WEBVTT 1 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:24.359 Hello, and welcome to Western Sieve Episode two hundred and sixty four Copernicus, 2 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:31.600 Part one. Quote, my Lord, most Reverend Father in Christ, my 3 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:37.640 noble Lord, with due expression and respect and deference, I have received your 4 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:43.119 most Reverend Lordship's letter again. You have deigned to write me with your own 5 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:49.119 hand, conveying an admonition at the outset. In this regard, I most 6 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:55.479 humbly ask your most Reverend Lordship not overlooked the fact that the woman about whom 7 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:00.840 your most Reverend Lordship writes to me was given in marriage through no act or 8 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:06.400 plan of mine. But this is what happened. Considering that she had once 9 00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:11.079 been my faithful servant. With all my zeal and energy, I endeavored to 10 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:17.439 persuade them to remain with each other as respectable spouses. I would venture to 11 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:21.680 call on God as my witness in this matter, and they would admit that 12 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:26.280 if they were both interrogated. But she complained that her husband was impotent, 13 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.480 a condition which she acknowledged in court as well as outside. Hence my efforts 14 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:36.319 were in vain. However, with reference to the matter, I will admit 15 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:40.079 to your Lordship that when she was recently passing through here, from the fair 16 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:44.359 with the woman from Elberg who employs her. She remained in my house until 17 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:49.599 the next day. But since I realized the bad opinion of me arising therefrom, 18 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.519 I shall so order my affairs that nobody will have any proper pretext to 19 00:01:53.519 --> 00:02:00.040 suspect evil of me thereafter, especially on account of your most Reverent Worship's admonition 20 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:06.359 and exhortation. I want to obey you gladly in all manners, and I 21 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:13.840 should obey you out of desire that my service may always be acceptable. This 22 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:19.639 is a letter written by Nicholas Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy and one 23 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:25.240 of the major catalysts of the scientific Revolution. For those who picture their icons 24 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:32.599 as statues, as let's just say, chapters and textbooks as unblemished, it's 25 00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:38.319 jarring. It would be perhaps, let's start aling if Copernicus had been a 26 00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:42.439 young man when he wrote this letter. Even icons, I suppose, are 27 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:46.599 allowed indiscretions when they're young. But he wasn't young. He was fifty eight 28 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:52.680 years old when he drafted this letter in July A, fifteen thirty one. 29 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:58.039 The background facts of the matter are that Copernicus had a housekeeper whose identity we 30 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:04.000 do not know. In the twenties, who left his employment to marry the 31 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:08.000 woman. Soon separated from her husband, supposedly, as Copernicus says, because 32 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:14.120 he was impotent, and then went to work as a housekeeper for a widow 33 00:03:14.280 --> 00:03:19.759 in the city of l Blog, which was about twenty miles southwest of Copernicus's 34 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:23.719 home in Fromborg. On one occasion, as the two women were returning from 35 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:29.520 affair, they decided to stop a Copernicus's town and spend the night. The 36 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:36.319 ex housekeeper stayed at the astronomer's house. Someone then reported the visit to Copernicus's 37 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:42.240 supervisor, who sent a letter rebuking him because he's a member of the clergy. 38 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:47.439 This letter was Copernicus's response. Now, this is not the first such 39 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:54.960 correspondence between Copernicus and his bishop Maurice Farber, and the subject had been then 40 00:03:55.159 --> 00:04:00.759 what it was now, a woman, notably a woman living with Copernicus, 41 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:06.000 a member of a local canon at a time when the Church was really cracking 42 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:12.319 down on such behavior. I wanted to start with this letter because it's such 43 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:17.560 a stark reminder the reality that the men and women from history were real people 44 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:24.720 with a lot on their minds. We know that Copernicus was the father really 45 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:29.839 of heliocentric theory of the universe, but clearly he had a lot more going 46 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:34.920 on. This was not the only unique aspect to Kapernicus's life. He was 47 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:40.680 what we would call a late bloomer. He did not attend university until he 48 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:46.160 was nineteen years old, during