Is this quote from Leonardo da Vinci correct?

Question

For some reason I am having trouble "Interpeting" it.

“The earth is not in the centre of the Sun’s orbit nor at the centre of the universe, but in the centre of its companion elements, and united with them. And any one standing on the moon, when it and the sun are both beneath us, would see this our earth and the element of water upon it just as we see the moon, and the earth would light it as it lights us”

Answer 1

I'm not sure what he meant by "companion elements" but I can explain the rest.

The argument was to point out that the earth is not flat and it isn't the center of everything. To illustrate, he positioned the moon between the earth and sun, at night. They would both be on the opposite side of the earth from us at that time of day. He's saying that if you were standing on the moon, you would see the earth, its oceans etc. DaVinci did not know much about what was on the far side of the earth, but he was pointing out that there *was* one, as opposed to the idea of the earth being flat with basically nothing on the "bottom" of it.

He also said, (correctly), that if you were on the moon, you would be on the dark side of it and your surroundings would be lit up by the bright, sunlit earth, just like the earth is lit up at night by the full moon, when it is *opposite* the earth from the sun.

Answer 2

The heliocentric view was known to the ancient Greeks, so it's possible that da Vinci came across it in Greek texts. What's obscure about da Vinci's quote is the clause:

"but in the centre of its companion elements, and united with them".

He might have been referring to the entirety of the solar system, including all the planets and moons, and Earth is "united" with them by some unknown means, which we now know to be gravitation. The second comment is just saying that one that is on the moon would see Earth in the same way as we see the moon, and that there would be Earthlight on the moon, and that from the moon we could see the blue waters of the Earth.

Answer 3

Leo was a cool dude, but a secretive one. I wonder where that quote is from, because in the late 15th century, it was not a good idea to say "you know that Bible thing? yeah, kinda crackers." out loud.

He says what is clearly heresy in the eyes of the Church, but steeps his words with enough wiggle-room to maybe beat the rap. He had experience in that.

Answer 4

Y-E-S