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CANAD
"An absorbing
[tale]
that simultaneously
and
On his
satisfies
our
scientific curiosity."
young
me
seem
to have
lived in vain."
years
mostly
in his native
Rudolph
II
Tycho
in
Roman
Emperor,
not
had meticulously
From
oped
his
original, if incorrect,
a highly
to rec-
still
ment of
some
Tycho knew
fifty years
earlier.
young mathe-
tem
how
and he was
which
all
worked
the universe
In point of fact,
came
observations
Planetary
Motion
it
would be abandoned.
From
was.
Laws of
Yet, as
would have
The
ly
his reputation
story of
how
intertwined
is
their lives
and
talents
were
fateful-
in
European
and colorful
when
era in
medieval
TYCHO
& KEPLER
Other books by
Ur,
ICitty Ferc
Science,
Prisons
God
TYCHO&
KEPLER
The Unlikely Partnership That Forever Changed
Our
KITTY
FERGUSON
my sister,
To
Copyright
No
Ginger
and
retrieval system,
without permission
in writing
First
Inc.
from
this
435 Hudson
Street,
& Company,
10014
Ferguson, Kitty.
Tycho
& Kepler
Kitty Ferguson.
cm.
ISBN 0-8027-1390-4
1.
Denmark
Astronomers
5.
Kepler's laws.
6.
(alk.
2. Kepler,
Biography.
Planetary theory.
4.
I.
QB36.B8 F47
paper)
Johannes, 1571-1630.
Astronomers
Title:
Germany Biography.
Tycho and
Kepler.
II.
2002
520'.92'24dc21
2002027445
[B]
Visit
Walker
2468
10
97531
Title.
Contents
Map:
Tychos
Map:
Tycho
Denmark
ix
Acknowledgments
xi
xiii
Prologue
1.
Legacies
2.
Aristocrat by Birth,
Astronomer by Nature
Nobleman
3.
Behavior Unbecoming a
4.
24
39
57
5.
The
6.
Worlds Apart
7.
A Palace Observatory
105
8.
126
Isle
77
91
Contriving Immortality
140
10.
153
1 1
9.
Years of Discontent
169
12.
Geometry's Universe
181
13.
200
14.
Converging Paths
213
Contents
Vlll
15.
Contact
231
Arms
16.
17.
A Dysfunctional Collaboration
18.
"Let
Me Not Seem
19.
The
Best of Times
to
Have Lived
243
252
266
in Vain"
286
20. Astronomia
Nova
The Wheel of Fortune Creaks Around
An Unlikely Harmony
304
21
321
Shadows
352
22.
Appendix
1:
337
359
Angular Distance
Appendix 2:
Vocabulary ofAstronomy
Appendix 3:
361
ofMars
363
Notes
369
Bibliography
385
Art Credits
389
Index
391
|turap
Tubingen
Ingolstadt
.
A,,k,,,
Augsburg
Acknowledgments
scientific, historical,
and bibliographical
Owen
expertise
Gingerich,
is
exceeded
only by his patience, for reading the manuscript and offering corrections
and
come
insights
family has
to
who
him unexpectedly in
after
we met
daughter to his
home and
offered
me
the
showed us the
women
to
at
sites
barrier
and
Caitlin,
who
never learned,
who
my husband, Yale,
and
my daugh-
roads of Sweden and the Czech Republic, took photographs, and read
the manuscript; to
and risked
when
the
his reputation
failed to return
books
Acknowledgments
xiv
on
rapidly cleared
tics
of the
era,
whose
who
libraries, galleries,
poli-
through
made
her translation
European
social history
and whose
European
expertise in
all
me
more
whose knowledge of
illustrations; to
the
expertise
who
who
helped
stages
Walker
London,
&
Company
in
New
to
my
editors at
work on
this
book.
in
Prologue
On JANUARY
1600,
11,
member of an
of the Holy
Roman
hub of European
member of the
was returning
political
and
man
Empire. Having
provincial capital, he
elite circle
fulfilled, for
intellectual
life.
Only
far
and was
for the
and the
there.
expertise he
Prologue
Hoffmann,
for
had occurred
all
to
him
that he
might do
offering
him
could
ill
no
cost to Kepler,
and an introduction
was reputedly a
nose,
more
ex-
recently arrived
common-law
fled
the extraordinary
He had
difficult person.
by
who
there
to a far
who had
It
south
of the
fallen foul
as a princely refugee
with
wagonloads of fabulous
as-
Hoffmann's
own
be drawn to an
liant
library
intellect
was
his passion.
such
as Tycho's
He was
and
man
the sort of
also to
admire the
to
bril-
Prague, Tycho Brahe had flowed through the court like fine honey.
him and
to support
Hoffmanns
as
far
away
that
first
world
was a god-
whom he so
ticket, that
he had to leave
God
matters),
(Kepler had no
it
was a
meet him
as
he was to meet
that
his wife
as eager to
conde-
by the grace of
if
his coterie
one-way
in the
in northern
closer,
man
fruitless overtures to
doubt that
style.
on January
1 1
result.
and the
When
driver set
Prologue
The journey took ten days, and Tycho Brahe was not in the city
when they arrived. He was at Benatky nad Jizerou, a clifrtop castle
several miles to the northeast. Kepler stayed for a
in
how
Then on January
few days
man
that Kepler
was
"You
in Prague.
desirable participant
as
as a guest
will
himself,
come not
so
and companion
in
ner assistant.
Nine days
on February
later,
4, carrying a
glowing
letter
Tycho
own
Brahe's
of introthis
time
named Tycho,
and an elegant young man named Franz Tengnagel. They crossed the
Labe River
lodge,
at Brandeis,
a luxurious
for the
numerous
February
5, that
pines,
were bare.
first
It
hunting
trees,
except
significant
change
on
in the land-
It
was
for
of creation
in the process
it
had
either
fortress
some
castles
one en-
prominently featured.
Kepler counted
among
came from
Benatky
whom
men
such
as
his previous
realm of
yond
his understanding.
schoolmaster
who had
Forest.
By
Prologue
own
his
please
description he resembled a
only
little
or barking and,
when he
and treated
liked
by recent defeats
at the
man
at court.
that
as
knew he could
an elegant
in different
also
figure.
Though Kepler may have been becoming aware of his own genius,
he was
still
world
figure. Yet in
somewhat jaded
tales,
coiled
on
a fabulous
golden hoard
the
let
power
who was
nevertheless
the
endowed with
it,
forge a
new
astronomy.
Modern
cisely
scientists
who Johannes
and
Kepler was.
The
kindly
No
one
know this
Hoffmann
at
didn't
is
pre-
know;
Benatky Castle
sus-
likely to iden-
Prologue
tify either
of them
as a
prime candidate
Both men
for immortality.
When
who would
his insistence
on mathematical
precipitate hu-
and
scientific inquiry
discovery.
and inventiveness,
rigor
and his belief that God had created a universe in which harmony and logic prevail came to grips with Tycho's superb, unyielding
nations,
would be the
how
would
would
profound
revelation of
become
what science
a prototype for
Newton was
when he
referring to
had
said he
The colorful, dangerous world in which Tycho and Kepler lived and
worked
the courts,
Renaissance Europe
ground, shaped by
universities,
it
afforded
and often
them
cities,
little
at its mercy,
and hovels of
palaces,
them
apart.
On
more
tered in a novel,
same can be
would seem
said of
Rudolph with
Rosenkrantz
who
among
and
these people,
Kepler's loftiest
The
vil-
his
sparked
tried for
However,
encoun-
superficial
if
many of their
witchcraft.
