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Description

Striking example of a Geocentric model of the Universe, which appeared in an edition of Blaeu's Atlas Maior.

The geocentric model is a description of the universe with the Earth at the center. Under the geocentric model, the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets all circled Earth. The geocentric model served as the predominant description of the universe in many ancient civilizations, such as those of Aristotle and Ptolemy.

Two observations supported the idea that the Earth was the center of the Universe. First, the Sun appears to revolve around the Earth once per day. While the Moon and the planets have their own motions, they also appear to revolve around the Earth about once per day. The stars appeared to be on a celestial sphere, rotating once each day along an axis through the north and south geographic poles of the Earth. Second, the Earth does not seem to move from the perspective of an Earth-bound observer; it appears to be solid, stable, and unmoving.

The ancient Greeks believed that the motions of the planets were circular and not elliptical, a view that was not challenged in Western culture until the 17th century through the synthesis of theories by Copernicus and Kepler.

The astronomical predictions of Ptolemy's geocentric model were used to prepare astrological and astronomical charts for over 1500 years. The geocentric model was the primary western model of the Universe until the late 16th century, when it was gradually superseded by the Heliocentric model of Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler.

Condition Description
Old Color
Willem Janszoon Blaeu Biography

Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638) was a prominent Dutch geographer and publisher. Born the son of a herring merchant, Blaeu chose not fish but mathematics and astronomy for his focus. He studied with the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, with whom he honed his instrument and globe making skills. Blaeu set up shop in Amsterdam, where he sold instruments and globes, published maps, and edited the works of intellectuals like Descartes and Hugo Grotius. In 1635, he released his atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, sive, Atlas novus.

Willem died in 1638. He had two sons, Cornelis (1610-1648) and Joan (1596-1673). Joan trained as a lawyer, but joined his father’s business rather than practice. After his father’s death, the brothers took over their father’s shop and Joan took on his work as hydrographer to the Dutch East India Company. Later in life, Joan would modify and greatly expand his father’s Atlas novus, eventually releasing his masterpiece, the Atlas maior, between 1662 and 1672.