page_title: Wittenberg interpretation of Copernicus
section_title: Erasmus Reinhold
hierarchical_section_title: Wittenberg interpretation of Copernicus / Erasmus Reinhold
caption_attribution_description: English: Frontpage of first edition Erasmus Reinhold's Prutenic Tables' (1551)'Català: Porta de la Primera Edició de les Taules Prutèniques d'Erasmus Reinhold
context_page_description: The Wittenberg Interpretation refers to the work of astronomers and mathematicians at the University of Wittenberg in response to the heliocentric model of the solar system proposed by Nicholas Copernicus, in his 1543 book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. The Wittenberg Interpretation fostered an acceptance of the heliocentric model and had a part in beginning the Scientific Revolution.
  In 1543, Nicholas Copernicus changed the scientific world by publishing De revolutionibus orbium coelestium. This was the first time that a heliocentric model had seriously been considered, and publicised, and a resulted in a slew of opinions on how the universe may worked. One such place that these debates existed was the University of Wittenberg which was home to many astronomers, astrologists and mathematicians, such as Erasmus Reinhold, Philip Melanchthon, Caspar Peucer, Georg Rheticus, and Albrecht Hohenzollern. The work of such figures became known as the Wittenberg Interpretation, which historians recognise as important in fostering acceptance for the heliocentric explanation of the universe, and the wider shift of public views over time; and the beginning of the Scientific Revolution.
context_section_description: Erasmus Reinhold was born in Saalfeld, Saxony in 1511. In 1536, Philipp Melanchthon appointed Reinhold to professor of higher mathematics, a subject which included astronomy, at the  University of Wittenberg where Reinhold had previously studied. Reinhold initially became acquainted with Copernican theory through the writings of Georg Joachim Rheticus, an astronomer and colleague who also worked closely with Melanchthon at the University. Before De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium was published, Reinhold gained information regarding Copernican theory, specifically regarding the movement of the moon, from Narratio prima. This book was written by Rheticus, and provided his analysis of Copernican theory. Based on his knowledge of Copernicus’s lunar theory, gained from Rheticus's Narratio prima, Reinhold praised Copernican theory. This is seen in Reinhold’s annotations within Peurbach’s New Theorics of the Planets, published in 1542. In these notes, Reinhold mentions his dissatisfaction with the lack of understanding in modern astronomy, yet also mentions how Copernicus’s lunar theory restores his hope. In additional annotations, Reinhold continually mentions how new Copernican theory simplifies astronomical motion by erasing the need for an equant, an idea previously introduced by the geocentric model of the Ptolemaic system. This new idea, the rejection of the equant, is the source of Reinhold’s praise of Copernicus and Copernican theory, as it simplifies planetary motion and in his opinion, allows for the future of astronomy to move forward in a smoother, less confusing or cluttered manner.
  After the publication of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543, Reinhold remained relatively neutral on the issue of a heliocentric versus a geocentric cosmos. However, he wanted to recalculate and provide clean and simple-to-read tables based on the new ideas of motion presented in De revolutioninus.  Reinhold did exactly this as he wrote and published the Prutenic Tables. Melanchthon thoroughly supported this new compilation of tables of motion, and even helped secure funding from Albrecht, the Duke of Prussia, for the publishing the Prutenic Tables.
caption: The first edition of Erasmus Reinhold's Prutenic Tables. Published in 1551.
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