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During the 1530s, rumours of a potentially revolutionary theory of how the heavens worked emanating from a small city in Poland began to spread throughout Europe. The architect of this theory was a Polish cleric named Nicolaus Copernicus. In around 1514 Copernicus had written and hand-copied an initial outline of his heliocentric theory, in which he placed the Sun, not the Earth, at the centre of our universe, with the planets, including the Earth, revolving about it. Titled his Commentariolus, it circulated among a very few astronomers. Over the next two decades Copernicus expanded his theory through hundreds of sightings, leading to a secretive manuscript whose existence tantalised mathematicians and scientists all over the world. In 1539 a young German mathematician, Georg Joachim Rheticus, travelled to Frombork to meet Copernicus; months later he departed with the manuscript for the book that would change the way we understand our place in the universe. Rheticus arranged for the publication of De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) - legend has it Copernicus received a copy on his deathbed. This book would forever change the way we thought about our place in the universe. In her compelling style, Dava Sobel chronicles the history of the Copernican Revolution, relating the story of astronomy from Aristotle to the Middle Ages. And as she achieved with her international bestsellers Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, in A More Perfect Heaven, Sobel expands the bounds of popular science writing, giving us an unforgettable portrait of a major step forward in the human knowledge of our universe.
About the Author
Dava Sobel is the acclaimed author of the bestselling titles Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, The Illustrated Longitude, and The Planets. She lives in East Hampton, New York.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As an amateur astronomer I love reading anything relating to the history of astronomy. Copernicus quite literally turned our understanding of our place in the solar system on its head. What could be perhaps the most amazing story, is again not really told in an interesting way. I do appreciate what the author has tried to do here, especially with the play, but her attempt at describing what might have happened to convince Copernicus to share his ideas and risk the consequences and ridicule that could have followed, fell short for me. I wanted more about the reaction to his theory, about how he described to people why his theory was clearly more likely than the Ptolemy model that had been held for more than a thousand years. Instead the book was heavy on the local politics of Poland at the time and about what may or may not have been said word for word minute for minute between Copernicus and this young mathematician who is said to have been an influence on his decision to publish his new solar system model. I didn't really enjoy this book which is a shame because everyone loves Longitude.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I am really interested in Copernicus and I loved Longitude so I was very much looking forward to reading this book. Sadly I found it disappointing; the book just didn't hang together and as a result I found myself alternating between being lost in spurious historical asides or bored by the shallow characterisation of the main protagonists. The embedded play just didn't work for me. Big shame.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The merits and limitations of the book are described concisely and aptly in the ensuing passage excerpted from 'The Economist's' review (September 24th - 30th 2011) which I readily acknowledge cannot improve:
' 'A More Perfect Heaven' does a good job of giving the flavour of life in Reformation-era Europe, at least among its intellectual elite. But there is strangely little discussion of the intellectual underpinnings of Copernicus's system of the world, and of the meticulous observations that eventually convinced him that Ptolemy was wrong. It was a giant leap suddenly to argue that the earth orbits the sun, rather than the other way around, particularly without telescopes. Imagine to deduce this with the naked eye, a sextant and little else. Then imagine the difficulties of defending it against the obvious criticisms in an era before mathematically rigorous physics.'
' 'A More Perfect Heaven' does a good job of giving the flavour of life in Reformation-era Europe, at least among its intellectual elite. But there is strangely little discussion of the intellectual underpinnings of Copernicus's system of the world, and of the meticulous observations that eventually convinced him that Ptolemy was wrong. It was a giant leap suddenly to argue that the earth orbits the sun, rather than the other way around, particularly without telescopes. Imagine to deduce this with the naked eye, a sextant and little else. Then imagine the difficulties of defending it against the obvious criticisms in an era before mathematically rigorous physics.'
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The revolutionary Copernicus
I regard this as a second masterpiece from Dava Sobel that matches her "Longitude" (1995) in importance. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dr. C. Jeynes
Editing - a lament.
This is not a review of the book - others have done the job admirably and, anyway, I haven't read it yet: hence, as I am a big admirer of Ms Sobel, the prospective, glowing, 4... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Square Leg
`The motions of the planets captured Copernicus's interest from the...
Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 - 24 May 1543), a Polish mathematician and astronomer, was the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric astronomical model of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Cameron-Smith
Physically disapointing in the invented story
I liked a lot "Longitude" and "Galileo's Daughter". "A More Perfect Heaven" is maybe as good as them, when one looks at the historical part. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Koko
Ned Green
Very interesting book. I particularly liked the middle section which takes the form of an imagined dialogue between Copernicus and Rheticus about the reason why he arrived at the... Read more
Published 7 months ago by J. E. Bailey
A gentle, enlightened book
I have read Longitude a long time ago. Long enough to just remember that I liked it but not much more. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Anthony McDonalds
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