ISBN 0-586-05777-3 (UK pbk),,, 0-87923-513-6 (US pbk)

"The work of Nicholas Koppernigk, better known as Copernicus, shattered the medieval view of the universe. John Banville's novel evokes magnificently the life of this haunted genius in a world of grandeur, conflict and change." [jacket blurb, UK pbk, 1983]

"The innovation displayed in Doctor Copernicus originates in the protagonist's shift from outward circumstances to inward suffering as preconceived, comfortable perceptions are questioned. Belief and its consequences are unavoidable to the scientist obsessed (as visionaries must be) with the notion of order and finding the secret to the universe. But absolutes can't be abandoned just a little bit; you can't put the genie back into the bottle." --Leland Neville (in Science Fiction Eye , Volume 2, #2, Issue 7, August 1990).