Nor was
all
and best-considered
them from
plans,
their science.
secured for them an immortality that they probably would not have
Prologue
achieved otherwise.
lent will of God led
later
No wonder
men
could be recognized
If invisible cords
passage of
strife-torn,
strands
births.
many
to
amazingly
seem
and
to the brief,
followed
it,
those
Legacies
1546-1561
The ORIGIN OF
One
what
in
pre-dates
gentle folds of
like,
are records
By
moat with
Here, on
secluded
It
among
from the
was probably
draw-
in sixteenth-century
castle
sur-
home, the
as a
defen-
December
14, 1546,
more than
Bille,
wife of the Danish knight Otte Brahe, gave birth to twin sons.
Only
one of them
lived,
Kagerod. Tyge,
who would
tell
him
first
that he
name
manor
to Tycho,
at
was
had been
a twin.
TYCHO
He was
& KEPLER
When
early childhood.
young uncle
old, his
and aunt, Jorgen Brahe and Inger Oxe, abducted him from
ents' castle
far as records
cident
show, and
when he was
mother or
as
to their
own
his par-
stronghold at Tostrup. As
older, there
his
his
father,
to
recover him. Otte and Beate by then had a second son, Steen, and
simply that
my parents took me
my earliest youth." It seems that was
later write
was in
Tycho knew.
Short of being a
member of the
royal family,
was impossible to
it
with consummate
sition
who served
who knew how
and
loyalty,
that position if
temporarily
it
lost.
how
to regain
On
men
had
to maintain a po-
court and
at
relatives
to be
at
first
Danish
Reformation in Denmark
in the
and
foster-father Jorgen
honed
their courtly
and
and military
his uncle
skills
dur-
Brahe.
is
found
in Tycho's
own
later
accounts and
century.
Legacies
0resund
(see
also
North
He would
xi).
sponsibility
treaties,
it
was
Tyge's forebears
combined
on
his
mother Beate
that
than
When
of state.
clesiastical positions,
the church.
basis in affairs
Bille's side
re-
make
the Reformation
came
in the 1530s,
enter
no fewer
were in the Rigsraad, and most commanded imporDenmark and Norway. Less fortunately, seven of the
Catholic bishops of Denmark were blood relations, linking
six Billes
tant castles in
eight
The marriage of
to be the losing
Billes
Beate
were rapidly
Bille to
re-
Otte Brahe
Billes
The Oxe
at the
The
Denmark
Reformation.
A decade later,
political fortunes
lectual interests
and
was the
civil
at the
as
and
their roots
members of
the Rigsraad
Inger's brilliant
friends
Inger.
telligence,
mother
abilities.
social grace.
sister
She was
One
woman
intel-
TYCHO
io
herself a scholar
duties
was
& KEPLER
role for a
woman
of the time,
a skilled alchemist.
up
in a princely fashion,
certain to be brought
him an added
advantage.
He had
the attention of an
only child in Jorgen's and Inger's castle and would have the support
compete
to
power
in the
politics
if
he
later
chose
signifi-
cantly,
and
There
is
little
seat,
on the
at his
He
must have
also
and
Skane that
is
his brothers
and
sisters
The
meant
as well.
armaments were
However,
nobleman
in a state
also
had
one's
royal
way
fiefs,
shape to
Administering royal
buildings and
fense.
duties of a
if
and yet
if
good enough
at court. It
was
a bal-
clearly carried
it
Oxe
family's
own
domain.
may
have ac-
retainers to ad-
When
it
came
to
Legacies
Tyge
as
to the
of Vordingborg
Castle, an
command
part of the
life at
six,
such an important
Duke
were
Continent.
coast of
Copenhagen and
the
way
self visited
the
from time
to time.
Beginning soon
school in
until
him-
stranger in
time of the
move
to
Vordingborg, Tyge
near the
side
[his]
on the
III
princes.
after the
sixty knights,
castle.
nobility studied
Latin
grammar and
religion,
his uncle
it.
When
grammar
school, he usually
man
Denmark were
enough
to support luxurious
TYCHO
12
& KEPLER
had studied
at
lated those
Wittenberg
in
Germany, and
emu-
their households
like
Martin
meals
at
for
went on around
Mealtime conversation
likely
politics,
a scholar's table.
and court
gossip.
University of
mealtime
his
education
which was
He may
actually
was more
tials. It
of lectures
as part
common
for
them only
of a course of study
lived
set
arrangement.
University students lodged with professors rather than bishops or
least
by sixteenth-
not
make
fessor
who
paid
fairly well.
it
The
did
pro-
ing and lecture attendance and arranged tutoring with older stu-
On
a smaller,
at
more personal
Cambridge or
Oxford.
The
ties
University of
III, at
whose coronation
set
the university
universi-
Tyge's great-
on
sound
fi-
Legacies
nancial footing,
and Frederick
13
II,
Among
church properties.
estates, tithes,
its
and
to
households.
The
household he belonged
to.
of Xicolaus Scavenius.
and there
may
is
a professor
Oxe
family.
On
may
who would
life.
Anders Sorensen Vedel, who would accompany Tyge on educational journeys abroad, lodged there.
sibly
However, education
ential follower
all
education with
a classical
at
elite.
as
Copenhagen
Martin Luther's
only
if it
made education
grounded
its
a priority
in the 'liberal
and produced
arts'":
In order to
fathers,
one
influ-
had
skills in
di-
Thorough comprehen-
and
TYCHO
& KEPLER
enly of the sciences. Every Lutheran university had at least one professorial chair in these
The two
also
had
for practicing
many
at
its
practical use
then,
it
to the inspiration
astronomy and
Though
his
men-
and
planets.
later,
for
ideal that
this
Most
significantly for
Tycho
by Philipp Melanchthon
also
was
in the
Tyge's interest in
intellectual
An
ambitions that
eclipse of the
Moon on
A surviving list
tion about the
de Sacrobosco's
omy
text
On
on
"Anno 1561,"
form of Tyge
in the
name and
showing
in a regular se-
Tycho. Tycho
(a table
number of dates
his
spelled the
first
ij,
Legacies
is
it
to
as
as
Astronomers
of their subject
as
the era
in
when Tycho
lived
thought
ii.
The primum
mobile.
way
the
sphere as a whole "rose" and "set" every night, and the fact
cycle.
One needed
dum
on
more
classroom discussions
detail, so
The
secun-
trigonometry.
Typical study of the secundum mobile began with Euclid's Geometry,
a
still
since
to trigonometry
planetary theory
When
around 300
classes.)
and planetary
still
B.C.
From
(Euclidean geometry
(known
went on
to Ptolemaic astronomy.
naked eye on a
is
now,
as
as Aristotle,
Hip-
Ptolemy) peered
at the
panorama
far
that
is
visible
with the
city light.
that, for
long periods of time, had discovered that the motions of the heavenly
bodies are not random. Stellar and planetary
but
it
jects
was possible
to calculate well in
knew early on
that
is
intricate,
servers
movement
at a future time.
Close ob-
to
TYCHO
16
& KEPLER
The
best
way
to describe
skies
as the center,
That concept
it.
in the
fact, to
with
works ad-
still
would seem
astronomy.
Early astronomers knew, however, that there are
that
at
and everything
at the
else
is
in
in
which Earth
motion around
it.
is
the cen-
one
phenomena
to require
if
by gazing up
mouth of
sults
sky as
it
second century
re-
dered
ents.
at the night
all
The
of
this afresh,
result, set
applying his
down
own
superb mathematical
in his Almagest
tal-
even
as
it
later,
was
Western thinking
rejected,
astronomy and
all
it
from
that.
which Ptolemy
"reality."
To be
plau-
Legacies
ij
sible,
Though
them.
when
scope
seemed
it
him
Ptolemy and
or
fable.
his predecessors
in perfect circles
and
all
heavenly
spheres.
glass spheres in
traveled.
Astronomers spoke of
The
spheres
were nested one within the other, with each successive sphere
enough
small
to
fit
as
movement occurred
The
in favor
left
it.
