connection can be traced between the last of these systems and the first, a correspondence which did not escape notice by Copernicus himself.[1]
Familiar as Copernicus undoubtedly was with Pythagorean doctrines, how are we to explain his silence regarding the system of Aristarchus? The answer lies in the fact that he never had access to the writings of Archimedes, which furnish our chief information in this matter; indeed he could not, for the reason that the editio princeps was not given to the world until the year following his death in 1543.
For a succinct statement of the views of Aristarchus, as reported in the Arenarius of the famous Syracusan, one may refer to an article by Professor Holden in an earlier number of Popular Science Monthly (April, 1904). The original text of the passages, both in the Arenarius and in Copernicus relating to them, together with a variety of precious documents extracted from ancient authors, is appended to the anniversary memoir of Professor Schiaparelli, prepared in honor of the fourth centenary of the birth of Copernicus.[2]
At the same time it must be admitted as at least curious that the brief sentence in Plutarch (de Placitis Philosophorum, II., 24), in which Aristarchus is represented as having reckoned the sun amongst the category of fixed stars, and to have conceived of the earth revolving around it, should have passed altogether unnoticed by Copernicus. Almost the identical words are repeated by Stobæus in his Eclogæ Physicæ, and in the distorted abridgment of Plutarch's treatise which passes under the name of Historia Philosophica, often erroneously attributed to Galen; but we must suppose that none of these statements attracted the attention of Copernicus, even if he was aware of their existence. The same remark applies to passages concerning Aristarchus which occur elsewhere in Plutarch and amongst other authors, fortunately in considerable number. Those desirous of consulting them
- ↑ The system of Philolaus is twice mentioned by Copernicus in his famous work, 'De revolutionibus orbium cœlestium,' first in the dedicatory epistle to Pope Paul III., and again in the fifth chapter of Book I. Upon these passages, which gave rise to heated discussions a few decades after the death of Copernicus, Professor Schiaparelli comments as follows:
'Neppure qui è possibile inferire, che nella mente di Copernico il sistema di Filolao fosse il sistema eliocentrico. Anzi, le caute e indeterminate espressioni . . . mostrano che le parole di Plutarco più sopra citate non gli sembravano abbastanza decisive per invocare l'autorità di Filolao in favore del sistema da lui [i. e., Copernicus] propugnato."—I Precursori di Copernico, etc., p. 9. note 20.
- ↑ Published in the Memoirs of the Royal Lombardy Institute, Vol. XII., and also in the Publications of the Milan Observatory, No. 3, 1873. A German translation by Curtze exists under the title of 'Die Vorläufer des Copernicus im Alterthum' (Leipzig, 1876). Three other invaluable historical memoirs by the same author have appeared in the Lombardy Memoirs, the latest one (1898) dealing in consummate manner with the 'Origin of the Heliocentric Planetary System amongst the Greeks.' These contributions are absolutely indispensable for students.
