Owen Gingerich

Owen Jay Gingerich ( March 24, 1930 – May 28, 2023) was an American astronomer who had been professor emeritus of astronomy and of the history of science at Harvard University and a senior astronomer emeritus at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. In addition to his research and teaching, he had written many books on the history of astronomy.

2 quotes found

"Some of the al-Tusi material is known to have reached Rome in the 15th century... but there is no evidence that Copernicus ever saw it.…I personally believe he could have invented the method independently."

- Owen Gingerich

• 0 likes• Astronomers from the United States• Harvard University faculty• Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences• Members of the American Philosophical Society• Harvard University alumni•
"Ibn al-Shatir’s forgotten model was rediscovered in the late 1950’s by E. S. Kennedy. .. In a preliminary work, the Commentariolus, he [Copernicus] employed an arrangement equivalent to Ibn al-Shatir's. Later, in De revolutionibus, he reverted to the use of eccentric orbits, adopting a model that was the sun-centered equivalent of the one developed at Maragha. Could Copernicus have been influenced by the Maragha astronomers or by Ibn al-Shatir? ...some of the al-Tusi material is known to have reached Rome in the 15th century (many Greek manuscripts were carried west after the fall of Constantinople in 1453), but there is no evidence that Copernicus ever saw It... . I personally believe he could have invented the method independently."