The Sun becomes the Center
Beginning in 1543 with Copernicus, new generations of astronomers put the sun at the center of the planets' orbits. Most major works spreading this "new astronomy", such as those of Kepler and Newton, were still published in Latin. However, to reach a wider audience, Galileo published his Dialogue on the Two New Sciences, a powerful argument for the new astronomy, in Italian.
Copernicus, Nicolaus, 1473-1543.
Nicolai Copernici Torinensis De revolvtionibvs orbium coelestium, libri VI. Habes in hoc opere iam recens nato, & aedito, studiose lector, motus stellarum, tam fixarum, quam erraticarum, cum ex ueteribus tum etiam ex recentibus obseruationibus restitutos: & nouis insuper ac admirabilibus hypothesibus ornatos. Habes etiam tabulas expeditissimas, ex quibus eosdem ad quoduis tempus quam facillime caculare poteris. Igitur eme, lege, fruere. [Line in Greek].
Norimbergae, apud Ioh. Petreium, 1543.
Copernicus introduced the modern sun-centered model of the planetary system in this book De Revolutionibus, published in the year of his death, 1543. This photo shows the title page of the first edition, which launched the scientific revolution.
The binding on this book is vellum, stamped with geometric and floral motifs.
The second edition was published in 1566.