an age when most young men went starting at 49 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:51.959 age fifteen. It took him three universities and twelve years to obtain his degree, 50 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:59.680 when the standard length of study was only four years. Kaupernicus never dreamt 51 00:04:59.720 --> 00:05:04.959 of glory. It wasn't even what we would say a professional astronomer. He 52 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:11.199 was instead, as we'll see, a man who was willing to question the 53 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:16.439 wisdom of the ancients. It was the man that many credit with beginning the 54 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:21.040 scientific revolution. When we're done here, I might argue that point, but 55 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:28.399 it certainly has some validity. During the past few episodes, we have covered 56 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:34.319 the scientific revolution rather broadly. Today we start to focus more closely on one 57 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:41.800 thinker, one aspect of the scientific revolution. We're going to begin with Copernicus 58 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:47.480 because he is just simply the most logical beginning Again, there's a very good 59 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:53.639 argument to be made that we should not be beginning with Kapernicus. There's a 60 00:05:53.680 --> 00:05:57.279 few other names that predate him, which I am going to give you in 61 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:01.439 the context of the story. But I think to continue going back, always 62 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:05.800 looking for the sources a fool's errand when it comes to history, eventually we'll 63 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:10.600 just wind up in Mesopotamia. It's just kind of the end game, no 64 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.519 matter what we do. Then again, if you're still listening to this show 65 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:19.040 our ten thousand or whatever it is we're at, I'm guessing you know that 66 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:33.439 already. The publication of Copernicus's manuscript started the scientific revolution in the spring of 67 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:40.839 fifty three, but the first step to the road on that seminal event was 68 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:46.680 taken in a wood paneled classroom at the University of Vienna nearly a century earlier, 69 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:53.519 the spring semester of fourteen fifty four. The course taught in that room 70 00:06:53.560 --> 00:07:00.000 in an old building surveyed the latest thinking on theoretical astronomy. It brought together 71 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:08.600 an inventive humanities professor named George Purebach and an eighteen year old student who would 72 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:15.399 be galvanized by the lectures and would quickly become the professor's research and observation partner. 73 00:07:16.040 --> 00:07:21.800 His name was Johannes Mueller, but history doesn't know him by that name. 74 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:29.800 He actually goes by a Latin name, Reggio Montanas, which means King's 75 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:34.920 Mountain, a reference to his birthplace, and he would soon surpass his mentor 76 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:43.920 as the greatest astronomer of the fifteenth century. While neither Purebach nor Reggio Montanas 77 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:47.439 knew it, the timing of this astronomy class could not have been better. 78 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:55.519 The Renaissance had begun in northern Italy in fourteen fifty three, the Ottoman Turks 79 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:01.160 had sacked Constantinople, and a flood of Greek manuscripts poured into the west. 80 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:09.160 In fourteen fifty five, Johann Gutenberg produced his Bible. All the stars put 81 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:16.519 intended were aligned for something to pop. Frankly, the only reason that today 82 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:22.000 we don't know these two men, Reggiomontanus and pure Bach more as the fathers 83 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:26.040 of modern astronomy is that both of them were going to die at quite a 84 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:33.480 young age. Purebach dies at thirty eight, Reggiomontanus at age forty. Yet, 85 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.519 to be fair to Copernicus, I want to be clear that these men 86 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:45.440 might have become the fathers of modern astronomy. Had they lived, Neither that 87 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:52.240 we know of was really rethinking the Toolemaic system of geocentrism at the time that 88 00:08:52.279 --> 00:08:56.960 they died. Thus, to guess that they would have at some point challenge 89 00:08:58.039 --> 00:09:05.399 that notion is just at guessing. George Pierbach is an interesting case because he 90 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:11.000 wasn't even supposed to be thinking about astronomy, letting alone teaching a course on 91 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:16.320 the subject. He was hired by the University of Vienna in fourteen fifty three 92 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:20.639 as a humanities professor. He was supposed to teach Horace and the Anneeded, 93 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:26.759 as well as a class on rhetoric. The young intellectual also wrote poetry in 94 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:31.799 Latin, some of the best from this era yet. Beginning in fourteen fifty 95 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.279 one, when he recorded his first observations at the heavens, Pierbach became fascinated 96 