Commentariolus

The Commentariolus (Little Commentary) is Nicolaus Copernicus's brief outline of an early version of his revolutionary heliocentric theory of the universe. After further long development of his theory, Copernicus published the mature version in 1543 in his landmark work, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres).

Key facts

Book.name: De hypothesibus motuum coelestium a se constitutis commentariolus
Book.image: Commentariolus_Wien_MS10530_Blatt_34.png
Book.caption: Ms. Austrian National Library, 10530, f. 34r
Book.author: Nicolaus Copernicus
Book.language: Latin
Book.subject: Astronomy
Book.pub_date: 1514

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Image: Commentariolus Wien MS10530 Blatt 34.png

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Commons category: Commentariolus

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Article

12 sections

Contents

Summary
The seven postulates
The order of the spheres
The apparent motion of the Sun
Equal motion should be measured not by the equinoxes but by the fixed stars
The Moon
The outer planets, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars
Venus
Mercury
Notes
References
Bibliography

Copernicus wrote the Commentariolus in Latin by 1514 and circulated copies to his friends and colleagues. It thus became known among Copernicus's contemporaries, though it was never printed during his lifetime. In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter delivered a series of lectures in Rome outlining Copernicus' theory. Pope Clement VII and several Catholic cardinals heard the lectures and were interested in the theory. On 1 November 1536, Nikolaus von Schönberg, Archbishop of Capua and since the preceding year a cardinal, wrote to Copernicus from Rome and asked him for a copy of his writings "at the earliest possible moment".