At 02:30 AM 2/10/98 +0000, you wrote: >Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 02:50:36 -0800 >To: sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de >From: "Slawomir K. Grzechnik" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: Fourier paper > >At 08:22 PM 2/8/98 +0100, you wrote: >>Mac Oglesby wrote: >>The system gave very good predictions for positions of celestial >>bodies, actually they were more accurate than predictions based on >>Copernican System until Keppler introduced ellipses instead of >>circles used by Copernicus originally. This may be interesting to >>know that Keppler found his laws basing on very precise observations >>of Tycho de Brache who was staunch supporter of the Geocentric >>System. > > >The idea of eliptic orbit was earlier than Kepler. >On one of the page of his ,,De Revolutionibus'' by Copernicus, >its earlier possesor Jerome Schreiber made some notes >with a supposition of an eliptical shape of trajectories of celestial >bodys. > >Best regards >Krzysztof Kotynia
Very interesting information (bardzo ciekawa wiadomosc). I have heard that Copernicus still used Roman numerals rather than Arabic/Indian digits which were not in use in Europe at that time. The clock that he used for time measurements was just a huge mechanical clock mounted on the church tower close to his observation spot. It had only hour hand but Copernicus, or his aide, counted teeth on the wheels. There are few pictures depicting Copernicus during observations on the walls surrounding the city but most probably he had a leveled platform on the ground close to the church. He himself was a priest and had a degree in Cannon Law so he had no problems with access to church facilities. Slawek - Slawek Grzechnik http://home.earthlink.net/~slawek/ 32 45.5' N, 117 01.4' W
