Landgrave with Parall of 14 m. the distance from the centre is made to be about 10 semid 5. And upon the observations of Hainzelius and Gemma with Parall of 42 m. 30 sec. whereby the distance is gathered to be about 4 semid 6. And upon the observations of the Landgrave and Camerarius with Parall of 8 m. the distance is concluded to be about 4 semid 7. And upon the observations of Tycho and Hagecius with Parall of 6 m. and the distance is made 31 semid 8. And upon the observations of Hagecius and Vrsinus with Parall of 43 m. and the stars distance from the superficies of the Earth is rendred 1 2 semid 9. And upon the observations of Landgravius and Buschius with Parall of 15 m. and the distance from the superficies of the Earth is by supputation 1 48 semid 10. And upon the observations of Maurolice and Munocius with Parall of 4 m. 30 sec. and the compnted distance from the Earths surface is 1 5 semid 11. And upon the observations of Munocius and Gemma with Parall of 55 m. and the distance from the centre is rendred 13 semid 12. And upon the observations of Munosius and Vrsinus with Parall of 1 gr 36 m. and the distance from the centre cometh forth lesse than 7 semid These are twelve indagations made by the Author at his election amongst many which as he saith might be made by combining the observations of these thirteen observators The which twelve we may believe to be the most favourable to prove his intention SAGR. I would know whether amongst the so many other indagations pretermitted by the Author there were not some that made against him that is from which calculating one might find the new star to have been above the Moon as at the very first sight I think we may reasonably question in regard I see these already produced to be so different from one another that some of them give me the distance of the said star from the Earth 4 6 10 100 a thousand and an hundred thousand times bigger one than another so that I may well suspect that amongst those that he did not calculate there was some one in fauour of the adverse party And I guesse this to be the more probable for that I cannot conceive that those Astronomers the observators could want the knowledg and practice of rhese computations which I think do not depend upon the abstrucest things in the World And indeed it will seem to me a thing more than miraculous if whilst in these twelve investigations onely there are some that make the star to be distant from the Earth but a few miles and others that make it to be but a very fmall matter below the Moon there are none to be found that in favour of the contrary part do make it so much as twenty yards above the Lunar Orb. And that which shall be yet again more extravagant that all those Astronomers should have been so blind as not to have discovered that their so apparent mistake SALV Begin now to prepare your ears to hear with infinite admiration to what excesses of confidence of ones own authority and others folly the desire of contradicting and shewing ones self wiser than others transports a man Amongst the indagations omitted by the Author there are such to be found as make the new star not onely above the Moon but above the fixed stars also And these are not a few but the greater part as you shall see in this other paper where I have set them down SAGR. But what saith the Author to these It may be he did not think of them SALV He hath thought of them but too much but saith that the observations upon which the calculations make the star to be infinitely remote are erroneous and that they cannot be combined to one another SIMP But this seemeth to me a very lame evasion for the adverse party may with as much reason reply that those are erroneous wherewith he collecteth the star to have been in the Elementary Region SALV Oh Simplicius if I could but make you comprehend the craft though no great craftinesse of this Author I should make you to wonder and also to be angry to see how that he palliating his sagacity with the vail of the simplicity of your self and the rest of meer Philosophers would insinuate himself into your good opinion by tickling your ears and swelling your ambition pretending to have convinced and silenced these petty Astronomers who went about to assault the impregnable inalterability of the Peripatetick Heaven and which is more to have foild and conquered them with their own arms I will try with all my ability to do the same and in the mean time let Sagredus take it in good part if Simplicius and I try his patience perhaps a little too much whilst that with a superfluous circumlocution superfluous I say to his most nimble apprehension I go about to make out a thing which it is not convenient should be hid and unknown unto him SAGR. I shall not onely without wearinesse but also with much delight hearken to your discourses and so ought all Peripatetick Philosophers to the end they may know how much they are oblieged to this their Protector SALV Tell me Simplicius whether you do well comprehend how the new star being placed in the meridian circle yonder towards the North the same to one that from the South should go towards the North would seem to rise higher and higher above the Horizon as much as the Pole although it should have been scituate amongst the fixed stars but that in case it were considerably lower that is nearer to the Earth it would appear to ascend more than the said pole and still more by how much its vicinity was greater SIMP I think that I do very well conceive the same in token whereof I will try if I can make a mathematical Scheme of it and in this great circle in Fig. 1. of this Dialogue I will marke the pole P and in these two lower circles I will note two stars beheld from one place on the Earth which let be A and let the two stars be these B and C beheld in the same line ABC which line I prolong till it meet with a fixed star in D. And then walking along the Earth till I come to the term E the two stars will appear to me separated from the fixed star D and advanced neerer to the pole P and the lower star B more which will appear to me in G and the star C lesse which will appear to me in F but the fixed star D will have kept the same distance from the Pole SALV I see that you understand the businesse very well I believe that you do likewise comprehend that in regard the star B is lower than C the angle which is made by the rayes of the sight which departing from the two places A and E meet in C to wit this