They were
just
tightly
as
larger.
stars.
The innermost
which the
Moon
in the
sphere
nearest Earth
was
the sphere
ex-
between the outer and inner walls of its own sphere. Not
all
scholars
agreed about the nature and mechanics of these spheres, but there
heavenly body could break through the walls of a sphere. That would
shatter
it.
This
last restriction
became
significant for
Tycho Brahe
One
TYCHO
18
& KEPLER
Figure 1.1: Early astronomers thought of the planets and the Sun and
as
each moving in
its
own
how to
explain a
of the planets.
phenomenon known
as the "retrograde"
when
it is
on the opposite
movement and
A carousel
side
move from
fore Ptolemy,
movement
Moon
perfect circles
this in a
and
as its "opposi-
model
spheres.
were faced
The
was ingenious.
is
On the
simplest carousel, the horses are bolted directly to the floor, which
a large, rotating disk.
no other motion.
They
If the
circle, as
is
amusement park
is
is
a light
as
Legacies
Figure 1.2:
On
on
that ride
move
19
make
their
way all
the
way around
As the carousel
random
occurrence, as
happened
ularly
light
turns,
it
he moves
might be
among
and
on
as
predictably.
its
The
if
its
the riders, or
on the cap
if a large firefly
is
reg-
of that disk. Hence, in addition to their motion with the disk, the
horses are
By
the
moving around
same token,
tered
on the rim of a
moved
on Earth, the
result
would
TYCHO
20
The
which
& ICEPLER
moved was
epicycle.
The
larger circle
on which the
the radius at
could explain
ets,
Sun, and
many irregularities
Moon
move.
which
By
ad-
epicycles, astronomers
planet traveling in
its
way the
epicycle
plan-
would
sometimes be closer to Earth and sometimes farther away, which explained apparent variations in
omy
a planet's sphere
wheel along on
its
was
its
eccentric.
enough
epicycles.
just large
With an
and equant.
Legacies
Its
21
from
own
earlier
invention.
Ptolemy used
and speeding up
was possible
as
also
seemed
it,
wheeled
in
its
epicycles
down
would appear to
in a
success-
sition as
unmoving
center, his
for the
its
po-
a surprising de-
changing positions of
the hopes
to
and account
Moon, and
Fulfilling
spheres,
it
to vary.
It
would appear
it
for
on the
to cheat a bit
known
at that
accomplish
terms of
circles,
Students and scholars of Tycho Brahe's and Johannes Kepler's generations were also steeped
from childhood
in a
worldview that
its
origin in
still
far
had an
religious
Europe. This worldview held that everything below the orbit of the
Moon was subject to change, degradation, and decay, while the heavenly spheres beyond the Moon were a realm of unvarying, eternal
perfection.
ideas.
little
different
on Earth.
to these
Nor was
it
possible to
TYCHO
22
& KEPLER
when
speaking scholars
the
first
his
men knew
astronomy was
They came
nothing of Ptolemy,
still
flourishing in
ogy, filtered
later,
when
merger. Scholars,
put
later
What emerged
less literal,
so,
first
they
more metaphorical
in-
and
Moon
yond the
fallen, lost
From
Europeans accepted
this
worldview
as reality.
map
be-
tween the passions of the squalid, death-ruled Earth and the lure of the
deathless, sacred heavens. In the fourteenth century,
Earth, the
through the
It is
celestial
no wonder
omy was
that
his
circles
Dante gave
this
in the universe,
Melanchthon believed
Legacies
23
both
all
they
men remained
this picture
com-
all
their lives
and found no
contradiction between their science and their belief, they would leave
this primitive
worldview in
tatters.
Aristocrat by Birth,
Astronomer
Nature
by
1562-1571
TYCHO CELEBRATED
1561.
He had
begin a
been
it
was time
to
and
December
life,
art, literature,
also
needed to be able
to
speak other languages besides Danish and the Latin, Greek, and
Hebrew he had
already studied,
and
sci-
young Danish
aristocrat
began to acquire
then
as squire to a foreign
would move up
to the level
kinsman and
this so-
Two
finally
come
fief.
of
on
mem-
had
his
2$
Oxe
family,
he
of
The
men
Peder
Oxe had
and
university,
life.
still
for a while
wed
oric rise to
his
left
downturn of political
for-
man
been no
successful. In 1548,
power
from university to
suffered a severe
she
and
when
to foreign courts
succeeding in public
tune, there
and
that
was the
start
of a mete-
young Tycho
traveled to
Inger
still
Saxony themselves
there
They had
wedding, and
as the
Electress
at the
Danish
birthplace of Lutheranism.
came from
at the University
of Copenhagen. As a pre-
hering to instructions in
letters sent
to supervise
Tycho's university studies, act as his spiritual and moral guide, see that
in fencing, riding,
and
TYCHO
26
& KEPLER
lifelong friend, in a
578
oil
dancing, and
manage the
good way
for a
make
left
weeks,
first
by ship
Denmark on February
as part
Many Danish
Kepler's
yond
edu-
xiii).
own
to support his
the roads beside the Elbe and Saale Rivers (see map,
Europe, on page
was nevertheless a
invaluable contacts.
and companionship,
safety
added up
travels
that, to Leipzig.
still
significant or wealthy a
most important
universities.
site
Though
power
as
home had
Danes
in resi-
a brother there,
and
Den-
in Latin, as
and
made
it
was
in
it
all
European
universities,
among
the faculty.
At
He
27
Leipzig,
Tycho studied
many
classical
to the
Philippists
languages and
with
as-
se-
classical culture.
tronomy.
Tycho
cretly
later
in secret."
Diirer.
Flawed
fist."
stars,
holding up
to
come
stars
on
as this
little
method
Tycho
inevitably was,
him
in
recently,
When
sixteen-year-old
Tycho began
to
own
mer of his
servation of Mars,
ets Jupiter
in
it
was of an ob-
and Saturn.
made
conjunction
at the
same
is
celestial longitude.
other.
Tycho found
years.
To an
earthly
show up
clearly
*The Alfonsine
Tables, based
up
in
efforts.
in
The Copernican
1252 by
fifty
tables
astronomers under
TYCHO
28
weathered the
& 1CEPLER
than the Ptolemaic ones, which
someone ought
produce better
to
tables,
and he began
to think
of affairs."
scopes of famous
results in a
men
interest. It
was of great
astrological
notebook.
Despite the best efforts of Vedel to keep his charge on track with
his studies
him some
instruction
managed
to acquire
entered his
"stayed
slept
first
one
Tycho needed
On May
observation from
564,
it;
for
He
my
observed the
seventeen, he
it
more
instrument
when he was
to the
a better instrument.
he often
governor [Vedel]
stars
through the
skylight."
Though
Schultz showed
more
dissatisfied
logic in
table
him
to obtain
its
construction.
The only
them with
my
governor,
who
to be
ra-
faulty
[in-
made
for
al-
The
next December,
had met
his
The
Figure 2.1:
To
stars,
\)
between two
and
29
slid
down
the distance between the two stars was exactly covered by the length of the
crossbar. Tycho's cross staff
it
had two
sights
on the
crossbar,
at
and the
staff
notebook.
and using
He
two
stars
a table
by reading the
scales
it
He
here,
adjusted
of tangents.
set
test a
month-by-month
coming year
The
to see
home on a
Denmark was once
vessel that
threaded
again engaged in
barking
at
its
combat with
its
ships.
perennial
his
rival,
Sweden. Disem-
journey to Knutstorps
Knutstorps Borg in
May
larger
TYCHO
30
sive
than
it
& KEPLER
manor
lake, a gate
now
there. In
From
causeway and
house.
tall,
was intended to be a
end
Beate's
Sweden came
gables.
