Wittenberg interpretation of Copernicus
The Wittenberg Interpretation refers to the work of astronomers and mathematicians at the University of Wittenberg in response to the heliocentric model of the Solar System proposed by Nicholas Copernicus, in his 1543 book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. The Wittenberg Interpretation fostered an acceptance of the heliocentric model and had a part in beginning the Scientific Revolution.
Illustration of Philipp Melanchthon
Illustration of Caspar Peucer.
Cover of Rheticus' Narratio Prima, first published account on Copernican theory
Albrecht Hohenzollern. Portrait of Margrave Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Duke of Prussia
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) of the Polish Renaissance. The book, first printed in 1543 in Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire, offered an alternative model of the universe to Ptolemy's geocentric system, which had been widely accepted since ancient times.
Order of the heavenly spheres annotated with periods of revolution from Chapter 10 of Copernicus' manuscript
Title page, 2nd edition, Basel, Officina Henricpetrina, 1566
1543 edition held by University of Edinburgh Library