altogether ignorant of their whole businesse and concerns but if he shall say that they do operate and that they are directed to this end he doth affirm the same thing which a little before he denied and praiseth that which even now he condemned in that he said that the Celestial bodies situate so far remote as that they appear very small cannot have any influence at all upon the Earth But good Sir in the Starry Sphere pre-established at its present distance and which you did acknowledg to be in your judgment well proportioned to have an influence upon these Terrene bodies many stars appear very small and an hundred times as many more are wholly invisible unto us which is an appearing yet lesse than very small therefore it is necessary that contradicting your self you do now deny their operation upon the Earth or else that still contradicting your self you grant that their appearing very small doth not in the least lessen their influence or else that and this shall be a more sincere and modest concession you acknowledg and freely confesse that our passing judgment upon their magnitudes and distances is a vanity not to say presumption or rashnesse SIMP Truth is I my self did also in reading this passage perceive the manifest contradiction in saying that the Stars if one may so speak of Copernicus appearing so very small could not operate on the Earth and not perceiving that he had granted an influence upon the Earth to those of Ptolomy and his sectators which appear not only very small but are for the most part very invisible SALV But I proceed to another consideration What is the reason doth he say why the stars appear so little Is it haply because they seem so to us Doth not he know that this commeth from the Instrument that we imploy in beholding them to wit from our eye And that this is true by changing Instrument we shall see them bigger and bigger as much as we will And who knows but that to the Earth which beholdeth them without eyes they may not shew very great and such as in reality they are But it 's time that omitting these trifles we come to things of more moment and therefore I having already demonstrated these two things First how far off the Firmament ought to be placed to make that the grand Orb causeth no greater difference than that which the Terrestrial Orb occasioneth in the remotenesse of the Sun And next how likewise to make that a star of the Firmament appear to us of the same bignesse as now we see it it is not necessary to suppose it bigger than the Sun I would know whether Tycho or any of his adherents hath ever attempted to find out by any means whether any appearance be to be discovered in the starry Sphere upon which one may the more resolutely deny or admit the annual motion of the Earth SAGR. I would answer for them that there is not no nor is there any need there should seeing that it is Copernicus himself that saith that no such diversity is there and they arguing ad hominem admit him the same and upon this assumption they demonstrate the improbability that followeth thereupon namely that it would be necessary to make the Sphere so immense that a fixed star to appear unto us as great as it now seems ought of necessity to be of so immense a magnitude as that it would exceed the bignesse of the whole grand Orb a thing which notwithstanding as they say is altogether incredible SALV I am of the same judgment and verily believe that they argue contra hominem studying more to defend another man than desiring to come to the knowledge of the truth And I do not only believe that none of them ever applied themselves to make any such observation but I am also uncertain whether any of them do know what alteration the Earths annual motion ought to produce in the fixed stars in case the starry Sphere were not so far distant as that in them the said diversity by reason of its minuity dis-appeareth for their surceasing that inquisition and referring themselves to the meer assertion of Copernicus may very well serve to convict a man but not to acquit him of the fact For its possible that such a diversity may be and yet not have been sought for or that either by reason of its minuity or for want of exact Instruments it was not discovered by Copernicus for though it were so this would not be the first thing that he either for want of Instruments or for some other defect hath not known and yet he proceeding upon other solid and rational conjectures affirmeth that which the things by him not discovered do seem to contradict for as hath been said already without the Telescope neither could Mars be discerned to increase 60. times nor Venus 40. more in that than in this position yea their differences appear much lesse than really they are and yet neverthelesse it is certainly discovered at length that those mutations are the same to an hair that the Copernican Systeme required Now it would be very well if with the greatest accuratenesse possible one should enquire whether such a mutation as ought to be discoverable in the fixed stars supposing the annual motion of the Earth would be observed really and in effect a thing which I verily believe hath never as yet been done by any done said I no nor haply as I said before by many well understood how it ought to be done Nor speak I this at randome for I have heretofore seen a certain Manuscript of one of these Anti-Copernicans which said that there would necessarily follow in case that opinion were true a continual rising and falling of the Pole from six moneths to six moneths according as the Earth in such a time by such a space as is the diameter of the grand Orb retireth one while towards the North and another while towards the South and yet it seemed to him reasonable yea necessary that we following the Earth when we were towards the North should have the Pole more elevated than when we are towards the South In this very error did one fall that was otherwise a very skilful Mathematician a follower of Copernic as Tycho relateth in his Progymnasma pag. 684. which said that he had observed the Polar altitude to vary and to differ in Summer from what it is in Winter and because Tycho denieth the merit of the cause but findeth no fault with the method of it that is denieth that there is any mutation to be seen in the altitude of the Pole but doth not blame the inquisition for not being adapted to the finding of what is sought he thereby sheweth that he also esteeemed the Polar altitude varied or not varied every six moneths to be a good testimony to disprove or inferre the annual motion of the Earth SIMP In truth Salviatus my opinion also tells me
that are seen in the motions of the Stars perfectly agree with the position of the Earth in the Centre which would not be so were the Earth seated otherwise The rest produced by Ptolomy and the other Astronomers I can give you now if you please or after you have spoken what you have to say in answer to these of Aristotle SALV The arguments which are brought upon this occasion are of two kinds some have respect to the accidents Terrestrial without any relation to the Stars and others are taken from the Phaenomena and observations of things Coelestial The arguments of Aristotle are for the most part taken from things neer at hand and he leaveth the others to Astronomers and therefore it is the best way if you like of it to examine these taken from experiments touching the Earth and then proceed to those of the other kind And because Ptolomy Tycho and the other Astronomers and Philosophers besides the arguments of Aristotle by them assumed confirmed and made good do produce certain others we will put them all together that so we may not answer twice to the same or the like objections Therefore Simplicius choose whether you will recite them your self or cause me to ease you of this task for I am ready to serve you SIMPL. It is better that you quote them because as having taken more pains in the study of them you can produce them with more readinesse and in greater number SALV All for the strongest reason alledge that of grave bodies which falling downwards from on high move by a right line that is perpendicular to the surface of the Earth an argument which is held undeniably to prove that the Earth is immoveable for in case it should have the diurnal motion a Tower from the top of which a stone is let fall being carried along by the conversion of the Earth in the time that the stone spends in falling