The
feet thick,
walls
castle
home.
directly threatened,
form of bor-
der raids. Beate's mother and father, Tycho's grandparents, died de-
fending their
castle,
death of his uncle Jorgen in June 1565. Jorgen was vice admiral of
the Danish
visioning.
king
fell
fleet,
which was
in
Copenhagen
for repairs
and repro-
rescue him.
The king
Amager
drowned
there or
illness attribut-
His foster
father's
left
Tycho
a wealthy
man.
Jorgen had no children of his own, and he had been in the process of
making Tycho
life
at
Tostrup
as
her
"widow's jointure," but eventually, at her death, the castle and the
income from
its
Tycho
Somehow
left
natural
Denmark
who
among
at
mother and
father.
again a year
he had convinced
later,
in the spring
him
of 1566.
to continue his
education abroad rather than take advantage of the excellent opportunity the
war provided
to begin a career
al-
ready working toward his master of arts degree. Five months after
Tycho
of the students
fled.
Tycho moved
was extremely
On
more northern
to the
and most
university
move,
an astronomer,
December
10,
Tycho was
may
31
fell
have erupted
as the result
Manderup
of some
Parsberg.
levity, at
The
quarrel
Tycho's expense,
eclipse of the
Moon on
October 28 that
posed a Latin
With
ment
or not
it
was an
insult
and
poetic,
Tycho com-
Then
this prediction.
Whether
poem announcing
for six
months.
and
Parsberg's dispute,
it
The two young men resumed their argument at another party on December 27.
Two days later, December 29, Tycho's astrological computations
told him that there would be some sort of accidental happening. In
at the betrothal celebration.
spite
of the
fact that
out
fell,
he ventured down-
stairs in his
were quarreling again, wrought up, each demanding that the other
draw
his sword.
They
rose abruptly
from the
table
the churchyard.
A woman
in the
and prevent
their
men
was too
late.
A blow
from
the serious-
Parsberg's
the dining
room found
It
a bloody scene.
TYCHO
32
& KEPLER
fatal.
show
Later portraits
a di-
agonal scar across Tycho's forehead and a curving line across the
bridge of his nose. Tycho endured a lengthy, painful, and anxious period of convalescence that winter. His doctors couldn't reverse the dis-
figurement, for skin grafting, though done in other parts of the world,
was unknown
in
Europe
Although Tycho
until
and
later.* Fortunately,
lost part
of his nose
at
new interests
and alchemy.
him
life:
He
Later de-
artificially.
everyday wear.
medicine
he was already
made
a false
so over
ther.
reer,
made
influence
tainty, if
much
the next
dependent on him
earlier that
and
it
Tycho had
just
a cer-
sister,
to enter public
life.
Tycho
December,
he was
still
missed inher-
to
on
Tycho's
first
it
that in earlier
biographer, Pierre Gassendi, reported that skin grafts for nose replacement (per-
potters' guild)
Tycho's day in India, where adultery was punishable by amputation of the nose.
rate in
Aristocrat by Birth, Astronomer by Nature
centuries an aristocrat
33
in the
is
that
fairly strictly
lim-
was
a nobleman's son
and
relatives
Tycho enjoyed
university
life,
in the universities
retained
rich
their
that, for
possibility: a canonry.
having
took
civil service.
recently
The
cathedrals
become Lutheran
still
men
and noblemen
the
alike
were
of learning.
not require a
or assume a
man
less
who wanted
Commoners
carried with
a Lutheran
it
canon did
secular lifestyle.
It
to have a career as
was the
someone
which
his dignity as a
more sober
friends
On May
and
relatives at court,
work
who
canonry
to procure a
Tycho
The
included
for
him.
to take
up
could not
know
it
minuscule
tight-
ening of the cords that would draw him over the next thirty-two years
to that February
day
at
at
arrived.
Rostock were
was
also finding
new
interest in
TYCHO
34
when
& ICEPLEK
him
traveled south.
left
to be a
ceremony
in
it
and
which
and
a harness of ar-
mor. Steen's training had taken the traditional path, and he was
well ahead of Tycho
on
that path.
now
across
at yet
some
celestial
As Tycho's
came
and Copernicus.
restlessness
and
dependent work, to
direct his
staff,
It
own
it
some of its
cies,
to
compensate
months.
ously
was
It
in
on the plans
His
first
it
so
for
him
near
it
1)
improve
stars,
*A
one of the
it
his instruments.
new
pair of compasses.*
or between a
Tycho wrote of an
earlier,
Such
(see ap-
legs
impe-
between
deficien-
pendix
avail-
Augsburg
to
in-
especially
cities
he
even though
rial city
all
life
able
he gradually
stars
more primitive
is
other toward
was
passes
some
Though
it."
for
the
Tycho
3s
to include
it
satisfactory.
mount
in
it
such a way
set
as to
in the
later, it
that he could
degree of arc; a
minute of arc
is
one-sixtieth
it
would be necessary
to have
Bartholomew Schultz
sal
he had done
Leipzig.
Meanwhile,
drew up
a table of corrections.
Not long
as
in
Tycho
strument of sufficient
when
size,
a wealthy
alderman of the
city,
Paul
joined
in.
Oxe. So intrigued did Hainzel become with Tycho's instrument project that
Tycho,
set to
work on
the design
and
it
set
it
was the
largest
would
ever see
that he
in place in the
twenty
feet
grounds of Hainzel's
its
accuracy, but
it
up
indeed,
men
to
Augsburg.
many of Hainzel's
it
required so
cumbersome quadrant
into
it
arc
the
TYCHO
36
Figure 2.2:
in Paul Hainzel's
Cto
until
on the
arc
triangular section
at
that
edge (from
& KEPLER
Tycho could
hung from
its
more than
fifteen feet.
line
(H)
it
the sights
fell.
The entire
swung up
(D and E)
to be
The drawing
is
plumb
line
fell
J7
no matter how
retainers,
this
operation
loyal to Hainzel,
month when
it
the academic
elite, in
oclast, Petrus
Ramus. Ramus
two men
one
proved
Ramus wanted
lively discussion
in April 1570,
renowned scholar
to be discarded.
all
Tycho agreed
some
mony
and
Philippists:
and
in
He made
the
flight
to the cosmos,
to-
it
must move
were
servation, not
and the
circles or epicycles
would have
Augsburg
to rid
tions
visited
a neophyte
soon engaged in
tally
its
his
at
all.
He
it
would lend
itself to
hy-
pothesizing.
Ramus,
lay in
in
numerous and
in his next
exact observations.
The
celebrated
named Bracheus
as its designer.
globe
was declining
rapidly.
"For the definition of altitude, horizon, and other vocabulary of astronomy, see chapter 7 and
appendix
2.
TYCHO
38
& KEPLER
where
mander. The
was
still
castle
show
Bille,
ar-
com-
Moon.
his wife
The
would
with each son receiving twice a daughter's share and sons given preference
when
it
came
was
brothers.
an
earlier inheritance),
rights
of the
Danish
estate.
nobility:
and
had been
split in
seigneurial
a hairbreadth of inheriting a
As
Tycho would be
from the
duty was
to take his
much of Tycho's
home
this period,
revelation touched
phrased
as
though
it
poem
came from
living:
"He
I
estate.
on
who
poem
at
time was
Sometime during
took
financially independent.
castle at
clear
The
in Latin,
dwell on Olympus."
Behavior Unbecoming
a Nobleman
1571-1575
In. SPITE OF
toward the
life
of a scholar, during
0resund
court in Copenhagen.
at the royal
II
now
He already had
he fashioned closer
ties
himself.
seri-
owed
and
talents.
The
and
allegiance
king's obligation
was
and
aristocracy together.
effect,
Weighing
the
main
in heavily
on the
in this
pres-
had
Billes,
of saving
this
TYCHO
40
ing.