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:43.159 with astronomy and astrology. He convinced the university to allow him to teach a 97 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:48.039 course on astronomy just one year after his appointment as a professor. There's no 98 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:54.440 record of Puerbach ever taking a formal course on the subject, so it appears 99 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:01.399 that he was entirely self taught. The major roomy textbook in the period was 100 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:07.159 called A Theory of the Planets, written by Girard of Cremona. Purebach used 101 00:10:07.159 --> 00:10:11.120 it, but he was well aware of its deficiencies. Girard of Coroma's text 102 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:16.759 was based entirely on the source for all astronomical thinking at the time, which 103 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:22.320 was Ptolemay's Alma Guest. Ptolemy, who lived between eighty five and one sixty 104 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:28.720 five common Era, was a Greek who lived in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. 105 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:33.200 Certainly, he was a scholar of what we would say prodigious talent today. 106 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:37.519 He was ingenious and prolific for the time. He wrote several critical works, 107 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:43.279 including Alma Guest, which surveyed everything known about the universe and the study 108 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:48.159 of it at the time. It included tables for locating heavenly bodies, which 109 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:54.120 most astrologers coveted. The arrangement described within the pages of the Alma Guest was 110 00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:58.600 based on Aristotle's conception of the cosmos. The Earth was at the center it 111 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:03.720 did move. It was believed that if the Earth did move, the atmosphere 112 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:09.559 itself would blow away, and since it clearly was not blowing away, just 113 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:13.320 as clearly the Earth must be standing perfectly still. All of the planets, 114 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:18.279 which included the Moon and the Sun, revolved around the Earth, and they 115 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:22.759 did so in perfect circles, at constant speed and in the same plane. 116 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:28.879 The planet closest to the Earth was the Moon. Next closest was Mercury, 117 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:33.960 followed by Venus and the Sun, then Mars, Jupiter, and finely Saturn. 118 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:39.360 Neptune and Arranus, by the way, were not discovered until after the 119 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:45.080 invention of the telescope. The Sun and the Moon were considered unique, but 120 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:50.559 the five other planets were referred to as quote unquote wandering stars. That's because 121 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:56.320 they moved through the night sky or wandered. The word planet is actually derived 122 00:11:56.399 --> 00:12:03.600 from the Greek word for wanderer. The wandering stars were viewed against fixed stars, 123 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:07.759 which were all the other illuminated objects in the sky. The fixed stars, 124 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:11.000 of course, also moved around the Earth, but they always maintained their 125 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:15.919 position relative to one another. So it was believed that the fixed stars were 126 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:20.399 attached to celestial sphere that marked the outer boundary of the universe just beyond Saturn, 127 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:26.879 and this sphere rotated around the Earth on a celestial axis once a day. 128 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:31.320 The wandering stars were always seen in a thin band on the dark horizon, 129 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:37.639 which meant that only a few constellations of fixed stars served as their background. 130 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:43.919 The twelve special constellations were called the houses of the Zodiac, which means 131 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:50.879 circuit or circle. Tallavay's model of the universe was founded on Aristotle's dictates, 132 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:56.679 coupled with what that Alexandria knew about the actual behavior of the heavenly bodies based 133 00:12:56.759 --> 00:13:03.200 on years of his own careful observation. A troubling difficulty that he had to 134 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:09.559 explain was called retrograde motion, the concept that the wandering stars what we know 135 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:15.519 is the planets, during their annual rotation around the Earth, appeared to stop 136 00:13:16.120 --> 00:13:20.879 and then actually go in reverse before stopping again and then resuming their proper course. 