would be transported many hundred yards Eastward and so far distant from the Towers foot would the stone come to ground The which effect they back with another experiment to wit by letting a bullet of lead fall from the round top of a Ship that lieth at anchor and observing the mark it makes where it lights which they find to be neer the partners of the Mast but if the same bullet be let fall from the same place when the ship is under sail it shall light as far from the former place as the ship hath run in the time of the leads descent and this for no other reason than because the natural motion of the ball being at liberty is by a right line towards the centre of the Earth They fortifie this argument with the experiment of a projection shot on high at a very great distance as for example a ball sent out of a Cannon erected perpendicular to the horizon the which spendeth so much time in ascending and falling that in our parallel the Cannon and we both should be carried by the Earth many miles towards the East so that the ball in its return could never come neer the Peece but would fall as far West as the Earth had run East They againe adde a third and very evident experiment scilicet that shooting a bullet point blank or as Gunners say neither above nor under metal out of a Culverin towards the East and afterwards another with the same charge and at the same elevation or disport towards the West the range towards the West should be very much greater then the other towards the East for that whil'st the ball goeth Westward and the Peece is carried along by the Earth Eastward the ball will fall from the Peece as far distant as is the aggregate of the two motions one made by it self towards the West and the other by the Peece carried about by the Earth towards the East and on the contrary from the range of the ball shot Eastward you are to substract the space the Peece moved being carried after it Now suppose for example that the range of the ball shot West were five miles and that the Earth in the same parallel and in the time of the Bals ranging should remove three miles the Ball in this case would fall eight miles distant from the Culverin namely it s own five Westward and the Culverins three miles Eastward but the range of the shot towards the East would be but two miles long for so much is the remainder after you have substracted from the five miles of the range the three miles which the Peece had moved towards the same part But experience sheweth the Ranges to be equal therefore the Culverin and consequently the Earth are immoveable And the stability of the Earth is no lesse confirmed by two other shots made North and South for they would never hit the mark but the Ranges would be alwayes wide or towards the West by meanes of the remove the mark would make being carried along with the Earth towards the East whil'st the ball is flying And not onely shots made by the Meridians but also those aimed East or West would prove uncertain for those aim'd East would be too high and those directed West too low although they were shot point blank as I said For the Range of the Ball in both the shots being made by the Tangent that is by a line parallel to the Horizon and being that in the diurnal motion if it be of the Earth the Horizon goeth continually descending towards the East and rising from the West therefore the Oriental Stars seem to rise and the Occidental to decline so that the Oriental mark would descend below the aime and thereupon the shot would fly too high and the ascending of the Western mark would make the shot aimed that way range too low so that the Peece would never carry true towards any point and for that experience telleth us the contrary it is requisite to say that the Earth is immoveable SIMPL. These are solid reasons and such as I believe no man can answer SALV Perhaps they are new to you SIMPL. Really they are and now I see with how many admirable experiments Nature is pleased to favour us wherewith to assist us in the knowledge of the Truth Oh! how exactly one truth agreeth with another and all conspire to render each other inexpugnable SAGR. What pity it is that Guns were not used in Aristotles age he would with help of them have easily battered down ignorance and spoke without haesitation of these mundane points SALV I am very glad that these reasons are new unto you that so you may not rest in the opinion of the major part of Peripateticks who believe that if any one forsakes the Doctrine of Aristotle it is because they did not understand or rightly apprehend his demonstrations But you may expect to hear of other Novelties and you shall see the followers of this new Systeme produce
that the same must necessarily ensue for I do not think that you will deny me but that if we walk only 60. miles towards the North the Pole will rise unto us a degree higher and that if we move 60. miles farther Northwards the Pole will be elevated to us a degree more c. Now if the approaching or receding 60. miles onely make so notable a change in the Polar altitudes what alteration would follow if the Earth and we with it should be transported I will not say 60. miles but 60. thousand miles that way SALV It would follow if it should proceed in the same proportion that the Pole shall be elevated a thousand degrees See Simplicius what a long rooted opinion can do Yea by reason you have fixed it in your mind for so many years that it is Heaven that revolveth in twenty four hours and not the Earth and that consequently the Poles of that Revolution are in Heaven and not in the Terrestrial Globe cannot now in an hours time shake off this habituated conceipt and take up the contrary fancying to your self that the Earth is that which moveth only for so long time as may suffice to conceive of what would follow thereupon should that lye be a truth If the Earth Simplicius be that which moveth in its self in twenty four hours in it are the Poles in it is the Axis in it is the Equinoctial that is the grand Circle described by the point equidistant from the Poles in it are the infinite Parallels bigger and lesser described by the points of the superficies more and lesse distant from the Poles in it are all these things and not in the starry Sphere which as being immoveable wants them all and can only by the imagination be conceived to be therein prolonging the Axis of the Earth so far till that determining it shall mark out two points placed right over our Poles and the plane of the Equinoctial being extended it shall describe in Heaven a circle like it self Now if the true Axis the true Poles the true Equinoctial do not change in the Earth so long as you continue in the same place of the Earth and though the Earth be transported as you do please yet you shall not change your habitude either to the Poles or to the circles or to any other Earthly thing and this because that that transposition being common to you and to all Terrestrial things and that motion where it is common is as if it never were and as you change not habitude to the Terrestrial Poles habitude I say whether that they rise or descend so neither shall you change position to the Poles imagined in Heaven alwayes provided that by Celestial Poles we understand as hath been already defined those two points that come to be marked out by the prolongation of the Terrestrial Axis unto that length T is true those points in Heaven do change when the Earths transportment is made