Giorgio Strano, Giancarlo Truffa

An Overview on the Genesis, Development and Fortune of the Geo-heliocentric World System

Tycho Brahe never finished the astronomical reformation he had at mind. This reformation would have reached an apogee with the detailed setting up of a completely new world-system. Tycho carried on brilliantly the “pars destruens” of this cosmological work. He demolished the Aristotelian concept of the incorruptibility of the heavens (the 1572 new star). Then, he demolished any residual believing in the existence of crystalline heavenly spheres (the 1577 comet). Finally, he thought to have also demolished the Ptolemaic world-system (the 1582 Mars’ perigee). On the contrary, Tycho met problems working at the “pars construens” of the new geo-heliocentric system that he sketched in the De Mundi aetherei and in the Astronomiae instaurate progymnasmata. Tycho furnished new precise planetary models for the Sun, the Moon and Saturn, but when he died in Prague, the planet Mars was at the point of defeating him.

In the construction of the new world system, Tycho was not alone. Several actors played different roles at his side and against him to build the new cosmology. Some of them helped him, others discussed his theories, and others attributed the invention of the geo-heliocentric system to themselves. They fought against him before and after the publication of his works. Tycho died too early to see his system to spread around the world. Ironically, the Catholics, and in particular the Jesuits, greatly contributed to the diffusion of the Tychonic system. The intricate story of the latter from the 1580s to the middle of the 17th-century can be presently outlined.

.................................

Giorgio Strano

Giorgio Strano is the Collections Curator at the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza of Florence. He is involved in the study and popularization of the history of astronomy. He has published articles in Italian and international journals, including Nuncius, L’Astronomie, Hacta Historica Astronomiae. He has collaborated in the preparation of the exhibitions Scienziati a Corte (2001), Mille anni di scienza in Italia (2001), Il mito di Europa (2002), Vitrum (2004) and Machina Mundi (2004).

Giancarlo Truffa

Giancarlo Truffa received his degree in physics from the University of Pavia and works as a software engineer for an international company. His research on the history of science is focused on the history of Medieval and Renaissance astronomy. He participates in the “Progetto Maurolico” of the University of Pisa and is a member of the History of Science Society and of the Commission for the History of Ancient and Medieval Astronomy.