Finally We Shall Place The Sun Himself

In First Place We Must Observe That The Universe Is Spherical. This Is Either Because That Figure Is The Most Perfect, As Not Being Articulated, But Whole And Complete In Itself; Or Because It Is The Most Capacious And Therefore Best Suited For That Which Is To Contain And Preserve All Things.

Among The Authorities It Is Generally Agreed That The Earth Is At Rest In The Middle Of The Universe, And They Regard It As Inconceivable And Even Ridiculous To Hold The Opposite Opinion. However, If We Consider It More Closely The Question Will Be Seen To Be Still Unsettled, And So Decidedly Not To Be Despised. For Every Apparent Change In Respect Of Position Is Due To Motion Of The Object Observed, Or Of The Observer, Or Indeed To An Unequal Change Of Both.

Therefore, In The Course Of The Work I Have Followed This Plan: I Describe In The First Book All The Positions Of The Orbits Together With The Movements Which I Ascribe To The Earth, In Order That This Book Might Contain, As It Were, The General Scheme Of The Universe.

Although All The Good Arts Serve To Draw Man's Mind Away From Vices And Lead It Toward Better Things, This Function Can Be More Fully Performed By This Art, Which Also Provides Extraordinary Intellectual Pleasure.

For A Traveler Going From Any Place Toward The North, That Pole Of The Daily Rotation Gradually Climbs Higher, While The Opposite Pole Drops Down An Equal Amount.