after such a manner that its Axis cometh to passe by other and other points of the immoveable Celestial Sphere but our habitude thereunto changeth not so as that the second should be more elevated to us than the first If any one will have one of the points of the Firmament which do answer to the Poles of the Earth to ascend and the other to descend he must walk along the Earth towards the one receding from the other for the transportment of the Earth and with it us our selves as I told you before operates nothing at all SAGR. Permit me I beseech you Salviatus to make this a little more clear by an example which although grosse is acommodated to this purpose Suppose your self Simplicius to be aboard a Ship and that standing in the Poope or Hin-deck you have directed a Quadrant or some other Astronomical Instrument towards the top of the Top-gallant-Mast as if you would take its height which suppose it were v. gr 40. degrees there is no doubt but that if you walk along the Hatches towards the Mast 25. or 30. paces and then again direct the said Instrument to the same Top-Gallant-Top You shall find its elevation to be greater and to be encreased v. gr 10. degrees but if instead of walking those 25. or 30. paces towards the Mast you stand still at the Sterne and make the whole Ship to move thitherwards do you believe that by reason of the 25. or 30. paces that it had past the elevation of the Top-Gallant-Top would shew 10. degrees encreased SIMP I believe and know that it would not gain an hairs breadth in the passing of 30. paces nor of a thousand no nor of an hundred thousand miles but yet I believe withal that looking through the sights at the Top and Top-Gallant if I should find a fixed Star that was in the same elevation I believe I say that holding still the Quadrant after I had sailed towards the star 60. miles the eye would meet with the top of the said Mast as before but not with the star which would be elevated to me one degree SAGR. Then you do not think that the sight would fall upon that point of the Starry Sphere that answereth to the direction of the Top-Gallant Top SIMP No For the point would be changed and would be beneath the star first observed SAGR. You are in the right Now like as that which in this example answereth to the elevation of the Top-Gallant-Top is not the star but the point of the Firmament that lyeth in a right line with the eye and the said top of the Mast so in the case exemplified that which in the Firmament answers to the Pole of the Earth is not a star or other fixed thing in the Firmament but is that point in which the Axis of the Earth continued streight out till it cometh thither doth determine which point is not fixed but obeyeth the mutations that the Pole of the Earth doth make And therefore Tycho or who ever else that did alledg this objection ought to have said that upon that same motion of the Earth were it true one might observe some difference in the elevation and depression not of the Pole but of some fixed star toward that part which answereth to our Pole SIMP I already very well understand the mistake by them committed but yet therefore which to me seems very great of the argument brought on the contrary is not lessened supposing relation to be had to the variation of the stars and not of the Pole for if the moving of the Ship but 60. miles make a fixed star rise to me one degree shall I not find alike yea and very much greater mutation if the Ship should sail towards the said star for so much space as is the Diameter of the Grand Orb which you affirm to be double the distance that is between the Earth and Sun SAGR. Herein Simplicius there is another fallacy which truth is you understand but do
not moved through ignorance of the Arguments on the Adverse part 110 Copernicans were all first against that Opinion but the Peripateticks were never on the other side 110 Copernicans too freely admit certain Propositions for true which are doubtful 159 He that will be a Copernican must deny his Senses 228 A Great Mathematician made a Copernican by looking into that Doctrine with a purpose to confute it 443 COPERNICUS Copernicus esteemeth the Earth a Globe like to a Planet 1 Objections of two Moderne Authours Scheiner and Claramontius against Copernicus 195 Copernicus his Opinion overthrows the Criterium of Phylosophers 223 A grosse Errour in the Opposer of Copernicus and wherein it appears 234 235 236 A subtle and withal simple Argument against Copernicus 234 Copernicus his Opponent had but little studied him as appears by another grosse Errour 235 It s questioned whither he understood the third Motion assigned to the Earth by Copern 236 Copernicus erroneously assignes the same Operations to different Natures 238 A declaration of the improbability of Copernicus his Opinion 301 Reason and Discourse in Copernicus and Aristarchus prevailed over Sense 301 Copernicus speaketh nothing of the small Variation of Bignesse in Venus and Mars 302 Copernicus perswaded by Reasons contrary to Sensible Experiments 306 Copernicus restored Astronomy upon the Suppositions of Ptolomy 308 What moved Copernicus to establish his Systeme 308 It s a great argument in favour of Copernicus that he obviates the Stations and Retrogradations of the Motions of the Planets 309 Instances Ironically propounded by Scheiner against Copernicus 323 Copernicus understood not some things for want of Instruments 338 The grand difficulty in Copernicus his Doctrine is that which concerns the Phaenomena of the Sun and fixed Stars 343 Copernicus the Restorer of the Pythagorean Hypothesis and the Occasion of it 429 Copernicus founded not his Doctrine on Reasons depending on Scripture wherein he might have mistaken their Sense but upon Natural Conclusions and Astronomical and Geometrical Demonstrations 431 CORRUPTIBLE and Corruptibility The perfection of Figure operates in Corruptible Bodies but not in Eternal 69 The Disparagers of Corruptibility ought to be turned into Statua's 37 Corruptibility admits of more and lesse so doth not Incorruptibility 69 COUNCILS The Councils refuse to impose Natural Conclusions as matters of Faith 450 D DIAMONDS Diamonds ground to divers sides and why 63 DIDACUS Didacus à Stunica reconcileth Texts of Scripture with the Copernican Hypothesis 468 DEFINITIONS Definitions contain virtually all the Passions of the things defined 87 E EARTH The Earth Spherical by the Conspiration of its parts to go to its Centre 21 It is easier to prove the Earth to move than that Corruptibility is made by Contraries 27 The Earth very Noble by reason of the Mutations made therein 45 The Earth unprofitable and full of Idlenesse its Alterations being taken away 45 The Earth more Noble than Gold and Jewels 45 The Celestial Bodies designed to serve the Earth need no more but Motion and Light 45 The Generations and Mutations that are in the Earth are all for the Good of Man 47 From the Earth we see more than half the Lunar Globe 51 Seven Resemblances between the Earth and Moon 48 to 53 The Earth unable to reflect the Suns Rays 54 The Earth may reciprocally operate on Celestial Bodies with its Light 80 Affinity between the Earth and Moon by reason of their Vicinity 81 The Motions of the Earth imperceptible to its Inhabitants 97 The Earth can have no other Motions than those which to us appear commune to all the rest of the Vniverse the Earth excepted 97 The Diurnal Motion seemeth commune to all the Vniverse the Earth onely