137 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:30.000 Ptolemy cleverly solved this mystery. In his conception, the planets revolved around 138 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:35.320 the Earth by being attached to one of two spheres. Each planet had two 139 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:39.720 spheres. The main sphere, the one that had the Earth at its center, 140 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:45.360 was always called the deferent. The second, smaller sphere to which the 141 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:52.240 planet was attached was called the epicycle. The epicycle revolved around a point on 142 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.559 the defferent, So the construct was a sphere whose center was on the edge 143 00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:01.879 of a much larger sphere. So the way you have to imagine this is 144 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:09.039 a series of planes or circles. So the big circle, that's where all 145 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:13.360 the planets are rotating around the Earth in theory, including the Sun. But 146 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:20.279 then on that line on that circle, each planet has its own smaller circle 147 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:26.919 that continues to spin. So that's how you explain retrograde motion and still keep 148 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:35.639 geocentrism. But there were two other big problems. First, Ptolemy's observations made 149 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:41.159 him sure that the Earth wasn't quite the precise center of the universe, so 150 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:46.320 he created a point close to the Earth and he called it the eccentric. 151 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:56.200 The eccentric was the center of all the planetary deference the big circles. Second, 152 00:14:56.960 --> 00:15:01.279 the planets did not move at a constant unifor form speed either, as 153 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:07.720 Aristotle suggests that they should have. This problem was solved by adding a final 154 00:15:07.799 --> 00:15:11.360 piece to the puzzle. On the other side of the eccentric at the center 155 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:18.000 point, exactly opposite the Earth and at the same distance from the eccentric, 156 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:24.320 was another point that was called the equant. The equant that is equalizing point 157 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:30.759 was the point around which the planet revolved at a uniform speed. So the 158 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:35.480 different and the epicycle addressed the problem of retrograde motion, and the eccentric and 159 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:41.960 equant address the problems of locating the true center of revolution and non uniform speed. 160 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:48.200 But a planet revolved around the eccentric at a uniform distance, not a 161 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:54.759 uniform speed. Likewise, a planet moved with uniform speed along the equant, 162 00:15:54.799 --> 00:16:00.840 but not a uniform distance. One scholar at the time remarked, quote Ptolemy 163 00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:07.120 broke sharply away from previous requirement that circular motion must be uniform around its own 164 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:15.960 center end quote. This break would deeply trouble Copernicus. Now, of course, 165 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:18.240 all of this is sort of heavy ancient science, and I gave you 166 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:22.120 a bunch of terms there, and to a large extent, I'm not going 167 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:26.440 to refer to equals and deference because I think it's too confusing. But I 168 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:30.559 wanted to give you a short overview of the Ptolemaic system so that you at 169 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:37.120 least understood to some extent what everybody was criticizing. Again, I think the 170 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:41.679 easiest way to understand it are circles within circles. So if you picture one 171 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:45.799 big circle around the Earth with everything rotating, and then individual circles on that, 172 00:16:47.200 --> 00:16:51.480 sort of like if you had a carousel, and on that carousel, 173 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:56.480 each individual horse was also on its own circular carousel, so that they were 174 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:00.039 at one point moving further and closer to the center of the carousel as they 175 00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:04.640 moved around it. That's probably the easiest way to picture it. All of 176 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:11.680 these qualifications in Ptolemaic geocentric model caused King Alfonso of Castile, who is the 177 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:18.039 sponsor of a new table compiled in the thirteenth century and which would be the 178 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:22.440 standard source for locating planet and star positions during Copernicus's time, to quip, 179 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:26.519 probably apocryphally, and we don't know that he actually said this, but according 180 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:30.079 to him he said, quote, if the Lord Almighty had consulted me before 181 00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:36.880 embarking upon creation, I should have recommended something simpler than quote. And I 182 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:42.480 think that's the best criticism that anybody ever gave prior to Copernicus of the Ptolemaic 183 00:17:42.599 --> 00:17:52.160 system. It might work, but it was hopelessly, hopelessly complicated. Talmad's 184 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:56.839 universe was much much more complicated than Aristotle's, but it had advantages that if 185 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:00.079 you didn't look too closely and worked, or at least it seemed to work. 186 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:06.960 The first hurdle for early astronomers was just data. There simply wasn't enough 187 00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:11.759 data from which you could start to question the old system. You needed charts 188 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:15.640 and tables showing the location of stars, and they had to be accurate, 189 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:21.480 or I suppose accurate enough to begin to draw some conclusions. And that's where 190 