Cosmology in medieval Islam empirical testing. His work thus marked a turning point in astronomy, which may be considered a "Scientific Revolution before the Renaissance". His rectified model was later adapted into a heliocentric model by Copernicus, which was mathematically achieved by reversing the direction of the last vector connecting the Earth to the Sun. In the published version of his masterwork, "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium", Copernicus also cites the theories of al-Battani and Averroes as influences. An area of active discussion in the Maragheh school, and later the Samarkand and Istanbul observatories, was the possibility of the Earth's rotation. Supporters of this theory
The Book of the Short Sun least "Locus: The Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field" considered the three "Short Sun" volumes separately for annual "Best Novel" awards. The "Short Sun" of the title is an ordinary star, in contrast to the "Long Sun" of the Whorl where the narrator grew up. Most of the story takes place in a star system with two habitable planets, Blue and Green, which lend their names to the first two volumes. The Whorl of volume three's title is the generation ship setting of "Long Sun". The Tor hardcover editions (see table) were almost 1200 pages long in sum.