Palmieri and Vesel on Symmetry and Harmony in Copernicus’ Cosmology

Abstract

In his review [Aestimatio 11 (2014) 188–190] of Matjaž Vesel’s book,1 Paolo Palmieri focuses on the question ‘What does Vesel mean by “Platonism” and can it be neatly defined in the context of European culture of the 16th century?’ According to Vesel, as reported by Palmieri, harmonia and symmetria are two key concepts whose applications in De revolutionibus (1543) show Copernicus to be a follower of Plato. In this brief note, we seek to clarify Copernicus’ explicit invocations of symmetry and harmony in his De revolutionibus.