The Calvinist Copernicans

Download or read book The Calvinist Copernicans written by R. H. Vermij and published by Edita Publishing House of the Royal. This book was released on 2002 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When it was published in 1543, Copernicus's new astronomy had an enormous impact on intellectual life in early modern Europe, but the reception of his new ideas differed fundamentally from one country to another. Rienk Vermij discusses how—unlike in Roman Catholic lands—discussion in the heavily Calvinist Dutch Republic was initially dominated by humanist scholars who judged Copernicus's work on its mathematical merits. Yet even in this environment, it could not escape eventual philosophical, religious, and political controversies. This book shows how Copernicus's astronomy changed from an alternative cosmology into an established worldview in the Dutch Republic.