Such
acts
tion of who
owed what
from most of
& KEPLER
to
came
it
whom.
and
abilities
was
young nobleman of
as
highborn and
his generation.
fact that
although
he had, by doing
traditional path,
so,
who
king
for
its
One
learning,
make
one of the
it
finest ed-
The
question
now
Was he equipped
to
ferring with
of a
fief.
he was no warrior.
He was not
tle,
it,
fief.
His powerful
relatives at court
to
were con-
come up with an
appropriate answer.
By
not
at
court in
Copenhagen nor
at
Knutstorp but
Bille lived.
at
his life
Herrevad
lands bordered
on the deep,
limitless forest
It
had
still
Gothic
style.
The
area,
Billes,
in
1565.
From
41
its
forests
hundreds of
vants,
and
all
Lady
Bille's
Kirstine,
to
hunt the
ser-
es-
tablishment, there was also a Lutheran Latin school for boys on the
premises.*
He was
with people of
scholars.
With
all
his
Tycho prepared
own
outgoing
lively,
also
man and
extremely influential at
company of
to
make good on
active assistance,
charge of his
career
to
up an independent research
among Danish
as well. Setting
was unprecedented
planned a paper
oratory.
this scale
aristocrats,
also
on
facility
an instrument
mill,
Alchemy, though
it
factory,
to have disrep-
experimental science.
It
related
come from
the burial
'Herrevad today,
is
now a
ken
still
deep
site
of a
walls,
museum
"Verily,"
have
one scholar
There
it
and footings of vanished buildings, and shaded, pollen-strewn ponds that probably
Bille's day.
TYCHO
42
had commented,
& KEPLER
once
live in
Alchemy required
glassware,
and
Denmark,
possibly
on the run,
them
make
to
their
Steen invited
there.
Queen
Sophie.
One
new
of Tycho's
first
and a curved
brass arc.
name
grees
was
It
is
Sextants
one-sixth of a
and
circle;
legs or sides
star
gave a "sextant"
is
"cut")
By
it
was possible
to
One could
He was
its
two
him
the
also
legs
glass industry.
this effort
later.
One
own
had
facility,
skilled, specialist
but the
possibilities
more
in-
Behavior Unbecoming a Nobleman
and how
In that
to
much
clearer vision
go about
43
it.
572,
first
time
home, he met
her.) Pierre
was
students: Kirsten
lage."
To
the begin-
(If she
undocu-
life,
frustratingly
is
it
that she
was a
clergyman's daughter and that her father was pastor of the Knutstorp
546
likely
it
to
who
was he
at
first
name
buried his twin brother. If Kirsten was his daughter, she must have
spent her childhood in the half-timbered parsonage beside the
little
The
and
father.
family coats of arms of the Brahes and the Billes are carved on
the church
is
The
pulpit in
if they are
and the
not too
crowded, the occupants can move to face the pastor during his
mon.
fell
as the
the pastor
pew during
on Kirsten
woman,
nor
his visits to
ser-
Knutstorps
like a child
of the aristocracy. As
and
cuffs
probably
after
TYCHO
44
& KEPLER
was
show
that this
Hans Jorgensen
called to the
fa-
visited
Tycho
vatory that same year, 1591. Scholars have speculated whether he went
there only to be interviewed for the position or also to visit his
who by that
Adding strength
as Tycho's wife.
was the
girl, is
as his
companion
a family
It is
much more
likely that
If Kirsten
as a
alliances
no mere
pastor's
girls
youthful dalliance.
sister,
drastically different
in society
life
and
Tycho's.
The
still
nearest
he had ever come to experiencing her world was when he lived with
a clergyman during his school days,
grown up
and
humble
that clergyman
had proba-
pastor. Kirsten
would have
more than
village
life
of Kagerod. So
Bille
was
like, as
society, law,
Kirsten
and
it
There was an
would
dif-
theirs.
posed by Danish
far apart
travel-
legally
wife.
alternative that
nor
sinful.
The
earliest
4s
woman who
force, a
a nobleman's
was
commoner, who
rec-
common-law
is,
still
or
in
with him and carrying the keys to his house, was his wife. Originally,
among
it
had
meant
a wife of second-
When
connotation.
lost that
had
just re-
cently reaffirmed that the offspring of such a marriage were not bastards but slegfred children.
and
rights
and
and
None of the
and the
chil-
expectations
that
it
would
likely
The
ful
mother remained
tion,
father's estates.
their
father was,
at stake.
relatives.
hopes
He,
like
Tycho, had
Anne Hardenberg,
father,
at court.
fallen in love
as a part
woman
King Christian
with a
III,
had forbidden
dim
to be understanding.
blood. Frederick's
to have anything to
do with negotiations
finally
announced
that he
would enter
their children
TYCHO
46
& fCEPLEK
among
the nobility
home and abroad was so vigorous that he in the end agreed to give
up Anne and marry his fourteen-year-old cousin, Princess Sophie of
at
time
falling in love
and
manding them
and each
to dress in
new
had no
squires
squires
and
a page.
com-
member of the
accompany Tycho
Tycho
to
to
all
nobility,
fam-
else in the
it
was unthink-
to a royal celebration.
Tycho's earlier career choices had been unorthodox and had led
him
into astronomy.
would
it
all
his
to
much more
own
firmly
on the path
a decision that
lifetime, his
When
life
made
end, he had
beyond
dren,
Jorgensdatter as his
and
far
own
chil-
sire
that
would
lead to Prague
Johannes Kepler.
late that
future.
Tycho
also gave
a powerful
was a
Tycho,
clear
now
autumn evening
of overcast
skies.
at the familiar
darkening sky
as
went. To his astonishment, right over his head, near the three
that
make up
for
from
my youth
W of the
have
known
constellation
before. "I
all
knew
per-
difficulty
he
stars
that
no
star
had
tiniest, to
Not
Tycho
seeing,
who were
47
what he was
to
ing the stars as Tycho had, but they dutifully craned their necks to
up beyond the
gaze
their
not
trees
this really
Tycho
was the
greatest
"I
new
star
[when
Tycho
meant
it
confirm
the]
when
was brighter
wonder
shown
to
whether or
"In truth,
as to
itself in
the
any case
in
as
prayers."
comet, he
knew from
comet has
tail
and
a fuzzy
it
it
moved
it
to
make
was not
certain,
Tycho was
Moon's orbit
new
as well as ancient,
be
silent!
new
a dramatic conall
philoso-
occur only in the region closer to Earth than the Moon's orbit (the
"sublunar" region), was
still
gospel
among most
scholars.
Tycho had
TYCHO
48
want
ture to
to
Parallax shift
shift
of the
demonstration
new star,
is
The
are the
first
had understood
scholars
finger
shift
is
sim-
other.
a parallax
from your
by parallax was
star
face, the
that
shift,
face
background
mathematical
stars.
An
still
would not
distance,
impossible in
place
The
against the
it.
shift.
Though
on the
dubbed
Moon
he had to try
further
smaller the
in Tycho's na-
from
shift.
was
that,
or nova, as he
it
To do
is
The
However,
influence.
its
plest
b FCEPLER
that the
Moon
in
two
different positions
And so,
the
him
new
for
him-
although
star
Moon,
it
or closer,
would
for
also
Tycho
have a parallax
new
background
it
shift.
while the
Moon
show any
did,
it
could
Moon.
Tycho was not the only person who noticed the nova, and not
agreed that
it
orbit.
Some
all
actually
made observations and were convinced that the new star was below the
Moon, even though they could discover no parallax. Some insisted it
it
was not
it
the nova
two
new, or that
really
gradually to
dim
it
and another
Though
real
change in
He
star,
hours
several
stars
was not a
Moon
Aristotelian assumptions.
later.
it
49
this test
measuring the angular distance between the nova and not one but several
other
Because
stars.