excepted 97 Aristotle and Ptolomy argue against the Earths Diurnal Motion 97 The Diurnal Motion of the Earth Vide Diurnal Motion Seven Arguments to prove the Diurnal Motion On to belong to the Earth 99 to 103 The Earth a pendent Body and equilibrated in a fluid Medium seems unable to resist the Rapture of the Diurnal Motion 103 Two kinds of Arguments against the Earths Motion 108 Arguments of Aristotle Ptolomy Tycho and other persons against the Earths Motion 107 108 The first Argument against the Earths Motion taken from Grave Bodies falling from on high to the Ground 108 Which Argument is confirmed by the Experiment of a Body let fall from the Round-top of a Ships Mast. 108 The second Argument taken from a Project shot very high 108 The third Argument taken from the Shot of a Canon towards the East and towards the West 108 This Argument is confirmed by two Shots towards the North and South and two others towards the 〈…〉 West 109 The fourth Argument taken from the Clouds and from Birds 113 A fifth Argument taken from the Aire which we feel beat upon us when we run an Horse at full speed 114 A sixth Argument taken from the whirling of Circular Bodies which hath a faculty to extrude and dissipate 114 The Answer to Aristotles first Argument 115 The Answer to the second Argument 117 The Answer to the third Argument 120 to 150 An Instance of the Diurnal Motion of the Earth taken from the Shot of a Piece of Ordinance perpendicularly and the Answers to the same shewing the Equivoke 153 154 The Answer to the Argument of the Shots of Canons made towards the North and South 158 The Answer to the Argument taken from the Shots at point blank towards the East and West 159 The Answer to the Argument of the flying of Birds contrary to the Motion of the Earth 165 An Experiment by which alone is shewn the Nullity of all the Arguments produced against the Motion of the Earth 165 The Stupidity of some that think the Earth began to move when Pythagoras began to affirme that it did so 167 A Geometrical Demonstration to prove the Impossibility of Extrusion by means of the Earths Vertigo in Answer to the sixth Argument 176 Granting the Diurnal Vertigo of the Earth and that by some sudden Stop or Obstacle it were Arrested Houses Mountains themselves and perhaps the whole Globe would be shaken in pieces 190 Other Argument of two Modern Authours Scheiner and. Claramontius against the Copernican Hypothesis of the Earths Motion 195 The first Objection of the Modern Authour Scheiner in his Book of Conclusions 195 The Argument of Claramontius against the Earths Motion taken from things falling perpendicularly another way answered 223 The Earths Motion collected from the Stars 229 Argumeuts against the Earths Motion taken ex rerum natura 230 A Simple Body as the Earth cannot move with three several Motions 231 The Earth cannot move with any of the Motions assigned it by Copernicus 231 Answers to the Arguments against the Earths Motion token ex rerum natura 231 Four Axiomes against the Motion of the Earth 230 to 232 One onely Principle might cause a Plurality of Motions in the Earth 233 The same Argument against the Plurality of Motions in the
A Game in Italy which is to glide bullets down an inclining stone c. * A Game in Italy wherein they strive who shall trundle or throw a wooden bowle neerest to an assigned mark * This is that excellent tract which we give the first place in our second Volume The line described by a moveable in its natural descent the motion of the Earth about its own centre being presupposed would probably be the circumference of a circle A moveable falling from the top of the Tower moveth in the circumference of a circle It moveth neither more nor lesse than if it had staid alwayes there It moveth with an uniform not an accelerate motion Right motion seemeth wholly excluded in nature * Vadia del tutto a monte rendered in the Latine omnino pessum eat The reason why a Gun should seem to carry farther towards the West than towards the East The experiment of a running chariot to find out the difference of Ranges * Balestrone da bolzoni The solution of the argument taken from great-Guns shot towards the East West A notable case of Sagredus to shew the non-operating of common motion * Alessandretta Subtilties sufficiently insipid ironically spoken and taken from a certain Encyclopaedia An instance against the deurnal motion of the earth taken from the shot of a Peece of Ordinance perpendicularly The answer to the objection shewing the equivoke Another answer to the same objection Projects continue their motion by the right line that followeth the direction of the motion made together with the proficient whil'st they were conjoin'd therewith The revolution of the Earth supposed the ball in the piece erected perpendicularly doth not move by a perpendicular but an inclined line The manner how Fowlers shoot birds flying The answer to the objection takâ—n from the shots of great Guns maâ—e towards the North and South The answer to the Argument taken from the shots at point blanck towards the East West The followers of Copernicus too freely admit certain propositions for true which are very doubtfull A Computation how much the ranges of great shot ought to vary from the marke the Earths motion being granted a That is in plainer termes the fraction 15 200000 is more than the fraction 4 50000 for dividing the denominators by their â—ominators and the first produceth 13333 1 3 the other but 12500. b It shall be neer 2 2 5 inches accounting the pace to be Geometrical containing 5 foot It is demonstrated with great subtilty that the Earths motion supposed Canon shot ought not to vary more than in rest It is requisite to be very cautious in admitting experimâ—nts for true to those who never tried them Experiments and arguments against the Earths motion seem so far concluding as they lie hid under equivokes The great felicity for which they are much to be envied who perswade themselves that they know every thing The answer to the argument taken from the flight of birds contrary to the motion of the Earth An experiment with which alone is shewn the nullity of all the objections produced against the motion of the Earth * Tafaris horse-flyes The stupidity of some that think the Earth to have begun to move when Pythagoras began to affirme that it did so Aristotle and Ptolomy seem to confute the mobility of the Earth against those who thought that it having a long time stood still did begin to move in the time of Pythagoras Our knowledg is a kind of reminiscence according to Plato Thâ— motion impressed by the projicient is onely by a right line The project moveth by the Tangent of the circle of the motion precedent in the point of separation A grave project as sâ—on as it is separated from the projicient begineth to decline A geometrical demonstration to prove the impossibility of extrusion by means of the terrestrial vertigo The truth sometimes gaines strength by contradiction The sphere although material toucheth the material plane but in one point onely The definition of the sphere The demonstration of a Peripatetick to prove the right line to be tâ—e shortest of all lines The Paralogism of the same Peripatetick which proveth ignotum per ignotius A demonstration that the sphere toucheth the plane but in one point Why the sphere in abstract toucheth the plane onely in one point and not the material in concrete Things are exactly the same in abstract