Het planetenstelsel volgens Tycho Brahe en volgens Ptolemaeus 1683 - 1733

Bernard Picart made this print sometime between 1693 and 1733, comparing competing models of the solar system. On the left is the model of Tycho Brahe, and on the right that of Ptolemy. Made in the Netherlands, this print reflects a time of great scientific advancement as well as the institutional structures that promoted and disseminated knowledge. Brahe’s model, a hybrid of the older Ptolemaic Earth-centered model and the newer Copernican Sun-centered one, was influential at a time when the science was not yet settled. Institutions such as the universities and scientific societies funded by wealthy patrons shaped the production of such images. The very act of comparing the models implies a questioning of established authority. The historian of science can use prints such as this, along with other research resources, to better understand the social and intellectual contexts in which science happens. The meaning of science, like that of art, is contingent on such contexts.