COPERNICUS: Some Thoughts about the Social Construction of Heroes

	Seeing in ways others were unable to see,
	you challenged millennia of tradition
	with mathematical simplicity.

	Ignoring platitudes that earth axled all things,
	you boldly suggested we're sandwiched
	among other planets,
	that whirl around the Sun steadily.

	Today your insights are widely admired
	& books, buildings, satellites,
	& even bank-notes bear your name.

	Whenever people think creatively
	or challenge accepted beliefs
	your voice still speaks.


Noel:   This author idealizes Copernicus, turning him into some larger-than-life hero.

Gwen:   (sipping her wine) Is it any surprise? All heroes are, in a sense, mythical.

Tara:   Indeed. The best way to discover a person's values is to find out who their heroes are.

Orapan: Hegel got it right: each hero represents a particular volksgeist.
        They both embody and influence the spirit of their times

Gwen:   Hegel? (chuckling while swirling the wine in her glass, then gazing at it as if
        nothing outside that glass existed) Perhaps, but we need to realize heroes are
        seldom portrayed accurately. By idolizing or demonizing others, we distort their
        images into our own hopes or fears.


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from Celebrations ah Song: Rejoicing Through Art, Poetry & Narratives with T Newfields
SUMMARY:  A dialog, image, and poem about Nicolas Copernicus (1473 – 1543).
KEYWORDS: scientific history, scientific paradigms, social constructivism, heroic mythicization

Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955 - ?)
Begun: 1989 in Brattleboro, VT, USA ✶ Finished: 2015 in Tokyo, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted

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TRANSLATIONS

DEUTSCH   https://www.tnewfields.info/de/coper.htm
ESPAÑOL   https://www.tnewfields.info/es/coper.htm
FRANÇAIS  https://www.tnewfields.info/fr/coper.htm
NIHONGO   https://www.tnewfields.info/jp/koperunikusu.htm
ZHŌNGWÉN  https://www.tnewfields.info/zh/jia1.htm