Copernicus and the Astrologers of Cracow and Bologna:

Some Science Studies Themes

Nicolas Copernicus’s hypothesis that the earth is a planet revolving together with five other planets around a stationary sun is one of the best known claims in the history of science. First announced publicly in print in 1543, historians often describe Copernicus’s proposal as the beginning of the Scientific Revolution. But what was the question to which Copernicus’s hypothesis was the answer? In this talk, Robert S. Westman suggests that crucial clues lie in the late-15C controversy about the status of astrology--although not a single word about astrology exists in any of Copernicus’s extant writings.