Whether or not Copernicus knew it even genuine heliocentrism had at least one ancient advocate: But Aristarchus of Samos brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses in which the premises lead to the conclusion that the universe is many times greater than that now so called. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun remain motion less that the earth revolves about the sun in the circumference of a circle the sun lying in the middle of the orbit and that the sphere of the fixed stars situated about the same center as the sun is so great that the circle in which he supposes the earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.
The Copernican vision of an earth in motion was not without its rudimentary precedents as Copernicus himself recounts: For a long time then I reflected on this confusion in the astronomical traditions concerning the derivation of the motions of the universes spheres. I began to be annoyed that the movements of the world machine created for our sake by the best and most systematic Artisan of all were not understood with greater certainty by the philosophers who otherwise examined so precisely the most insignificant trifles of this world. For this reason I undertook the task of rereading the works of all the philosophers which I could obtain to learn whether anyone had ever proposed other motions of the universes spheres than those expounded by the teachers of astronomy in the schools. And in fact I found in Cicero that Hicetas supposed the earth to move. Later I also discovered in Plutarch that certain others were of this opinion. . . . Therefore having obtained the opportunity from these sources I too began to consider the mobility of the earth.
Alphonso about Ptolemys astronomy … that it seemed a crank machine; that it was pity the Creator had not taken advice.
Whether or not Copernicus knew it even genuine heliocentrism had at least one ancient advocate: But Aristarchus of Samos brought out a book consisting of certain hypotheses in which the premises lead to the conclusion that the universe is many times greater than that now so called. His hypotheses are that the fixed stars and the sun remain motion less that the earth revolves about the sun in the circumference of a circle the sun lying in the middle of the orbit and that the sphere of the fixed stars situated about the same center as the sun is so great that the circle in which he supposes the earth to revolve bears such a proportion to the distance of the fixed stars as the center of the sphere bears to its surface.
The Copernican vision of an earth in motion was not without its rudimentary precedents as Copernicus himself recounts: For a long time then I reflected on this confusion in the astronomical traditions concerning the derivation of the motions of the universes spheres. I began to be annoyed that the movements of the world machine created for our sake by the best and most systematic Artisan of all were not understood with greater certainty by the philosophers who otherwise examined so precisely the most insignificant trifles of this world. For this reason I undertook the task of rereading the works of all the philosophers which I could obtain to learn whether anyone had ever proposed other motions of the universes spheres than those expounded by the teachers of astronomy in the schools. And in fact I found in Cicero that Hicetas supposed the earth to move. Later I also discovered in Plutarch that certain others were of this opinion. . . . Therefore having obtained the opportunity from these sources I too began to consider the mobility of the earth.