The Sleepwalkers (100 page)

One
last
objection
against
the
system,
and
perhaps
the
strongest
of
all,
arose
through
no
fault
of
its
author.
If
the
earth
moves
round
the
sun
in
a
huge
circle,
with
a
diameter
of
about
ten
million
miles,
⁴³
then
the
pattern
of
the
fixed
stars
ought
to
change
continually
according
to
the
different
positions
which
the
earth
occupies
on
its
journey.
Thus
when
we
approach
a
certain
group
of
stars,
it
ought
to
"open
up",
for
the
distances
between
the
members
of
that
group
should
appear
to
grow
with
our
approach,
and
to
shrink
as
we
recede
from
it
on
our
journey.
Such
apparent
displacements
of
objects
due
to
a
change
in
the
position
of
the
observer
are
called
parallax
.

But
the
stars
belied
this
expectation.
They
showed
no
parallax
–
their
pattern
remained
fixed
and
immutable.
44
It
followed
that
either
the
theory
of
the
earth's
motion
was
wrong
–
or
the
distance
of
the
fixed
stars
was
so
immense
that,
compared
to
it,
the
circle
described
by
the
earth
shrank
to
nothingness,
and
produced
no
noticeable
effect.
This
was,
in
fact,
Copernicus'
answer;
⁴⁵
but
it
was
difficult
to
swallow
and
added
to
the
inherent
improbability
of
the
system.
As
Burtt
remarks:
"Contemporary
empiricists,
had
they
lived
in
the
sixteenth
century,
would
have
been
the
first
to
scoff
out
of
court
the
new
philosophy
of
the
universe."
⁴⁶

5.
The First Repercussions

No
wonder,
then,
that
the
publication
of
the
"
Revolutions
"
attracted
very
little
attention.
It
created
less
of
a
stir
than
Rheticus'
First
Account
of
it.
Rheticus
had
promised
that
the
book
would
be
a
revelation;
it
turned
out
to
be
a
disappointment.
For
more
than
fifty
years,
until
the
beginning
of
the
seventeenth
century,
it
raised
no
particular
controversy
either
in
public
or
among
professional
astronomers.
Whatever
their
philosophical
convictions
about
the
structure
of
the
universe,
they
realized
that
Copernicus'
book
did
not
stand
up
to
scientific
scrutiny.

If
his
name
nevertheless
enjoyed
a
certain
repute
among
the
generation
which
immediately
succeeded
him,
this
was
due
not
to
his
theory
of
the
universe,
but
to
the
astronomical
tables
which
he
had
compiled.
They
were
published
in
1551
by
Erasmus
Reinhold,
Rheticus'
former
associate
at
Wittenberg,
and
were
welcomed
by
astronomers
as
a
long
overdue
replacement
for
the
Alfonsine
Tables,
which
dated
from
the
thirteenth
century.
Reinhold,
after
revising
all
figures
and
eliminating
the
frequent
slips,
paid
in
his
preface
generous
tribute
to
Copernicus'
labours
as
a
practical
astronomer,
without
mentioning
at
all
the
Copernican
theory
of
the
universe.
The
next
generation
of
astronomers
referred
to
the
Tables
as
Calculatio
Coperniciano
,
and
this
helped
to
keep
the
Canon's
reputation
alive,
but
it
had
little
to
do
with
the
Copernican
system.
Leaving
non-astronomers
such
as
Thomas
Digges,
William
Gilbert
and
Giordano
Bruno
for
the
moment
aside,
the
Copernican
theory
was
practically
ignored
until
the
opening
of
the
seventeenth
century,
when
Kepler
and
Galileo
enter
the
scene.
Then
and
only
then,
did
the
heliocentric
system
burst
upon
the
world
–
like
a
conflagration
caused
by
a
delayed-action
bomb.

The
reaction
of
the
Churches
during
the
half
century
following
Copernicus'
death
was
equally
indifferent.
On
the
Protestant
side,
Luther
gave
out
a
few
uncouth
growls,
while
Melanchton
elegantly
proved
that
the
earth
was
at
rest;
but
he
did
not
withdraw
his
patronage
from
Rheticus.
On
the
Catholic
side,
the
initial
reaction,
as
we
have
seen,
was
one
of
encouragement,
and
the
Revolutions
was
put
on
the
Index
in
1616
only
–
seventy-three
years
after
its
publication.
There
were
occasional
discussions
as
to
whether
the
motion
of
the
earth
was
compatible
with
Holy
Scripture
or
not,
but
until
the
decree
of
1616
the
question
remained
undecided.

The
clerical
attitude
of
ironical
indifference
towards
the
new
system
is
reflected
in
John
Donne's
Ignatius
His
Conclave
.
Here
Copernicus
appears
as
one
of
the
four
pretenders
to
the
principal
place
next
to
Lucifer's
throne,
the
other
contenders
being
Ignatius
of
Loyola,
Macchiavelli,
and
Paracelsus.
Copernicus
stakes
his
claim
by
declaring
that
he
has
raised
the
Devil
and
his
prison,
the
earth,
into
the
heavens,
while
relegating
the
sun,
the
Devil's
enemy,
into
the
lowest
part
of
the
universe:
"Shall
these
gates
be
shut
against
me
who
have
turned
the
whole
frame
of
the
world,
and
am
thereby
almost
a
new
Creator?"