ABSTRACT

In 1588 Tycho Brahe proposed a new cosmological system keeping a motionless Earth at the centre of the world. In the first half of the following century the reception of Tycho’s model within the Society of Jesus was characterized by a strong resistance at the beginning, followed by a long and winding path, and then a good fortune, whereas heliocentric models were increasingly investigated in European observatories. In 1651 a Jesuit astronomer, Giovan Battista Riccioli, published the Almagestum novum, an encyclopaedic synthesis of astronomical knowledge where the Earth’s motions or rest were extensively discussed in order to prove the Earth's immobility. However, through the period 1650–1687 the Almagestum novum did not entirely fulfil its aims, rather seeming like the dying swan’s song of Tychonic or semi-Tychonic models. Contemporary scholars appreciated the encyclopaedic effort by Riccioli, but many were critical of his proofs. Even influential Jesuit astronomers showed a remarkable interest in the Copernican model, accepting geocentric models only on the basis of Holy Scripture’s authority. This conduct and the tacitly allowed circulation in Catholic Europe of openly Copernican books, indicate that Catholic science tolerated heliocentric theory, when presented as a computational device rather than a representation of reality, more frequently than we usually think.

摘要

1588 年，第谷·布拉赫提出了一个新的宇宙系统，将静止的地球保持在世界的中心。在下个世纪上半叶，耶稣会内接受第谷模型的特点是一开始的强烈抵制，然后是漫长而曲折的道路，然后是好运，而日心说模型在欧洲得到了越来越多的研究。天文台。1651 年，耶稣会天文学家乔万·巴蒂斯塔·里乔利 (Giovan Battista Riccioli) 发表了新天文学 (Almagestum novum)，这是一本综合性天文知识的百科全书，其中广泛讨论了地球的运动或静止，以证明地球的不动性。然而，在 1650 年至 1687 年期间，新天文学并没有完全实现它的目标，而是看起来像 Tychonic 或半 Tychonic 模型垂死的天鹅之歌。当代学者赞赏里乔利的百科全书式努力，但许多人对他的证明持批评态度。甚至有影响力的耶稣会天文学家也对哥白尼模型表现出极大的兴趣，他们仅根据圣经的权威接受地心模型。这种行为以及在天主教欧洲默认允许公开的哥白尼书籍流通，表明天主教科学容忍日心说，当它作为一种计算设备而不是现实的表示形式出现时，比我们通常认为的更频繁。