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:29.519 pure Box and Reggiomontanus come in. Reggiomontanas, born in fourteen thirty six, 191 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:33.200 was a genuine child prodigy. He was the son of a miller, but 192 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:37.400 sent to the University of Leipzig in fourteen forty seven at the age of only 193 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:41.880 eleven. The boys studied there for three years, after which time he enrolled 194 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:49.920 at the University of Vienna. The young Reggiomontanus was already constructing complicated astronomical tables 195 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:55.720 even before arriving in Vienna at fourteen fifty, so he jumped at the chance 196 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:03.440 to take purebox new class on astronomy. Regiomont Thanas's astute observations and questions led 197 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.640 Peerbach to quickly understand that he had more than just a gifted student sitting before 198 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:12.559 him. He had a partner. From this point on, they became colleagues 199 00:19:12.839 --> 00:19:18.799 and partners in astronomical observations. Despite the fact that Reggio Montanas was thirteen years 200 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:25.480 younger than Peerbach. The next few years were a whirlwind of activity. It 201 00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:30.720 almost seems as if Pierbach had a premonition of his impending death because he accomplished 202 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:34.839 a tremendous amount in a short period of time. He and Reggio Montanas made 203 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:41.279 a number of accurate astronomical observations. Together, Peerbach built dozens of well crafted 204 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:49.079 instruments such as astrolabs and sundials, and he formulated innovative triggonometric tables. Most 205 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:53.680 importantly, he wrote two of the most important works of the fifteenth century. 206 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:59.640 First, he refined his lecture notes from his fourteen fifty four course to produce 207 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:06.079 the new theory of the planets in manuscript form. The actual innovations in Puerbeck's 208 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:11.079 text were minor. However, by correcting certain errors and simplifying parts of Ptolemy's 209 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:18.000 model, peerbox text marked a significant improvement over Gerard of Cremonas, which was 210 00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:25.160 overly complicated and full of mistakes. Second, he created the Table of Eclipses 211 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:30.599 in fourteen fifty nine, which accurately projected lunar and solar eclipses for many decades 212 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:37.240 a hand and became a sort of must have reference for astronomers or astrologers. 213 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:44.839 The tables consisted of approximately one hundred dense pages of careful calculations. Future astronomers 214 00:20:44.839 --> 00:20:51.400 and astrologers were saved hours of painful mathematics because of him. In addition, 215 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:56.400 Pureboch wrote annual astronomical yearbooks I guess, like farmers almanacs that projected the movement 216 00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:00.400 of the Sun, the moons, and the planets for any of a year. 217 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:07.160 Peerbach also definitely practiced astrology, and this is a crucial point that I 218 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.839 want to make. There was no distinction between astronomy and astrology in science packing 219 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:17.960 order at this point in history. In fact, Peerbach was the court astrologer 220 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:22.519 to the King of Hungary for a period of time. But then in fourteen 221 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:27.039 sixty one Peerbach fell ill. On his deathbed, he begged Reggiomontanas to continue 222 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:32.519 their work. Reggiomontanus agreed, of course, how could he say no to 223 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:37.599 his dying mentor and pass away. Peerbach did at the age of thirty eight 224 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:42.519 in April fourteen sixty one, So now it was all up to Reggiomontanas. 225 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:51.319 Reggiomontanas essentially inherited Peerbak's number one patron, the guy who had been footing the 226 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:56.799 bill for all this astronomical research, Cardinal Bessarion. Six months after Peerbach's death, 227 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:03.319 Reggiomontanus left the universe Sta Vienna and accompanied the good cardinal back to Rome. 228 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:10.440 Their relationship was doubly important to Reggio Montanas because Bizarian taught him Greek. 