The First Copernican: Georg Joachim Rheticus and the Rise of the Copernican Revolution, by Dennis Danielson (Walker & Company, 2006)
What is it like to walk in the shadow of a giant? It takes a special person to grasp the genius of someone else’s yet-unpublished masterpiece, and then passionately, relentlessly and obsessively bring it to the rest of the world. It takes a person like Joachim Rheticus – the first (and for a long time, the only) disciple of Nicholas Copernicus. Throughout the pages of The First Copernican, Danielson does a masterful job of describing the relationship between the two visionaries, the mystery and intrigue of medieval science, religion and politics, and the final outcome of Rheticus’ own personal and scientific struggles as he introduced the Copernican revolution to the world.
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