The Copernican delay

The dominance of the empirical cult and those poor unfortunate
creatures who consider themselves astronomers rely on myths to promote
their ugly conceptions.Copernicus delayed De Revolutionibus ,not
because of Church opposition but because the dull minded lose control
of those powerful and gorgeous insights and turn them into something
awful.

You never learn the lesson that Christianity is such a beautiful
expression in its intuitive or faith sense,the same intutive sense that
is crucial for astronomical methods and insights.The dull minded would
never understand the working principles for astronomy because nothing
mediocre can ever create and enjoy the spectacular.Take away your
telescopes and you are nothing.




TO HIS HOLINESS, POPE PAUL III,
NICHOLAS COPERNICUS' PREFACE
TO HIS BOOKS ON THE REVOLUTIONS
I can readily imagine, Holy Father, that as soon as some people hear
that in this volume, which I have written about the revolutions of the
spheres of the universe, I ascribe certain motions to the terrestrial
globe, they will shout that I must be immediately repudiated together
with this belief For I am not so enamored of my own opinions that I
disregard what others may think of them. I am aware that a
philosopher's ideas are not subject to the judgement of ordinary
persons, because it is his endeavor to seek the truth in all things, to
the extent permitted to human reason by God. Yet I hold that completely
erroneous views should be shunned. Those who know that the consensus of
many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at
rest in the middle of the heaven as its center would, I reflected,
regard it as an insane pronouncement if I made the opposite assertion
that the earth moves. Therefore I debated with myself for a long time
whether to publish the volume which I wrote to prove the earth's motion
or rather to follow the example of the Pythagoreans and certain others,
who used to transmit philosophy's secrets only to kinsmen and friends,
not in writing but by word of mouth, as is shown by Lysis' letter to
Hipparchus. And they did so, it seems to me, not, as some suppose,
because they were in some way jealous about their teachings, which
would be spread around; on the contrary, they wanted the very beautiful
thoughts attained by great men of deep devotion not to be ridiculed by
those who are reluctant to exert themselves vigorously in any literary
pursuit unless it is lucrative; or if they are stimulated to the
nonacquisitive study of philosophy by the exhortation and example of
others, yet because of their dullness of mind they play the same part
among philosophers as drones among bees. When I weighed these
considerations, the scorn which I had reason to fear on account of the
novelty and unconventionality of my opinion almost induced me to
abandon completely the work which I had undertaken.