Prof. Danica Pušić Publishes Translation of Copernicus

Professor Danica Pušić of JCU’s Department of History and Humanities has published the translation into Serbo-Croatian of Nicolaus Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres).

A classicist and a linguist, professor Pušić teaches Latin and Greek at all levels at JCU.

This is the first complete translation into Serbo-Croatian of Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium from the Latin original first edition, published in Nürnberg in 1543. This work offered an alternative and revolutionary model of the universe to the universally accepted Ptolemaic geocentric system.

Copernicus’ heliocentric system is based on claims that the Earth revolves around its axis and rotates around the Sun. These claims were soon accepted in the scientific circles, but they also alarmed the Catholic Church. The work was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of March 5, 1616. The censorship lasted until the early 19th century.

The publication of Copernicus’ work is considered one of the main events in the history of science: it has triggered the so-called “Copernican revolution” which contributed substantially to the scientific revolution.

The book was published by Akademska knjiga in 2014 and has been available for purchase since 2015.