Personal Reflections on Recent Copernican Studies

Abstract

In the latter half of the twentieth century the development of Copernican studies has been highly remarkable. The author surveys from his personal point of view this development, which is divided into two periods. The first period is the time from the end of the Second World War to 1970, and the second period is the time from 1970 to the end of the last century. The year 1970 was really significant in the advance of Copernican studies, for in this very year two new learned journals relating to Copernicus began to be published at once: Journal for the History of Astronomy and Studia Copernicana. After he has pointed out some characteristic aspects of Copernican studies in these two periods respectively, the author proposes a few problems on Copernicus and his intellectual environment. Among others he emphasizes the importance of the concept of symmetria in Copernicus's new cosmology. If the role of this concept in the growth of his astronomical thought is properly recognized, the history of the Copernican Revolution will be viewed in quite a different perspective than before.