Tycho decided
to
shift.
stars
how
the nova was above the celestial equator in terms of angular distance
far
(its
Now,
declination).
directly,
as a
at
maximum
the sky than sixty degrees above the horizon at Herrevad, he could have
much
higher.
It
star
this
it
was
problem, obvious
He
as
it
seems
in retro-
star's
lower culmination
at its lowest
He was
point
and
that
set
is,
book
it
in
how
calculated the
went
way of solving
star's
its
a north
far
reached
much
Before a month had passed, Tycho had completed these tests to his
own satisfaction and was confident enough to send his findings and his
conclusions
gion
to a
few
friends.
to scholars in the
He was
more learned
in the
sublunar
re-
circles at the
University of Copenhagen.
TYCHO
SO
Figure 3.1:
One
of the
first
& ICEPLEU
used for measuring altitudes of bodies above the horizon, their azimuth
(distance
their distances
at
moved along
Cand
K. This drawing
shows
it
lower culmination.
star
He
window
sights.
legs
the arc
to observe the
nova
sex-
at its
As
51
star,
almanac
impact,
it
at
all:
was necessary
to
complete
it
it
window
mind of
into the
He
began
mense,
any
being Earth,
as
of the
who
that
rest
Creator.
changing
humans were
was
and
human
this
in
of the uni-
soul, dissolution
so redolent of God's
power and
intellect.
and change
immense, un-
would underlie
Moon
im-
at the center
even those
stars,
itself,
potential,
Moon,
as incorporeal,
It
Sun,
seas,
wisdom of the
held sway.
by
visible
classical
in traditional fashion
eternal, incomprehensible,
single place. It
because
it is
his
almanac:
theory
of the
had,
much
reliance
on Earth,
celestial
this
realm
so
much
TYCHO
52
& ICEPLER
find out
linked.
Thus Tycho
neatly sidestepped the danger that his predictions might not be cor-
rect.
Tycho
also
managed,
in passing, to sneer at
sit
snug by the
fire
and
learn his
his
He said he
astronomy from
own
observations
Furthermore, because
bles.
land, he
all
as his place
of reference in establish-
ing the meridian and the horizon. In other words, for purposes of
this
the universe.
listed the
and
There were
tables
at
other manuscripts
hand.
He had
been
for each
day of the
year.
He
urged the
on with
there
a flourish to quote
Ovid on the
life,
man
of the
eclipse
into a hitch.
Moon on December
8,
dis-
stars.
The
1573.
seemed
nounced straightforwardly
king died,
dicted
it.
it
would be
Tycho chose
allegorical writing,
in
an almanac.
On
if
the
to clothe the
which
announcement
if necessary
could
later
in rather garbled
be interpreted, with
hindsight and a
(It
little
help from
53
its
Soon
new year
after the
script to
new
star.
To
in
dining
among
friends at the
he learned that
his astonishment,
no one
He spoke of it while
the nova.
home of Charles
as closely as
manu-
all
for not
who was on
could not have missed anything so dramatic. Tycho held his peace
not
at all like a
comet.
to
star,
Amid
to other matters.
and
it
When a clear
move
star.
Pratensis urged
him
to
it.
nor was he
his manuscripts,
man
of his rank.
it
was surely
of
it,
And
if
he did happen to
that his
it
to be widely read.
him some
new
to Herrevad,
star that
had
only recently reached Copenhagen from abroad with the spring thawing of the sea-lanes.
When Tycho
it
who had
ill,
studied the
as far
he was distressed by
star,
and
away
particularly
as twelve to fif-
Back
in
Copenhagen
to
TYCHO
54
& KEPLER
now
powerful
might publish
home
and
a letter
under
it still
To
mind and
his
had got by so
If he
De
had
become
far
life
De
still
seemed
its
which was
still
However,
it
Hence he was
already
to publish this
it,
philosophical
not passionate or
Tycho reported
of se-
and
his studies
star.
He
meaning but
also
its
and
his findings
merely
life
Nova began
provocative.
step
Stella
book. Nevertheless
major turning
distance
and overt
some
Nova was
Stella
was because he
down
settled
in fact
the
and the
far, it
question
his
Tycho
his
again with
Oxe
Peder Oxe.
relative
did
real obsta-
rea-
also dealt
him
not
practical significance
humans. The
when
came
and
dire,
last
of 1573,
when
Though
still
it
visible
it
to Tycho's
went
both
own
difficult
future was a
book included
poem by one
Professor
song.
He
class: feats
his
of arms,
woman, and
Behavior Unbecoming a
\ obleman
r
55
people would think of him, for his would be the greater and immortal
glory of having improved astronomy
fore.
among
beyond anything
it
would accomplish
would
take
himself.
allegorical flourish.
He
portrayed the
to
Moon, and
logical
for
the other
all
and discover
planets,
friends, patrons,
mundane
and
interests?
scholars, but
on meteoro-
their influences
Tycho
none
to his family.
if it signified
He also
stars,
later,
star,
do the same
nothing
book
Many
else,
to
years
the nova
In
19 4 5, astronomer
Walter Baade
made
it
Tycho discovered
that
it
was
in
"white dwarf"
exhausted
all
probability a
star.
all its
Such
Type
when an
a cataclysm occurs
size
of
Earth, with a mass close to the mass of the Sun. In a star that small
hundreds of
sity
is
The
star.
star cannibalizes
own
mass.
matter from
The mass
its
usually a
pull of its
dwarf can
own
That explosion
is
attain
gravity
much
limit a white
is
are parts
stars
massive
Type
is
dwarf
to
its
without collapsing
supernova.
TYCHO
56
& ICEPLER
in the future.
Tycho
modern astronomy
violent explosion.
Type
rare in
There
any one
is
galaxy. In
our Milky
no record of anyone
in
Way
there
Europe seeing
it,
was one
in 1006.
but in China
it
was
there
Type
new
Hellenistic astronomer
star in the
second century
distant, well
move
late
and
star
He was
B.C.
from the
led the
had
to be
Magi
much
again underlining
Moon.
They
place
it
re-
Having the
Best of
Several Universes
1573-1576
the
work
on
at
He made
spring of 1573.
set off
plans to leave
restless
of
again in the
thinking of making a permanent move. Details of his book's publication delayed the journey
He still had
Copenhagen
Tycho
left
girl,
also
named
Kirsten,
first
1 1
to
Pratensis held a
mark
the
first
Martinmas
One copy
of the invitation
still
going to
ties
and
on
10.
On November
in
baby
to a
not
eat.
when
survives,
pig,
and
excesses of the
Danish
nobility, life
among
frivoli-
exactly abstemious.
Tycho did
little
observing in the
1573,
However,
in early
December he and
TYCHO
58
& KEPLER
when
made
the eclipse
Moon
would
occur,
"I
fact
better
results,"
Moon,
wrote Tycho
new quadrant
eclipse
by
Copenhagen.
artistic beauty,
now
a painting
showed
scepters, coats
on the
good
little
On
alive
"By
celestial globe.
"The
life
in
a skeleton,
rest
shade was a
its
Spirit
we
it
made of
first
fine
use-
it.
However, Tycho
wood
experiment with a
clearly felt
represented the
relatively inex-
an astronomer and
his
to
new
life
man
declared
make such
live,"
belongs to death."
that instruments
future.
life
ful, for
side of the
measurements
that he
father's estate.
a withered tree.
were shown
el-
his
to
Copenhagen. There
Having
Figure 4.1:
The
the Best
of Several Universes
brass-and-gold quadrant.
is
in the circle
The
59
marked
A" and L.
The drawing
is
TYCHO
60
domain, Herrevad
was expecting
Uncle
his
second
their
& KEPLER
Steen's
and Aunt
The baby
child.
