Astrea holds in her right hand a balance in which Riccioli's theory of the universe (an adaptation of the Tychonic, see [p. 80]) far outweighs the Copernican or heliocentric one. At her feet is the Ptolemaic sphere, while Ptolemy himself half lies, half sits, between her and Argus, with the comment issuing from his mouth: "I will arise if only I am corrected." His left hand rests upon the coat of arms of the Prince of Monaco to whom the Almagestum Novum is dedicated.

At the top is the Hebrew Yah-Veh, and the hand of God is stretched forth in reference to the verse in the Book of Wisdom (10:20): "But thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number and weight."

CONTENTS

[Illustrations][7]
[Preface][8]
[Part I.] An Historical Sketch of the Heliocentric Theory of the Universe.
[Chapter I.] The Development of Astronomical Thought to 1400: Preliminary Review[9]
[Chapter II.] Copernicus and his Times[20]
[Chapter III.] Later Development and Scientific Defense of the Copernican Theory[33]
[Part II.] The Reception of the Copernican Theory.
[Chapter I.] Opinions and Arguments in the Sixteenth Century[39]
[Chapter II.] Bruno and Galileo[49]
[Chapter III.] The Opposition and their Arguments[71]
[Chapter IV.] The Gradual Acceptance of the Copernican Theory[85]
[Chapter V.] The Church and the New Astronomy: Conclusion[95]
[Appendices]: Translations by the writer.
[A.] Ptolemy: Almagest. Bk. I, chap. 7: That the earth has no movement of rotation[107]
[B.] Copernicus: De Revolutionibus, Dedication to the Pope[109]
[C.] Bodin: Universæ Naturæ Theatrum, Bk. V, sections 1 and 2 in part, and section 10 entire[115]
[D.] Fienus: Epistolica Quæstio: Is it true that the heavens are moved and the earth is at rest?[124]
[Bibliography][130]
[Index][145]

ILLUSTRATIONS

Facsimile of the frontispiece "The Systems of the World" in Riccioli: Almagestum Novum, 1651[Frontispiece]
Photographic facsimile (reduced) of a page from a copy of Copernicus: De Revolutionibus, as "corrected" in the 17th century according to the directions of the Congregations of the Index in 1620[p. 61]
Photographic facsimile (reduced) of another "corrected" page from the same copy[p. 113]