28. Robert Recorde, The Castle of Knowledge (London, 1556)

Type: Book
Inv. No. n/a
Source: Royal Astronomical Society

Recorde’s Castle was the first comprehensive and original astronomical treatise to be published in English. Although generally adopting a Ptolemaic cosmology, which would be appropriate for an introductory text, it contains a famous early reference to Copernicus and his cosmology. Writing in dialogue form, Recorde has the student dismiss the idea of a moving earth as absurd, but the master tells him he is ‘to yonge to be a good iudge in so great a matter’ and that with further instruction he may be as keen to accept the proposition as he is now to condemn it.

On loan from the Royal Astronomical Society

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