229 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:15.200 Now he was a gifted mathematician and astronomer who could read the original Ptolemay and 230 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:22.799 Aristotle. In fourteen sixty two, Reggio Montanas finished pure box work, The 231 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:30.000 Epitome of Alma Guest. It was not published until fourteen ninety six. One 232 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:33.720 of the things you're going to notice here is how early on there's this huge 233 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:40.400 disconnect between when a work was finished and when it was published. Certainly this 234 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:45.640 delay made scientific progress early on much slower than it could have been. Still, 235 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:51.319 the book was hugely important. Not only did Reggiomontanas write in Latin, 236 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.000 thereby exposing a wide range of Europeans to Ptolema for the first time, but 237 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:03.640 he augmented his translation with commentary and new tables of Observations. In fourteen sixty 238 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:08.039 seven, Reggio Montanus to travel to the Hungarian court to join the staff of 239 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:14.279 the Royal Library. While in Hungary, Reggio Montanus completed several more works in 240 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:18.759 trigonometry that were actively used in the early sixteenth century. The most important was 241 00:23:18.759 --> 00:23:25.119 titled the Tables of Directions, which was printed in fourteen ninety. The tables 242 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:30.400 helped to determine the positions of heavenly bodies based on the perceived daily rotation of 243 00:23:30.440 --> 00:23:34.519 the night sky. The work was used as astrologers were trying to determine the 244 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:38.839 houses of the zodiac. It would be one of the first books owned by 245 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:47.039 Copernicus. In fourteen seventy one, Reggio Montanus packed up his instruments, manuscripts, 246 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:52.720 and other personal belongings and moved to Nuremberg. He explained his reasons to 247 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:57.359 a correspondent quite recently, I have made observations in the city of Nuremberg, 248 00:23:57.799 --> 00:24:00.960 for I have chosen it as my permanent home. Not only an account of 249 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:07.039 the availability of instruments, particularly the astronomical instruments on which the entire science is 250 00:24:07.079 --> 00:24:11.920 based, but also on account of the great ease of all sorts of communication 251 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:18.000 with learned men living everywhere. Since this place is regarded as the center of 252 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:25.359 Europe because of the journeys of merchants end Once there, Reggio Montanas was befriended 253 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:29.640 by one of those rich merchants, a man by the name of Bernard Walther. 254 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:34.599 Walter became his patron and student and paid for the construction of one of 255 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:41.119 his first formal astronomical observatories in Europe. It was built outside the protective walls 256 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:45.240 to the northeast, on a rise above the city. Upon its completion, 257 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:51.920 the two set out on one of the most ambitious astronomical observation programs in history, 258 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:57.680 and certainly the boldest ever taken up to that point. Reggio Montanas's plan 259 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:04.279 for reforming astronomy consisted of two parts. The first was new observations, the 260 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:11.400 second was the publication of important works in mathematics and astronomy. As with the 261 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:17.319 observatory, Walter provided the funds necessary for the now legendary astronomer to start the 262 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:23.880 first publishing operation, devoted to the production of mathematical and scientific works. His 263 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:30.839 second published work was probably the most popular, called The Epermades. This appeared 264 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:37.240 in fourteen seventy four, and it accurately projected the positions for celestial bodies for 265 00:25:37.400 --> 00:25:45.000 every single day from January the first, fourteen seventy five to December thirty first, 266 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:49.920 fifteen o six. The main purpose of this book was to assist in 267 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:56.920 astrological readings. The book became even more legendary when it was later reported that 268 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:03.119 Columbus, who traveled with a copy on his voyages, was able to frighten 269 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:08.880 the hostile natives of Jamaica by relying on Reggiomontanas to predict a lunar eclipse on 270 00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:14.960 February nineteenth, fifteen o four, which, if you'll recall from several years 271 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:21.720 ago, we did discuss in our chapters on Columbus. Not only did Reggiomontanas 272 00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:26.599 want to get important works into print, he was also just as serious about 273 00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:33.000 having them published well. He recognized that there were unique challenges to publishing mathematical 274 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:37.720 books. These were difficult works to set because of the need to include numerous 275 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:45.119 diagrams and often elaborate tables. Not only must the pages be clear and legible, 276 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:51.160 but they had to be free of error, so accuracy became paramount. 