Nations are not ruined by one act of violence, but gradually and in an almost imperceptible manner by the depreciation of their circulating currency, through its excessive quantity.
Nicolaus CopernicusRead
More stars in the north are seen not to set, while in the south certain stars are no longer seen to rise.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the observational shifts in the night sky depending on one's geographic location, underscoring the importance of perspective in scientific understanding.
Nicolaus Copernicus emphasizes how the position of stars varies based on the observer's latitude on Earth. This illustrates a fundamental idea in astronomy that our perception of celestial bodies can change dramatically depending on where we are located, pointing to the broader implications of perspective and experience in scientific observation and knowledge.
Themes
StarsPerspectiveScienceAstronomyCopernicus
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the importance of geographical perspective in astronomy, this quote can illustrate how local conditions affect what we observe in the universe.
More from Nicolaus Copernicus
All quotes βSo far as hypotheses are concerned, let no one expect anything certain from astronomy, which cannot furnish it, lest he accept as the truth ideas conceived for another purpose, and depart from this study a greater fool than when he entered it.
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So if the worth of the arts were measured by the matter with which they deal, this art-which some call astronomy, others astrology, and many of the ancients the consummation of mathematics-would be by far the most outstanding. This art which is as it were the head of all the liberal arts and the one most worthy of a free man leans upon nearly all the other branches of mathe matics. Arithmetic, geometry, optics, geodesy, mechanics, and whatever others, all offer themselves in its service.
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Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the heavens as its center, would, I reflected, regard it as an insane pronouncement if I made the opposite assertion that the earth moves.
Nicolaus CopernicusRead
The strongest affection and utmost zeal should, I think, promote the studies concerned with the most beautiful objects, most deserving to be known.
Nicolaus CopernicusRead
The massive bulk of the earth does indeed shrink to insignificance in comparison with the size of the heavens.
Nicolaus CopernicusRead
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