Kirstine's.
girl
But Kirsten
Copenhagen
scholarly
community had
De
was
talk
Nova
Stella
as
some-
summer ended,
at the university,
there
even though he
to have an
academic
career.
his
nobleman publishing
to a
There
Not only
a book.
who
sors,
and
after
no nobleman
scholars.
class
During Tycho's
in
Denmark
lifetime
and
for
many years
there-
An
un-
knowing
territory. It
was almost
den;
it
just did
as
to
move
up.
not happen.
this obstacle:
anyone
It
on other
move down
commoner
who
trespass
who
own
and presented
theirs, inviting
social class.
A number of no-
The
lectures
to lecture to
were
was
to the king,
it
Tycho
also
open
settled,
it
to
did
The
first,
duction to the
series.
Two
years earlier,
his phi-
Now,
in 1574,
still
a religious
Having
the Best
He
lief.
human
of Several Universes
61
religious traditions
of religious be-
calendars
that the
as well as for
last
to
To Tycho
it
had been
the year,
tides.
usefulness
worldly
providing
seemed reasonable
Moon
of
in his time
influenced the
had
weather patterns.
Discussing the use of astronomy for horoscopes was a touchier
matter. Since Augustine of
nearly
Melanchthon.
in the
human
and
fifth centuries,
began
Tycho
and follower
felt
obliged to rebut
this part
of the
Then
events.
come down on
When Tycho
room turned
elderly theologian
hat.
in the fourth
all
Hippo
(usually) of
Hemmingsen. That
Melanchthon had
re-
Hemmingsen
Tycho took
with
this
Tycho hoped
jections to
it.
The
enced individual
He
all
to
lives
the stars."
show
TYCHO
62
ated
man
& KEPLER
do
so."
human
them
of the
astrology, interpreted as
stars.
he did in
activities,
this lecture,
for in
of de-
even
Tycho was
a complete novice
when
it
came
to talking before a
"When
so afraid that
you would
was
afraid that
also
launch into us
The lecture crowd dispersed, but the discussion about astrology and
free will continued at a leisurely meal hosted by Dancey. Hemmingsen
wanted
to clarify a
few points
particularly that
Tycho agreed
that
God works and acts with absolute, unrestricted freedom and that human beings also have completely free will and then declared himself
The day
Tycho s views.
He kept no
notes,
and proba-
bly used none, except to record that he covered the theories of the
and
Moon
who
Tycho had
come
Sun
a convert to
Copernicanism.
He
centered planetary theory, but then he proceeded to explore the possibility that
might be "adapted
still.
in
such a way
as
hope
decade would
in his
"Tychonic
Having
the Best
of Several Universes
deep
would not have seemed
more
63
respect that
well informed
among
short
fell
a star-
his audience.
month
1543 (about
occurring
among
to
it.
Galileo's clash
with
Meanwhile, a
was
how
the universe
his
Sun-centered
was arranged.
Copernicus himself undoubtedly believed that
astronomy represented
universe.
made
rate.
He
literal
truth
it
as
However,
it
was not
what
really
was going on
in the
movement
in the mind-set
of his contemporaries to
Nicolaus Copernicus
as-
TYCHO
64
sume
De
& KEPLER
truth claim in
mean
By
Ptolemy's day,
to
move
move
moving would be
to
in the
any need
about whether
ried
and equant
what
to explain
in the
way
these
direct evidence
his
re-
other, there
maybe
for
to the ancients.
had
it
ity
that
way
become routine
between physics
line
could be interpreted to
as-
literal real-
theoretical physics.
were
skies
forte
less
his observations
all
terns.
Nothing
it
astronomy and
could represent
truth. Copernicus's
tary
movement
lieved, therefore
in
De
to
wade through
it,
he be-
reality.
plane-
many
and extremely
use-
Having
fill.
Long
the Best
of Several Universes
6$
it
or the
Sun was
more
re-
as-
The
discard.
to
little
Copernicus for
mathematics and
his
tables,
and
used these without worrying themselves about any deep cosmologiCatholic scholars used Copernicus's tables to calculate a
cal conflict.
new
calendar,
ready for
first
It
official policy
had managed
to propose a
moving
if all parties
which the
standing that
in
scientific
as literal truth,
made
when
there
state-
then every-
ther theory.
The blame
preted
him
lies
most
directly
make
so that
with a preface to
left
De Revolutionibus that
in charge
of overseeing
was intended
to be interpreted
it
hypo-
himself anony-
fool than
If
may
when you
lest
you
entered."
it
was.
It
his
deathbed and
TYCHO
66
it
& KEPLER
whom
in-
world
threat.
feeling they
as a
were engaging in
Astronomers with
Tycho was
intellectual contradiction.
moved and
the
Tycho
respect, while
not
His use of both Ptolemaic and Copernican tables was not unusual.
However, by the early 1570s, even before the nova led to any
sis
ars
cri-
had begun
to explore
more
seriously
some of the
implications of
Copernicus's theory. If Earth was in orbit around the Sun, then observers
on Earth ought
mean
Similarly, if one
of the
shift
were in a
carriage, looking
scientifically
out
at a forest,
move.
and saw no
fairly
ex-
planation for the absence of stellar parallax, one that the ancients had
had
originally
who
no
shift
of the
same
carriage,
discern practi-
one another.
With
meant accepting
this realization,
and the
new
stars.
is
enormously
contributed to
little
Having
of Several Universes
the Best
67
them
it
began to seem a
to
man
move
little
that way.
However,
Copernican systems
logic, scholars
and
the other
at once. In
and the
it
had
it
to
be one or
to try to answer.
tronomy had
its
goal could
also
to be
more than
and should be
scholars
brilliant
to reveal
who
what
is
really
He
happening.
Nevertheless,
Tycho
felt
mov-
closed-mindedness, was a
confidence as a scholar.
symptom of
He was
ignorant.
and
when he was
his
independence and
self-
that
that Earth
show
do.
that Copernicus
a student in Leipzig,
still
was
was
right.
to agree
with Copernicus that Ptolemy's use of the equant was offensive, and
changing
its
it
for this
speed. So Tycho
had begun
to search for a
way to eliminate
said.
He had
later
expound
stability
it
lectures,
re-
TYCHO
68
had
yet have
this
scheme firmly
THE SPRING
In
650
Copernicus."
lectures
& KEPLER
dalers,
in
of 1575,
he
may
not
mind.
when
mainder of his
time in
style,
stayed at
lectures.
home
in
Frederick's emissary.
dark medieval
to
go abroad,
this
fortress that
Epicycle
Planet
Deferent
One of Tycho's
first
moved
unmoving
added a miniepicycle.
along centered on the
which
is
He
deferent
re-
Denmark.
Figure 4.2:
fi-
centered on a point
some
at
Having
Wilhelm
IV,
the Best
Landgrave of Hesse,
of Several Universes
in a
69
that
is
is
a small portrait
of Tycho
required
some
scouting,
and
this
was
down
roots
sive scale
and pursue
than he could
Tycho stopped
grave of Hesse,
first
Frederick.
his
at
own
a task for
He
was looking
scholarly passions
more
put
exten-
Herrevad.
who was
for a place to
on
Wilhelm
IV,
Land-
like
TYCHO
70
& KEPLER
little
recently
Tycho
Tycho
that the
all
other
when
activities.
he had detected a
bit
of parallax.
He commemorated Tycho s
visit
by
From
Kassel,
library at the
was a
ally.
staple
Tycho continued
add
to Frankfurt to
Fair, a
to his personal
still
occurs annu-
Dancey, Steen
Bille,
and Johannes
Pratensis
had studied
all
at the
From
Basel
Venice, where
Tycho
Germany, and
more than
Italy.
cli-
new invention,
would astound
a telescope.
the
Tycho was
invited to learned gatherings that were part of the lives of rulers of the
Venetian republic and which also included scholars from the university
in nearby Padua.
