Foscarini, Paolo Antonio - An epistle to fantoni

Foscarini, Paolo Antonio, An epistle to fantoni, 1661

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Faith is more
certain, than ei-
ther Senſe or Rea-
ſon.

* 2 Pet. 1. 19.

But yet becauſe the common Syſteme of the World deviſed by
Ptolomy hath hitherto ſatisfied none of the Learned, hereupon a
ſuſpicion is riſen up amongſt all, even Ptolemy's followers them-
ſelves, that there muſt be ſome other Syſteme, which is more true
than this of Ptolemy; For although the Phœnomena of Celeſtial
Bodys may ſeem to be generally reſolved by this Hypotheſis, yet
they are found to be involved with many difficulties, and refer-
red to many devices; as namely of Orbes of ſundry Forms and
Figures, Epicicles, Equations, Differences, Excentricks, andinnu-
merable ſuch like fancies and Chymæra's which ſavour of the
Ens Rationis of Logicians, rather than of any Realem Eſſentiam.
Of which kinde is that of the Rapid Motion, than which I finde
not any thing that can be more weakly grounded, and more eaſi-
ly controverted and diſproved: And ſuch is that conceit of the
^{*} Heaven void of Stars, moving the inferior Heavens or Orbes:

All which are introduced upon occaſion of the variety of the
Motions of Celeſtial Bodyes, which ſeemed impoſſible, by any
other way, to be reduced to any certain and determinate Rule.
So that the Aſſertors of that common Opinion, freely confeſs,
that in deſcribing the Worlds Syſteme, they cannot as yet diſco-
ver, or teach the true Hypotheſis thereof: But that their endea-
vours are onely to finde out, amongſt many things, what is moſt
agreeable with truth, and may, upon better and more accomo-
date Reaſons, anſwer the Celeſtial Phœnomena.

* Or Primum
Mobile.

Since that, the Teleſcope (an Optick Invention) hath been found
out, by help of which, many remarkable things in the Heavens,
moſt worthy to be known, and till then unthought of, were diſ-
covered by manifeſt ſenſation; as for inſtance, That the Moon is
Mountainous; Venus and Saturn Tricorporeal; and Jupiter
Quadricorporeal: Likewiſe that in the Via Lactea, in the Ple-
iades, and in the Stars called Nobuloſœ there are many Stars, and
thoſe of the greateſt Magnitude which are by turns adjacent to
one another; and in the end it hath diſcovered to us, new fixed
Stars, new planets, and new Worlds. And by this ſame Inſtru-
ment it appears very probable, that Venus and Mercury do not
move properly about the Earth, but rather about the Sun; and
that the Moon alone moveth about the Earth. What therefore
can be inferred from hence, but that the Sun doth ſtand immo-
vable in the Centre, and that the Earth, with the other Celeſtial
Orbes, is circumvolved about it? Wherefore by this and many
other Reaſons it appears, That the Opinion of Pythagor as and
Copernicus doth not diſagree with Aſtronomical and Coſmogra-
phical Principles; yea, that it carryeth with it a great likelihood
and probability of Truth: Whereas amongſt the ſo many ſeve-
ral Opinions, that deviate from the common Syſteme, and deviſe

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