COPERNICUS. 129 



proved to be true, in its essential feature, until Galileo discovered the 

 phases of Venus, in 1610. Is it any wonder that doctors of the church 

 five years afterwards were not convinced? They were profoundly ig- 

 norant of science and not in the least interested in science as such. 

 Any one of them could recollect that Tycho Brahe, the greatest astron- 

 omer of his time, had in 1587 made a theory of the world which placed 

 the earth at its center. He, then, did not agree with the theory of 

 Copernicus. He expressly rejected it. It could easily be recollected, 

 also, that in 1597 Kepler had proposed his first theory of the world, in 

 which the planets were arranged according to fanciful and false anal- 

 ogies with the shapes of the five regular solids of Plato. It is now 

 known that the systems of Tycho and of Kepler were both false. Ought 

 the church doctors to have accepted them when they were proposed? 

 In 1609 Kepler proposed a second theory of the world based on elliptic 

 and heliocentric motion. How could the doctors know that this second 

 system was the true one, as indeed it was? Kepler was still alive. 

 How could they know that he would not propose a third theory? 

 They had seen the doctrine of Ptolemy denied by Copernicus; the 

 doctrine of Copernicus denied by Tycho; the doctrine of Tycho denied 

 by Kepler's first system; the doctrine of Kepler's first replaced by that 

 of his second system. All this had occurred within their own mem- 

 ories. In scientific theories as such they had no interest whatever; 

 they were solely concerned for religion. Is it surprising that they did 

 not promptly accept a theory which they did not understand? 



It was, however, a profound and inexcusable error for them to 

 condemn it; and by so doing they, unwittingly, dealt a heavy blow to 

 the church. For once, theology engaged in a warfare with science; 

 and the issue was an overwhelming and deserved victory for science. 

 There have not been many such conflicts. Very exceptional conditions 

 are required to bring them about, as may be seen in the long history 

 of Galileo. 



It is very difficult to form a vivid conception of the whole character 

 of Copernicus either from his works or from his portraits. We know 

 far too little of his history and too little of the time in which he lived. 

 I have found no summary in any of his biographies that can be called 

 satisfying and I have never been able to make one for myself. I ven- 

 ture to reprint that of Bertrand, and to enclose in parentheses those 

 parts that we positively know to need modification or correction. 



Capernic est pour nous tout entier dans son livre. Sa vie intime est mal 

 connu. Ce qu'on en sait donne l'idee d'un homme ferme, mais prudent, et d'un 

 caractere parfaitement droit; tout entier a ses speculations et comme recuelli 

 en lui-meme; il aimait la paix, la solitude, et le silence. Simplement et 

 sincerement pieux, il ne comprit jamais que la verite" pat mettre la foi en p€ril, 

 et se reserva toujours le droit de la chercher et d'y croire. Aucune passion 



vol. lxv. — 9. 



