An interesting account of the life and times of Nicolaus Copernicus, the first astronomer to publish a systematic heliocentric theory of the solar system. The author concentrates on the social, religious and political aspects of Copernicus's life, but provides a reading list for those who want to study astronomy further. The idea of the solar system as heliocentric, ie with the Earth and the other known planets revolving around the sun, in place of the geocentric (Ptolemaic) system which thus puts humankind at the centre, was not, of course, original to Copernicus but goes back at least to the Ancient Greeks, and with the inevitable religious backlash: Aristarchus of Samos in the 4th century BCE, for example, promptly found himself indicted for asebeia - impiety - for which the penalty could be exile or even death.

The author notes that, in fact, early modern astronomers before Copernicus had tactfully expressed their doubts about the Ptolemaic system, but the Church had proved surprisingly tolerant of them. But by all accounts, Copernicus did not have an easy time of it; he was a canon of the Roman Church and at the same time kept up a long-term relationship with a woman; it was a time of political upheaval in Europe, and religious unrest thanks to Luther.  Understandably, Copernicus, who doesn't seem to have been a combative or ambitious man, delayed full publication of his heliocentric theory almost until his death, and then relented (he had wanted the MS buried with him) only at the urging of a fellow-astronomer, and fan, Georg Joachim Rheticus.  Only 400 copies were printed for the first edition; fortunately one print fell into the hands of Tycho Brahe.  The rest is history.

256pp. hardback; index; bibliography; b/w illus.