this series honors Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543)
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The quotations are taken from Six Books on the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, by Nicholas Copernicus, published in 1543.
In the model of the universe consisting of eight nested spheres that Copernicus proposed in his masterwork, the second, third, and fourth spheres were occupied by Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.
Book VI of Revolutions includes geometric proofs and data tables based on ancient and contemporary observations that prove that "[t]he three outer planets, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars … move in longitude according to certain principles different from the other two [Venus and Mercury]."
In Copernicus's model, the planets orbit the sun.
While the ancient astronomers may have used these differences as evidence that the Earth resides in the center of the solar system, Copernicus came to a different conclusion. In his words, "I have accepted the earth's one grand circle (which has already been mentioned often)." In his model, Venus, and Mercury still "conform to a precise rule" as each of these inner planets orbit the sun. All of the planets' orbits are inclined within the plane of the ecliptic, and with all of the variations "geared to the motion and revolutions of the earth's grand circle."