as in concrete Contact in a single point is not peculiar to the perfect Spheres onely but belongeth to all curved figures It is more difficult to find Figures that touch with a part of their surface than in one sole point The Sphericall Figure is easier to be made than any other The circular Figure only is placed amongst the postulatâ— of Mathematicians * Demands or Petitions Sphericall Figures of sundry magnitudes may be made with one onely instrument Irregular forms difficult to be introduced The constitution of the Vniverse is one of the most noble Problems The cause of the projection increaseth not according to the proportion of the velocity increased by making the wheel bigger Granâ—iâ—g the diurnal vertigo of the Earth that by some sudden stop or obstacle it were arrested houses mountains themselves and perhaps the whole Globe would be shake â—n pieces The inclination of grave bodies to the motion downwards is equal to their resistance to the motion upwards * A portable ballance wherewith market-people weigh their commodities giving it gravity by removing the weight farther from the cock call'd by the Latines Campana trutina The greater velocity exactly compensates the greater gravity * Strappar la cavezza is to break the bridle Other objections of two modern Authors against Copernicus The first objection of the modern Author of the little tract of Conclusions A Cannon bullet would spend more than six days in falling from the Concave of the Moon to the centre of the Earth according to the opinion of that modern Author of the Conclusions A shamefull errour in the Argument taken from the bullets falling out of the Moons concave An exact compute of the time of the fall of the Canon bullet from the Moons concave to the Earths centre * The Author * By these Writings he every where meanes his Dialogues De motu which I promise to give you in my second Volume Acceleration of the natural motion of grave bodies is made according to the odde numbers beginning at unity The spaces past by the falling grave body are as the squares of their times An intire and new Science of the Academick concerning local motion The error of Aristotle in affirming falling grave bodies to move according to the proportion of their gravities a Note that these Calculations are made in Italian weights and measuâ—es And 100 pounds Haverdupoise make 1â—1 l. Florentine And 100 Englâ—◠〈◊〉 makes 150◠〈◊〉 Florent so that the brace or yard of our Author is 1 4 of our yard b Note that these Calculations are made
from the shot of a Canon at the mark placed towards the South or North wherein is alledged that if the Earth should move the shots would all range Westward of the mark because that in the time whilst the ball being forc'd out of the Piece goeth through the air to the mark the said mark being carried toward the East would leave the ball to the Westward I answer therefore demanding whether if the Canon be aimed true at the mark and permitted so to continue it will constantly hit the said mark whether the Earth move or stand still It must be replied that the aim altereth not at all for if the mark doth stand still the Piece also doth stand still and if it being transported by the Earths motion doth move the Piece doth also move at the same rate and the aim maintained the shot proveth always true as by what hath been said above is manifest SAGR. Stay a little I entreat you Salviatus till I have propounded a certain conceit touching these shooters of birds flying whose proceeding I believe to be the same which you relate and believe the effect of hitting the bird doth likewise follow but yet I cannot think that act altogether conformable to this of shooting in great Guns which ought to hit as well when the piece and mark moveth as when they both stand still and these in my opinion are the particulars in which they disagree In shooting with a great Gun both it and the mark move with equal velocity being both transported by the motion of the Terrestrial Globe and albeit sometimes the piece being planted more towards the Pole than the mark and consequently its motion being somewhat flower than the motion of the mark as being made in a lesser circle such a difference is insensible at that little distance of the piece from the mark but in the shot of the Fowler the motion of the Fowling-piece wherewith it goeth following the bird is very slow in comparison of the flight of the said bird whence me thinks it should follow that that small motion which the turning of the Birding-piece conferreth on the bullet that is within it cannot when it is once gone forth of it multiply it self in the air untill it come to equal the velocity of the birds flight so as that the said bullet should always keep direct upon it nay me thinketh the bird would anticipate it and leave it behind Let me add that in this act the air through which the bullet is to pass partaketh not of the motion of the bird whereas in the case of the Canon both it the mark and the intermediate air do equally partake of the common diurnal motion So that the true cause of the Marks-man his hitting the mark as it should seem moreover and besides the following the birds flight with the piece is his somewhat anticipating it taking his aim before it as also his shooting as I believe not with one bullet but with many small balls called shot the which scattering in the air possess a great space and also the extreme velocity wherewith these shot being discharged from the Gun go towards the bird SALV See how far the winged wit of Sagredus anticipateth and out-goeth the dulness of mine which perhaps would have light upon these disparities but not without long studie Now turning to the matter in hand there do remain to be considered by us the shots at point blank towards the East and towards the West the first of which if the Earth did move would always happen to be too high above the mark and the second too low forasmuch as the parts of the Earth Eastward by reason of the diurnal motion do continually descend beneath the tangent paralel to the Horizon whereupon the Eastern stars to us appear to ascend and on the contrary the parts Westward do more and more ascend whereupon the Western stars do in our seeming descend and therefore the ranges which are leveled according to the said tangent at the Oriental mark which whilst the ball passeth along by the tangent descendeth should prove too high and the Occidental too low by means of the elevation of the mark whilst the ball passeth along the tangent The answer is like to the rest for as the Eastern mark goeth continually descending by reason of the Earths motion under a tangent that continueth immoveable so likewise the piece for the same reason goeth continually inclining and with its mounture pursuing the said mark by which means the shot proveth true But here I think it a convenient opportunity to give notice of certain concessions which are granted perhaps over liberally by the followers of Copernicus unto their Adversaries I mean of yielding to them certain experiments for sure and certain which yet the Adversaries themselves had never made tryal of as for example that of things falling from the round-top of a ship whilst it is in motion and many others amongst which I verily believe that this of experimenting whether the shot made by a Canon towards the East proveth too high and the Western shot too low is one and because I believe that they have never made tryal