skip to content

Astronomical Images : Motion of Mercury, figure 4

Johannes Regiomontanus

Astronomical Images

<p style='text-align: justify;'>In his <i>Disputationes contra Cremonensia deliramenta</i>, the last book printed before his untimely death in 1476, Regiomontanus offered a critique of the <i>Theorica planetarum communis</i>, a thirteenth-century textbook attributed to Gerard of Cremona, in comparison to the relative advantages offered by Georg Peuerbach's <i>Theoricae novae planetarum</i>. Adopting the form of a dialogue between 'Viennensis' (representing Regiomontanus) and 'Cracoviensis' (representing Martin Bylica of Ilkusch), the work utilises geometrical proofs, often supplemented by diagrams, to refute specific claims in the earlier <i>Theorica</i>. This is one of several diagrams used to criticise errors in the <i>Theorica planetarum communis</i> regarding the basic geometry of Ptolemy's Mercury model ' one of his most complex. Consistent with most of Ptolemy's planetary models, Mercury was said to revolve on the circumference of an epicycle, the centre of which was carried by an eccentric deferent. In order to fit the observational data, this deferent too had to be carried on a small eccentric deferent circle. Often referred to as a 'crank mechanism', this small circle carried on its circumference the centre of the large deferent, thereby cyclically moving it closer to and farther away from the Earth (represented at n). This diagram represents the innermost geometry of the model, the circle centred on f representing the crank mechanism. The circle of the eccentric deferent is not delineated; its only pictorial remnant is its centre, here represented at h. This image, along with several others presented by Regiomontanus, concerns the problematic claims of the <i>Theorica planetarum communis</i> regarding the two perigees of the epicycle centre in the Mercury model. Having already refuted the claims of the <i>Theorica</i> regarding the geo-spatial relationship between the centre of the deferent and the centre of the epicycle, Regiomontanus offers a corrected account. This diagram illustrates that when the deferent centre is at the tangent point h, the epicycle centre k is not on the tangent line (as asserted in the <i>Theorica</i>), but widely diverges from it, since angles afh and agk must be equal according to the uniform motion of the centre of the epicycle and the centre of the deferent in opposite directions.</p>


Want to know more?

Under the 'More' menu you can find , and information about sharing this image.

No Contents List Available
No Metadata Available

Share

If you want to share this page with others you can send them a link to this individual page:
Alternatively please share this page on social media

You can also embed the viewer into your own website or blog using the code below: