To: Clarence F Sills Jr
In your comment to Lloyd Eby (6 July), you suggest that the
Copernican Revolution was much less significant than the
Darwinian Revolution. The points you make do not seem to me to
do justice to history.
Copernicus was a trigger, helping scholars to break out of the
intellectual straitjacket they had adopted from the Greeks -
particularly Aristotle. Copernicus was radical in four ways.
1) He challenged the dominance of natural philosophy using the
"tool" of mathematical analysis. Traditionally, mathematics was
the "handmaiden" of philosophy and it could never be used to call
into question the principles of that philosophy. However,
Copernicus presented an essentially mathematical treatise which
challenged boldly the prevailing natural philosophy itself.
2) He rejected the Aristotelian notion that the behaviour of the
natural world can be deduced. He distanced himself from the idea
that everything had its "natural place" (ie, the idea that the
earth must be at the centre of the cosmos, because it is natural
for heavy things to move towards the centre.)
3) Aristotle argued that a simple motion can only have one
motion, whereas orbiting and spinning are two motions. Here
again, the Copernican model contradicted a fundamental principle
of the received wisdom.
4) Copernicus claimed that his mathematical model of the
movements of the astronomical bodies gave a better fit to data
than the established Ptolemaic model - and he believed his model
was closer to reality. The concept of exposing theoretical
models of the world to empirical tests was grossly under-
developed by the Greeks.
These were fundamental departures from Aristotelianism and the
principle of logical necessity. They were perceived by the early
17th Century scientists as significant for the development of
science. Consequently, they earn Copernicus the right to be
called a pioneer of the scientific revolution.
I venture to suggest also that Copernicanism was of great
importance in the development of biblical hermeneutics: people
recognised that the Bible used the language of appearance (rather
than using technical terminology). This was beginning to be
taught at the Reformation (eg by Calvin - even though he was a
geocentrist) - but Copernicanism provided a very clear example
of the principle.
The Copernican Revolution freed people's minds. The biggest
contrast I would like to draw with the Darwinian Revolution is
that the practical effect was to enslave people's minds to
naturalism. However, that's going beyond the purpose of my
response.
(This is my first communication on this Reflector. I've been
"observing" for several weeks - but can't cope easily with the
long letters. Those I have had the time to read I've found
interesting. Thanks - David J. Tyler.)
*** From David J. Tyler, CDT Department, Hollings Faculty,
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
Telephone: 0161-247-2636 ***