false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1177955359m/745236.jpg 745236 7 <p> For scientist and layman alike this book provides vivid evidence that the Copernican Revolution has by no means lost its significance today. Few episodes in the development of scientific theory show so clearly how the solution to a highly technical problem can alter our basic thought processes and attitudes. Understanding the processes which underlay the Revolution gives us a perspective, in this scientific age, from which to evaluate our own beliefs more intelligently. With a constant keen awareness of the inseparable mixture of its technical, philosophical, and humanistic elements, Mr. Kuhn displays the full scope of the Copernican Revolution as simultaneously an episode in the internal development of astronomy, a critical turning point in the evolution of scientific thought, and a crisis in Western man's concept of his relation to the universe and to God. </p><p> The book begins with a description of the first scientific cosmology developed by the Greeks. Mr. Kuhn thus prepares the way for a continuing analysis of the relation between theory and observation and belief. He describes the many functions--astronomical, scientific, and nonscientific--of the Greek concept of the universe, concentrating especially on the religious implications. He then treats the intellectual, social, and economic developments which nurtured Copernicus' break with traditional astronomy. Although many of these developments, including scholastic criticism of Aristotle's theory of motion and the Renaissance revival of Neoplatonism, lie entirely outside of astronomy, they increased the flexibility of the astronomer's imagination. That new flexibility is apparent in the work of Copernicus, whose DE REVOLUTIONIBUS ORBIUM CAELESTIUM is discussed in detail both for its own significance and as a representative scientific innovation. </p><p> With a final analysis of Copernicus' life work--its reception and its contribution to a new scientific concept of the universe--Mr. Kuhn illuminates both the researches that finally made the heliocentric arrangement work, and the achievements in physics and metaphysics that made the planetary earth an integral part of Newtonian science. These are the developments that once again provided man with a coherent and self-consistent conception of the universe and of his own place in it. </p><p> This is a book for any reader interested in the evolution of ideas and, in particular, in the curious interplay of hypothesis and experiment which is the essence of modern science. Says James B. Conont in his Foreword: "Professor Kuhn's handling of the subject merits attention, for... he points the way to the road which must be followed if science is to be assimilated into the culture of our times." </p> 59850 1972 The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought total:65|5:21|4:21|3:19|2:2|1:2| 65 252 117 6 3 0 false false Mon Feb 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 30 12:07:15 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 10:14:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Tue May 05 07:04:06 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 07:09:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jan 28 23:25:06 -0800 2009 Wed May 13 17:29:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 01 17:04:03 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 03 16:19:36 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1974 Sun Jan 13 18:36:31 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 13 18:37:02 -0800 2008 1 0 true false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 22 17:12:57 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 22 17:14:57 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Sun Nov 22 21:03:14 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 21:03:14 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 20 23:51:11 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 20 23:51:11 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Mon Nov 16 23:48:20 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 23:48:20 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Nov 03 14:37:56 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 14:37:56 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1996 Tue Oct 27 22:52:33 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 23:27:17 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 21 12:03:52 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 12:03:52 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Oct 20 16:06:28 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 20 16:06:31 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Oct 17 16:12:49 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 16:12:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 16 10:59:12 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 10:59:12 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 08 13:29:57 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 13:29:57 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Oct 03 09:24:44 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 09:24:44 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Oct 03 07:12:55 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 07:12:55 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Sep 08 05:35:53 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 05:35:53 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 29 02:26:58 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 02:26:58 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=745236