Nicolaus Copernicus

To know the mighty works of God, to comprehend His wisdom and majesty and power; to appreciate, in degree, the wonderful workings of His laws, surely all this must be a pleasing and acceptable mode of worship to the Most High, to whom ignorance must be more hateful in a creature of reason than in any other.

Therefore, when I had pondered these matters, I was much vexed that the movements of the spheres of the world, which were established for our sake by the best and most perfect Artificer, were not understood with greater certainty by the philosophers.

For who would place the lamp of a temple in another or lower place than the highest, whence it can light up all the rest?

In the middle of all sits the Sun enthroned. In this most beautiful temple, could we place this luminary in any better position from which he can illuminate the whole at once? He is rightly called the Lamp, the Mind, the Ruler of the Universe.

Thus indeed, as though seated on a royal throne, the Sun governs the family of planets revolving around him.

So vast, without any question, is the divine handiwork of the Almighty Creator.

For what could be more beautiful than the heavens, which contain all beautiful things?

The Earth, too, has a motion of its own, namely, that of rotation.

Therefore, the Earth is not the center of all revolutions.

For it is manifest that the heavens are not spherical, but rather that the Earth is spherical.

For the Earth, together with its surrounding waters, is contained within the sphere of the moon.

The universe is spherical, because this form is the most perfect of all.

For the universe is a sphere, and the Earth is a sphere, and the Sun is a sphere.

It is right to believe that the Earth is not the center of the universe, but that the Sun is.

The motion of the Earth is not uniform, but rather it is composed of several motions.

For the Earth is not fixed in the center of the universe, but rather it revolves around the Sun.

The planets revolve around the Sun, and the Moon revolves around the Earth.

The distance of the stars is so great that their annual parallax is imperceptible.

The apparent motion of the stars is due to the rotation of the Earth.

The Earth has a triple motion: daily rotation, annual revolution, and precession of the equinoxes.