Mathematics is written for mathematicians.
From Nicolaus Copernicus
Those who know that the consensus of many centuries has sanctioned the conception that the earth remains at rest in the middle of the heavens as its center, would, I reflected, regard it as an insane pronouncement if I made the opposite assertion that the earth moves.
Therefore I would not have it unknown to Your Holiness, the the only thing which induced me to look for another way of reckoning the movements of the heavenly bodies was that I knew that mathematicians by no means agree in their investigation thereof.
For it is the duty of an astronomer to compose the history of the celestial motions through careful and expert study.
Therefore, having obtained the opportunity from these sources, I too began to consider the mobility of the earth.
The earth also is spherical, since it presses upon its center from every direction.
Near the sun is the center of the universe.
We regard it as a certainty that the earth, enclosed between poles, is bounded by a spherical surface.
Finally we shall place the Sun himself at the center of the Universe.
Therefore, when I considered this carefully, the contempt which I had to fear because of the novelty and apparent absurdity of my view, nearly induced me to abandon utterly the work I had begun.
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