De revolutionibus orbium coelestium

(On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres)

Nicolaus Copernicus; Nuremberg, 1543

One of the most important works in the history of astron­omy, this book by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus illustrated his idea, novel at the time, that the Earth and the planets orbited a central Sun.  Printed the year of his death, this work proved to be a major blow to the common belief that the Earth was at the center of the Universe.

Gift of the Burndy Library