277 00:26:52.039 --> 00:26:56.799 Yet these were precisely the kinds of titles inherently prone to errors. Consider this 278 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:03.799 following quotation from Reggiomontanas. For if I am not mistaken, we are sinning 279 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:08.039 when we obscure the opinions of noble authors by contaminating them with our own ignorance, 280 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:15.519 and infecting posterity with erroneous copies of books. For who does not realize 281 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:19.759 that the admirable art of printing, recently devised by her countrymen is harmful to 282 00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:26.839 men if it multiplies erroneous works, as it is useful when it publishes properly 283 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:34.119 corrected editions. Perhaps because Reggiomontanus was so careful, he did not succeed in 284 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:42.400 getting many works published before he died in fourteen seventy six. Reggiomontanus, by 285 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:47.359 late in his life, had become a very difficult person to work with. 286 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:52.440 He had a huge ego and was absolutely a genius, as we would consider 287 00:27:52.480 --> 00:28:00.880 the term today. He had no hesitation whatsoever in identifying inferior scholar in print, 288 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:07.079 which to him was just about everyone. In fourteen seventy five, Reggio 289 00:28:07.160 --> 00:28:11.680 Montanas was summoned to Rome by Pope Sixtus the Fourth to assist in the reform 290 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:18.200 of the calendar. One of the most important uses of astronomy was for creating 291 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:25.079 accurate calendars. By the late fifteenth century, everyone knew that the calendar in 292 00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:30.240 use, the Julian Calendar, had grown terribly inaccurate, and it was becoming 293 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:34.599 embarrassing for the church as it sought to identify the proper Sunday for Easter and 294 00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:40.680 other holy days. The church still insisted on observing Easter on the first Sunday 295 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:45.599 following the first full moon after the spring equinots, so you had to have 296 00:28:45.079 --> 00:28:52.240 astronomical position to figure all this stuff out. Reggio Montanas left in the summer 297 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:57.359 and died one year later on July sixth, fourteen seventy six, while still 298 00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:03.519 in Rome. He was only forty years old and had left Nuremberg in perfect 299 00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:10.160 health. There are two theories about his death. The first and most likely 300 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:14.240 is that he died from plague, which recurred that year in and around Rome. 301 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:18.960 The second is more sensational. He was rumored to have been murdered by 302 00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:27.359 the two sons of George Trezebond, whom Reggiomontanus had scathingly criticized in print for 303 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:34.480 being a flawed mathematician and astronomer. Either way, it was a horrible end 304 00:29:34.519 --> 00:29:41.319 for one of the greatest minds in history. Certainly, I'm sure there were 305 00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:47.039 many in Europe who thought Reggiomontanus's successor would be fast in coming, but he 306 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:52.640 wasn't. In fact, the gifted human who would succeed Reggiomontanus was only an 307 00:29:52.640 --> 00:30:02.799 infant when Reggiomontanus was publishing his works in Nuremberg. On February fourteen seventy three, 308 00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:07.319 in the town of Turin that in the Hanseatic League, on the north 309 00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:14.079 coast of what is today much of Germany and Poland, Mikoja Kopernik was born. 310 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:23.000 We know him by his Latinized name Kapernicus Nicolas. Kapernicus lived and spent 311 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:27.480 most of his adult life in what we would say today it's a very unusual 312 00:30:27.559 --> 00:30:34.920 region for producing scientists. The Baltic region of northwestern Poland was in Kapernicus's time 313 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:41.079 known as Prussia. It was a territory roughly traced by a triangle formed by 314 00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:48.200 major cities of Gansk to the northwest, Taurin to the southwest, and Kralist 315 00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:53.200 to the northeast as the main focal points. These were sizable cities, and 316 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:59.559 in between them were gently rolling hills, forests, fertile farmlands, streams, 317 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:04.440 ponds, and countless small towns and villages. Forming the northern border of our 318 00:31:04.480 --> 00:31:11.720 triangle is the Baltic Sea. The territory had been fought over many times in 319 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:15.720 history, It's going to be fought over in World War Two, it will 320 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:22.160 be fought over by Napoleon. Yet it still bears the unmistakable mark from the 321 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:27.799 people who first built its first permanent structures and towns in the region, and 322 00:31:27.880 --> 00:31:33.079 those were, of course, the Teutonic Knights. If you're interested in learning 323 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:37.640 more about the Teutonic Knights, I did an entire deep dive episode on my 324 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:41.279 Patreon page. You can check that out links in the show notes. It's 325 00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:48.000 one of the many bonus episodes that dives deep into a different aspect that we 326 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:52.440 don't cover in the relative narrative of the show, but it's sort of in 327 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:57.720 general. The Teutonic Knights were one of the military orders, so you think 328 00:31:57.720 --> 00:32:01.200 of them in the same