The Copernican Revolution (book)

The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought

Cover of the first edition
Author	Thomas S. Kuhn
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	History of astronomy
Published	1957 (Harvard University Press)
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	297
ISBN

The Copernican Revolution is a 1957 book by Thomas Kuhn, in which Kuhn provides an analysis of the Copernican Revolution, documenting the pre-Ptolemaic understanding through the Ptolemaic system and its variants until the eventual acceptance of the Keplerian system.

Kuhn argues that the Ptolemaic system provided broader appeal than a simple astronomical system but also became intertwined in broader philosophical and theological beliefs. Kuhn argues that this broader appeal made it more difficult for other systems to be proposed.

Kuhn summarized at the end of The Copernican Revolution, citing the permanent achievements of Copernicus and Newton, while comparing the incommensurability of Newtonian physics with Aristotelian concepts that preceded the then new physics. Kuhn also noted that discoveries, such as that produced by Newton, were not in agreement with the prevailing world view during his lifetime.