thereof I desire that they would tell me what difference they think ought to happen between the said shots supposing the Earth moveable or supposing it moveable and let Simplicius for this time answer for them SIMP I will not undertake to answer so confidently as another more intelligent perhaps might do but shall speak what thus upon the sudden I think they would reply which is in effect the same with that which hath been said already namely that in case the Earth should move the shots made Eastward would prove too high c. the ball as it is probable being to move along the tangent SALV But if I should say that so it falleth out upon triall how would you censure me SIMP It is necessary to proceed to experiments for the proving of it SALV But do you think that there is to be found a Gunner so skilful as to hit the mark at every shoot in a distance of v.g. five hundred paces SIMP No Sir nay I believe that there is no one how good a marks-man soever that would promise to come within a pace of the mark SALV How can we then with shots so uncertain assure our selves of that which is in dispute SIMP We may be assured thereof two wayes one by making many shots the other because in respect of the great velocity of the Earths motion the deviation from the mark would in my opinion be very great SALV Very great that is more than one pace in regard that the varying so much yea and more is granted to happen ordinarily even in the Earths mobility SIMP I verily believe the variation from the mark would be more than so SALV Now I desire that for our satisfaction we do make thus in grosse a slight calculation if you consent thereto which will
of those that believe it is not so ridiculous and fond as the rout of vulgar Philosophers esteem it SIMP The answers hitherto produced against the arguments brought against this Diurnal Revolution of the Earth taken from grave bodies falling from the top of a Tower and from projections made perpendicularly upwards or according to any inclination sidewayes towards the East West North South c. have somewhat abated in me the antiquated incredulity I had conceived against that opinion but other greater doubts run in my mind at this very instant which I know not in the least how to free my self of and haply you your self will not be able to resolve them nay it s possible you may not have heard them for they are very modern And these are the objections of two Authours that ex professo write against Copernicus Some of which are read in a little Tract of natural conclusions The rest are by a great both Philosopher and Mathematician inserted in a Treatise which he hath written in favour of Aristotle and his opinion touching the inalterability of the Heavens where he proveth that not onely the Comets but also the new stars namely that anno 1572. in Cassiopeia and that anno 1604. in Sagittarius were not above the Spheres of the Planets but absolutely beneath the concave of the Moon in the Elementary Sphere and this he demonstrateth against Tycho Kepler and many other Astronomical Observators and beateth them at their own weapon to wit the Doctrine of Parallaxes If you like thereof I will give you the reasons of both these Authours for I have read them more than once with attention and you may examine their strength and give your opinion thereon SALV In regard that our principal end is to bring upon the stage and to consider what ever hath been said for or against the two Systemes Ptolomaick and Copernican it is not good to omit any thing that hath been written on this subject SIMP I will begin therefore with the objections which I finde in the Treatise of Conclusions and afterwards proceed to the rest In the first place then he bestoweth much paines in calculating exactly how many miles an hour a point of the terrestrial Globe situate under the Equinoctial goeth and how many miles are past by other points situate in other parallels and not being content with finding out such motions in horary times he findeth them also in a minute of an hour and not contenting himself with a minute he findes them also in a second minute yea more he goeth on to shew plainly how many miles a Cannon bullet would go in the same time being placed in the concave of the Lunar Orb supposing it also as big as Copernicus himself representeth it to take away all subterfuges from his adversary And having made this most ingenious and exquisite supputation he sheweth that a grave body falling from thence above would consume more than six dayes in attaining to the centre of the Earth to which all grave bodies naturally move Now if by the absolute Divine Power or by some Angel a very great Cannon bullet were carried up thither and placed in our Zenith or vertical point and from thence let go at liberty it is in his and also in my opinion a most incredible thing that it in descending downwards should all the way maintain it self in our vertical line continuing to turn round with the Earth about its centre for so many dayes describing under the Equinoctial a Spiral line in the plain of the great circle it self and under other Parallels Spiral lines about Cones and under the Poles falling by a simple right line He in the next place stablisheth and confirmeth this great improbability by proving in the way of interrogations many difficulties impossible to be removed by the followers of Copernicus and they are if I do well remember SALV Take up a little good Simplicius and do not load me with so many novelties at once I have but a bad memory and therefore I must not go too fast And in regard it cometh into my minde that I once undertook to calculate how long time such a grave body falling from the concave of the Moon would be in passing to the centre of the Earth and that I think I remember that the time would not be so long it would be fit that you shew us by what rule this Author made his calculation SIMP He hath done it by proving his intent à fortiori a sufficient advantage for his adversaries supposing that the velocity of the body falling along the vertical line towards the centre of the Earth were equal to the velocity of its circular motion which it made in the grand circle of the concave of the Lunar Orb. Which by equation would come to passe in an hour twelve thousand six hundred German miles a thing which indeed savours of impossibility Yet neverthelesse to shew his abundant caution and to give all advantages to his adversaries he supposeth it for true and concludeth that the time of the fall ought however to be more than six dayes SALV And is this the sum of his method And doth he by this demonstration prove the time of the fall to be above six dayes SAGR. Me thinks that he hath behaved himself too modestly for that having it in the power of his will to give what velocity he pleased to such a descending body and might aswell have made it six moneths nay six years in falling to the Earth he is content with six dayes But good Salviatus sharpen my appetite a little by telling me in what manner you made your computation in regard you say that you have heretofore cast it up for I am confident that if the question had not required some ingenuity in working it you would never have applied your minde unto it SALV It is not enough Sagredus that the subjects be noble and great but the businesse consists in handling it nobly And who knoweth not that in the dissection of the members of a beast there may be discovered infinite wonders of provident and prudent Nature and yet for one that the Anatomist dissects the butcher cuts up a thousand Thus I who am now seeking how to satisfie your demand cannot tell with which of the two shapes I had best to appear on the Stage but yet taking heart from the example of Simplicius his Authour I will without more delays give you an account if I have not forgot how I proceeded But before I go any further I must not omit to tell you that I much fear that Simplicius hath not faithfully related the manner how this his Authour found that the Cannon bullet in coming from the concave of the Moon to the centre of the Earth would spend more than six dayes for if he had supposed that its velocity in descending was equal to that of the concave as Simplicius saith he doth suppose he would have shewn himself ignorant of
