Rienk Vermij

Philips Lansbergen: Heavens and Earth According to the Early Dutch Copernicans

Generally speaking, the relation between celestial and terrestrial mechanics was not much of an issue among the early Dutch Copernicans. Heaven was regarded as a separate domain. Its order was interpreted as reflecting divine harmony rather than physical principles. Moreover, the constitution of the universe was foremost seen in a Biblical or Christian perspective. The views of Philips Lansbergen, one of the foremost proponents of Copernicanism in the Netherlands, are a well-documented case. Lansbergen described the Earth as a ship which was to carry us to the heavenly Jerusalem. The invention of the telescope and the realization that the celestial bodies did not differ so much from the Earth, did not really change this attitude. To some, this showed just that at the Second Coming of Christ the Earth might become a star.

Therefore, in so much as instances of physical reasoning do occur in the writings of Dutch Copernicans, these are not concerned, as a rule, with the principles of terrestrial mechanics. (Although mechanical models were used sometimes.) Simon Stevin, in explaining the various motions of the celestial spheres, had recourse to magnetism; however, following Gilbert, he regarded magnetism as a cosmical rather than a terrestrial phenomenon. Lansbergen appealed to alchemical processes. Isaac Beeckman actually tried his hand at a celestial physics and arrived at a “mechanical philosophy”. It might be argued, however, that this resulted not so much from the application of mechanical principles to celestial phenomena. His starting-point consisted in the occult causes or Hermetic qualities of the heavens, which he tried to make manifest. So, while in the end mechanical principles were applied in celestial physics, they were only arrived at by a detour.

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Rienk Vermij

Rienk Vermij graduated in history and obtained his Ph.D. at the Institute for the History of Science at Utrecht University in 1991. He has worked in several places, including Groningen, Maastricht and Utrecht. Apart from some books in Dutch, he has published The Calvinist Copernicans - the Reception of the New Astronomy in the Dutch Republic 1575-1750, Amsterdam 2002.