sort of veins the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar. 329 00:32:02.279 --> 00:32:07.640 Instead of trying to conquer the Holy Land, they were in charge of 330 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:13.240 trying to christianize one of the few remaining pagan enclaves in Europe, which was 331 00:32:13.359 --> 00:32:19.400 in the Baltic Sea region in today what we would call Lithuania, Estonia and 332 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.599 also parts of Poland. And they were very successful in doing so, and 333 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:29.640 they were actually very successful in establishing their own state. The Teutonic Knights actually 334 00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:34.400 were able to develop a sizeable kingdom for themselves that they sort of cut out 335 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:37.480 well of what was today parts of Germany and mostly parts of Poland as well 336 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:45.519 as Lithuania. However, the Teutonic Knights are decisively defeated by a joint Lithuanian 337 00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:52.920 Polish army later on, so by Copernicus's time they're a distant memory. Kapernicus's 338 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:59.200 ancestors were native Germans who migrated east in the thirteenth century. They originally settled 339 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:02.799 in the province of Silesia in western Poland. From there, the family moved 340 00:33:02.839 --> 00:33:07.839 to Krakau in the middle of the fourteenth century. There they became successful merchants. 341 00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:14.920 Copernicus's father, also named Nicholas left Krakau for the smaller city of Turin 342 00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:20.640 in the late fourteen fifties. As I mentioned before, in fourteen sixty six, 343 00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:24.640 the Prussians and Poles finally and decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, and so 344 00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:29.720 per the terms of the treaty, Taurin was to be incorporated into the Kingdom 345 00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:36.680 of Poland. Copernicus was the youngest of four children. The Copernicus family was 346 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:42.160 extremely well off when baby Nicholas joined. Nicholas Senior was at least forty five 347 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:45.759 years old and probably closer to fifty. The family and its servants lived in 348 00:33:45.799 --> 00:33:52.960 a spacious three story townhouse, which it had inherited from Copernicus's mother's father. 349 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:57.559 The structure was built around the year thirteen fifty and was located near the center 350 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:01.920 of town. It had an elaborate designed brick facade with large windows facing in 351 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:07.680 narrow cobblestone street. We know there was a courtyard in the rear, high 352 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:12.199 ceilings, murals, and expensive furniture, which would have made it very comfortable 353 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:17.199 for the time. It was well heated with fireplaces throughout. Seven years later, 354 00:34:17.480 --> 00:34:22.920 Nicholas Senior, having grown in wealth and prestige moved his family into an 355 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:28.239 even larger, more impressive house. The new home was located right on the 356 00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:32.199 town square. The family also owned a vineyard and other properties outside the city 357 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:38.000 walls. There is no doubt that Copernicus and his brother and sisters led privileged 358 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:45.599 lives. Turin itself in terms of the town lies beside the Vistula River, 359 00:34:45.639 --> 00:34:49.400 which flows into the Baltic Sea about one hundred miles to the north of the 360 00:34:49.440 --> 00:34:54.760 city. By the late fifteenth century, Turan was a thriving market town with 361 00:34:54.800 --> 00:35:00.599 around ten thousand inhabitants. Sadly for Nicholas and his when he was about ten 362 00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:08.079 years old, his father died. Fortunately, Nicholas's uncle, Lucas waz Introbe, 363 00:35:08.280 --> 00:35:15.159 was already becoming well established in the hierarchy of the church. In fourteen 364 00:35:15.199 --> 00:35:20.599 eighty nine, he would be elected Bishop of Warmia, in the northeast corner 365 00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:27.159 of modern day Poland. It would be from that position that Uncle Lucas would 366 00:35:27.199 --> 00:35:32.800 be able to support Nicholas and his older brother. Note the sisters were quickly 367 00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:38.679 married off at this stage of his life. There's no indication that Nicholas was 368 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:44.679 destined for anything other than life as a merchant, he would live like his 369 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:50.360 father and his grandfather before him. We do not have any idea of what 370 00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:55.880 motivated him to start gazing toward that night sky. We'll leave it there for 371 00:35:55.960 --> 00:36:00.440 now and pick it up next week as we continued to fall Copernicus as he 372 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:06.840 attends university and begins to develop an interest in astronomy. In the meantime, 373 00:36:07.159 --> 00:36:09.119 if you're interested in additional content, there's a series of links in the show 374 00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:14.719 notes that you can check out that provide the opportunity to both support the show 375 00:36:14.760 --> 00:36:19.920 and what we're doing, as well as to get bonus content that will fill 376 00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:27.960 your days on til the next Western Cive episode.