prefer them before those of other men and to believe that better and more agreeable to the intention of the Sacred Volumes cannot be produced Supposing therefore in the first place that in the Miracle of Joshuah the whole Systeme of the Celestial Revolutions stood still according to the judgement of the afore-named Authors And this is the rather to be admitted to the end that by the staying of one alone all the Constitutions might not be confounded and a great disorder needlesly introduced in the whole course of Nature I come in the second place to consider how the Solar Body although stable in one constant place doth nevertheless revolve in it self making an entire Conversion in the space of a Month or thereabouts as I conceive I have solidly demonstrated in my Letters Delle Machie Solari Which motion we sensibly see to be in the upper part of its Globe inclined towards the South and thence towards the lower part to encline towards the North just in the same manner as all the other Orbs of the Planets do Thirdly If we respect the Nobility of the Sun and his being the Fountain of Light by which as I necessarily demonstrate not onely the Moon and Earth but all the other Planets all in the same manner dark of themselves become illuminated I conceive that it will be no unlogicall Illation to say That it as the Grand Minister of Nature and in a certain sense the Soul and Heart of the World infuseth into the other Bodies which environ it not onely Light but Motion also by revolving in it self So that in the same manner that the motion of the Heart of an Animal ceasing all the other motions of its Members would cease so the Conversion of the Sun ceasing 〈◊〉 Conversions of all the Planets would stand still And though I could produce the testimonies of many grave Writers to prove the admirable power and influence of the Sun I will content my self with one sole place of Holy Dionisius Areopagita in his Book de Divinis Nominibus who thus writes of the Sun His Light gathereth and converts all things to himself which are seen moved illustrated wax hot and in a word those things which are preserved by his splendor Wherefore the Sun is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for that he collecteth and gathereth together all things dispersed And a little after of the Sun again he adds If this Sun which we see as touching the Essences and Qualities of those things which fall vvithin our Sense being very many and different yet if he vvho is one and equally bestovves his Light doth renew nourish defend perfect divide conjoyn cherish make fruitfull encrease change fix produce move and fashion all living creatures And every thing in this Vniverse at this Pleasure is partaker of one and the same Sun and the causes of many things which participate of him are equally auticipated in him Certainly by greater reason c. The Sun therefore being the Fountain of Light and Principle of Motion God intending that at the Command of Joshua all the World 's Systeme should continue many hours in the same state it sufficeth to make the Sun stand still upon whose stay all the other Conversions ceasing the Earth the Moon the Sun did abide in the same Constitution as before as likewise all the other Planets Nor in all that time did the Day decline towards Night but it was miraculously prolonged And in this manner upon the standing still of the Sun without altering or in the least disturbing the other Aspects and mutual Positions of the Stars the Day might be lengthned on Earth which exactly agreeth with the Litteral sense of the Sacred Text. But that of which if I be not mistaken we are to make no small account is That by help of this Copernican Hypothesis we have the Litteral apert and Natural Sense of another particular that we read of in the same Miracle which is That the Sun stood still in Medio Caeli Upon which passage grave Divines raise many questions in regard it seemeth very probable That when Joshuah desired the lengthning of the Day the Sun was near setting and not in the Meridian for if it had been in the Meridian it being then about the Summer Solstice and consequently the dayes being at the longest it doth not seem likely that it was necessary to pray for the lengthning of the day to prosecute Victory in a Battail the space of seven hours and more which remained to Night being sufficient for that purpose Upon which Grave Divines have been induced to think that the Sun was near setting And so the words themselves seem to sound saying Ne movearis Sol ne movearis For if it had been in the Meridian either it had been needless to have asked a Mircale or it would have been sufficient to have onely praid for some retardment Of this opinion is Cajetan to which subscribeth Magaglianes confirming it by saying that Joshua had that very day done so many other things before his commanding the Sun as were not possibly to be dispatch't in half a day Whereupon they are forced to read the Words in Medio Coeli to confess the truth with a little harshness saying that they import no more than this That the Sun stood still being in our Hemisphere that is above the Horizon But if I do not erre we shall avoid that and all other harsh expositions if according to the Copernican Systeme we place the Sun in the midst that is in the Centre of the Coelestial Orbes and of the Planetary Conversions as it is most requisite to do For supposing any hour of the day either Noon or any other as you shall please neerer to the Evening the Day was lengthened and all the Coelestial Revolutions stayed by the Suns standing still In the midst that is in the Centre of Heaven where it resides A Sense so much the more accomodate to the Letter besides what hath been said already in that if the Text had desired to have affirmed the Suns Rest to have been caused at Noon-day the proper expression of it had been to say It stood still at Noon-day or in the Meridian Circle and not in the midst of Heaven In regard that the true and only Middle of a Spherical Body as is Heaven is the Centre Again as to other places of Scripture which seem contrary to this position I do not doubt but that if it were acknowledged for True and Demonstrated those very Divines who so long as they repute it false hold those places incapable of Expositions that agree with it would finde such Interpretations for them as should very well suit therewith and especially if to the knowledge of Divine Learning they would but adde some knowledge of the Astronomical Sciences And as at present whilst they deem it false they think they meet in Scripture only with such places as make against it if they shall but once have entertained