Johannes Kepler Symposium on Mathematics

As part of the Johannes Kepler symposium on mathematics Prof. Dr. Michal Kokowski, Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences, will give a public talk (followed by a discussion) on Wed, April 25, 2007 at 15:15 o'clock at HS 9 on the topic of "Copernicus, Copernican Studies and the Science War" . The organziers of the symposium,

O.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrich Langer,
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gerhard Larcher
A.Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jürgen Maaß, and
die ÖMG (Österreichische Mathematische Gesellschaft),

hereby cordially invite you.

Series A - General Colloquium:

The intention is to present general information not only to experts, but also to students and guests from outside the mathematical institutes.

Copernicus, Copernican Studies and the Science War

Nicholas Copernicus, author of "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (1543), is a flag person of Renaissance and Modern Times. His achievements were analysed by many commentators, starting with his own epoch. In my lecture I will:
describe main interpretations of Copernicus' achievements, originated since 16th century until nowadays;
outline a genesis of the problem of the Science Wars, including a crucial part played in its beginning by some Copernican studies, such as ones of T.S. Kuhn and P. Feyerabend;
sketch some new fundamental aspects of Copernicus' thought, including Copernicus' mathematical astronomy and his methodology, generalised correspondence principles linking Copernicus' models with Ptolemy's ones (these relationships are the same as in the case of many pairs of theories of modern physics), problem of proofs of motions of the earth, problem of only few advocates of Copernicus' geokinetic cosmology in 16th and 17th centuries and ideologies of so-called "Modern Christian Aristotelianism" (starting in 1455) and "Biblical literalism regarding cosmological matters" (starting in 1542);
draw some general conclusions concerning the History of Science, Copernican Studies, Science Studies and the Science Wars.