I enjoyed this book and found it enlightening in many places, in this case my wanting "more" was because I wasn't quite satisfied by it.

I had wanted to read this book for along time (50 years?) and finally did it. Very satisfying & intellectually challenging.

This is a good book about one of the most exciting developments of the science. Very well written and full of images.