Copyright © 2004 by Owen Gingerich

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.

First published in the United States of America in 2004

by Walker Publishing Company, Inc.

Published simultaneously in Canada by Fitzhenry and Whiteside,

Markham, Ontario L3R 4T8

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Walker & Company, 104 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10011

Art credits: photographs by Owen Gingerich. Photograph by Owen Gingerich; used by permission of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. Photograph by Owen Gingerich; used by permission of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm. Photographs by Charles Eames. Used by permission of Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome. Courtesy of the Prague University Library. Used by permission of the Vatican Library, Vatican City. Photographs by Owen Gingerich; courtesy of Wroclaw University Library. Photograph by Owen Gingerich; used by permission of the University of Edinburgh Library. Photograph by Miriam Gingerich. Photograph by Owen Gingerich; courtesy of the Padua State Archives. Used by permission of the National Central Library, Florence. Photograph by Owen Gingerich; used by permission of Cremona Biblioteca Statale. Courtesy of the Leipzig University Library. Courtesy of Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. National Art Library the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Photograph by Seruei Grib. Used by permission of the Glasgow University Library. Used by permission of the Paris Observatory.

Color plate credits: la, photograph by Charles Eames. lb, photograph by Charles Eames; used by permission of Uppsala University Observatory. 2, courtesy of Strasbourg Cathedral. 3, photograph by Charles Eames. 4a, photograph by Charles Eames; used by permission of the Uppsala University Library. 4b, photograph by Owen Gingerich; used by permission of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. 5a and 5b, photographs by Owen Gingerich. 6, used by permission of the University of Chicago Library. 7a-f, photographs by Owen Gingerich; 7a and d used by permission of the Uppsala University Library; 7b used by permission of the University of Geneva Library; 7c courtesy of the Russian National Library, Moscow; 7e used by permission of the Basel University Library; 7f courtesy of Schaffhausen Stadtbibliothek. 8a, photograph by Miriam Gingerich. 8b, photograph by Eric Long.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gingerich, Owen.

The book nobody read : chasing the revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus / Owen Gingerich.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN 978-0-802-71812-9

1. Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473-1543. De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. 2. Astronomy—Early works to 1800. 3. Cosmology—Early works to 1800. I. Title.

QB41.G38 2004

520—dc22

2003068879

Book design by M. J. DiMassi

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Printed in the United States of America

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