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
So 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Astronomy is uncertain and should not be mistaken for absolute truth; one must be cautious of misinterpretation.
In this quote, Copernicus emphasizes the inherent uncertainties in astronomy and warns against accepting hypotheses as definitive truth. He suggests that if one approaches the study of astronomy with this expectation, they risk misunderstanding and leaving the field less informed than before.
Themes
HypothesesAstronomyUncertaintyTruthKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the philosophy of science, to highlight the need for skepticism in scientific inquiry.
More from Nicolaus Copernicus
All quotes βSo 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.
Nicolaus CopernicusRead
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
So, influenced by these advisors and this hope, I have at length allowed my friends to publish the work, as they had long besought me to do.
Nicolaus CopernicusRead
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