As both
nobleman and a
scholar,
he was in
his ele-
new villas
designed by Andrea
architectural
When summer
on him.
ended and before the snows closed the
passes
through the Alps, Tycho journeyed north again to Innsbruck and then
to Augsburg,
itable
far
at-
possibilities
Having
of Several Universes
the Best
yi
motion, Tycho's
settle in Basel.
final stop
on the
city
among
would
Protestants that
later
Twenty
his
and
it
only option.
political
upheaval
or at least
treaty,
much
only
Roman
Empire.
The
many
when Augustus,
theologians at Wittenberg
He
still
in prison,
and
When
friction
Tycho reached
who had
Denmark
a consensus in
that
made no
work
ilar
had published
Denmark,
that they
all
effective proselytizer
tus sent a
festivities
Hemmingsen
Since the
trail
all
University of
and
a sim-
Worse
for
who
to his castle
in Wittenberg.
had obtained
attending the
1572.
also
Copenhagen
pastors,
who
all
immediately
endowed
summoned
professors of the
Pratensis),
TYCHO
72
to
& KEPLER
answer the
Oxe
Peder
elector's charges.
was one of the three commissioners who examined them. Hemmingsen presented an eloquent defense of the peace and unity of belief
and
German
religious practice
the-
would be
result
similar confusion.
but Peder
ately settled,
Oxe
The
told
difficulty
Hemmingsen
privately not to
By
the
moved
to Soro
Abbey
for Christmas.
move
to
to
Denmark
Basel. The
King Frederick
rel-
ished the rich food, mead, Rhenish wine, and ale of the abbot of
Soro, as well as the learned, amusing conversation around the abbot's
table.
journey,
this
and
visit his
to
pay
his
at
Tycho had
just
courtier, polished
by
his travels
and attendance
at
many
and
artists.
his visit to
it
and sword,
so in
any
though an
in Kassel
whom
and
nose
case.
Wilhelm IV
who surrounded
and
hair, beard,
courts.
and of distinctly
ars
on
who was
a sculptor trained in
He
also reported
expert, a
Italy, all
of
on
any inten-
Having
Tycho Brahe
the Best
in a
~3
of Several Universes
interest.
An
and recommendation
regard for
if
Tycho
and Frederick
move
abroad. In any case, Frederick received Tycho with extraordinary graciousness and offered
Two were
of
castles
on
a choice
among
four
fiefs.
Tycho's father
Baltic.
At any of
castles
TYCHO
74
and major
royal
& KEPLER
fiefs.
was
this a
lose
Tycho
let
He had no
drop.
it
needed
Nor
offer.
wish to
was a matter
this
families.
However, while the king was pondering the problem, Tycho wrote
want
am
my own
class ...
In the two
waste
much
months following
about
it.
To maintain an
estate,
Among people
of
time."
purchase an
castles
here,
any of the
to take possession of
still
somewhat ambivalent
afford that
was
he would have to
to
his portion
sell
ownership with
mother held
a lifetime interest in
mag-
the estate, and both lived there. Furthermore, refusing the king's
nanimous
ily.
On
offer
was sure
to shed a
if his
bad
light
on the
as
ill
first.
equipped
as
fam-
entire extended
Kirsten was
duties.
reason
would
distract
the king
was
at this
Tycho from
his
let
later told
Tycho,
it
was an island
in the
0resund
that
had
refuse.
Having
in
the Best
of Several Universes
alone
do not
reveal
are alone.
February 11,
his
sum-
letter to Pratensis:
you two
Tycho described
an excited
j$
it
As
to a soul, except
lay
restlessly
awake
few days
last
and hear
it
on
in bed, early
the
morning of
again from
all
sides
when
royal page
lo!
had
it
without delay
(it
in order to bring
was
still
bed.
commissioned by
seek
me out wheresoever I
might be found
his
...
without
so that
delay.
This
rest,
personally deliver
let-
me to come to him
moment
Parsberg, he let
me
Frederick received Tycho with the news that his plans to leave
Denmark were no
longer a secret.
The king
said
offers.
too,
fere
Elsinore,
tle:
political
and
social duties
He,
to
cas-
his eyes
TYCHO
76
happened
to
to the southeast
in
fief,
Were
on the
fall
little
& KEPLER
island of
carrying with
it
by any noble
all
re-
own
credit
and
Tycho returned
posal but
and
at
his country.
insisted,
would accept
to his
this
new
offer.
by the pro-
still
let-
ter to Pratensis
enthusiastically
phasized,
among
who
Frederick's
relatives
had predicted
They em-
own
career paths
and who
also
One
of
among
was a
clear indication
relatives
low
By February
Tycho had not
birth.
their
young
family.
Danish crown
in the
He
Denmark. His
yearly income.
in-
of a
began
pledged his
Billes,
and
The
of
Isle
Hven
1576-1577
at
hours. Cliffs
sound
on
all
to the island of
sides
cliffs
tall as
on
all sides, it
From
many
places
as
he wrote
managed
to land
is-
was possible
to get
when
land,
set sail
to the har-
in the cliffs
it
to the top.
It
was a
stiff climb, as
the short winter days begin to lengthen at this latitude but bitterly
sharp winds blow across the island. Tycho soon arrived at the only
settlement, the village of Tuna.
future
welcomed
From
The
there, the
with a
warm
fire.
Tycho probably
of the island to
its
center.
TYCHO
78
new
his
castle
was
on the
visible
Hven would be
and Mars
that
day that
island
in the foot
and observed
of Orion
this center
own
on the
that night
& KEPLER
point of
He
palace.
spent
Moon
a conjunction of the
from
he take
his
time deciding
He
much
spent
of the next three months there, studying the conditions, weighing ad-
He measured the
island
by striding along
enticing, but
and accustomed
more
serious
to
warmer
to a
Tycho was
Dane by
at
man who
birth
cli-
and breeding
much of the
year.
less
as-
tronomer.
the
way
to the
promise of a hot,
idyllic
falling in love
with Hven.
The
island's isolation
Copenhagen
commotion of
queuing up
to
the
pay the
common
toll
Hven
in his considerations.
was, as he put
it,
"free
from
across the
sound
at Elsinore,
swept on
made
He
He
it
cast
lot.
when he
less
chose. But
would
Tycho
also
As
in a
their lord,
to
resi-
he was entitled to
farm on the
island,
very
little
in
and
a certain
The
were not
By
to
the mainland.
months had
passed,
seem
distant shores
its
79
skilled laborers.
come from
ofHven
Isle
his choice.
ships
and the
glowed
and
of a north-
had been
recent years
little
tranquil. Until
when Viking
Tycho arrived
and no lord
in
to rule the
named
The
who
fortresses
lived in
were
Several years
all
them
either perished or
that remained
later, after
to
soon
left.
Traces of four
on Hven
suited
spend an extra night when a violent storm made the 0resund im-
passable.
The company
them by recounting
students entertained
Eric the Priest-Hater.
Nordborg
came
first
had
invited her
two brothers
during the
that
ashore,
tales
whose
hold. Lore
it
Castle,
fire,
festivities.
to a feast there
island,
already
pregnant by one of the brothers and gave birth to a son, Ranke, the
true heir to the throne.
ued
to rule
castles,
and
Grimmel
into a
to starve.
cast the
The name
and guarded by
it,
in
was only
TYCHO
80
seldom
& ICEPLEK
seen). Supposedly,
One
could unlock
when
but
secret,
others ran
had vanished.
in the sea
and
it
The
a hive
and location
in the center
name
for
Hven. The
citadel,
a natural
it
it
island's
was never
again fortified.
With
Tycho's
coming
in the spring
this
murky
of 1576, the
island
more than
move
to the cen-
Hven, and
whom
to the descendants to
and malign
as the
ancient Lady
villagers
of
was
little
little
Grimmel
a figure as
mys-
herself.
On any of the other estates the king had offered him, Tycho would
have found peasants, however disgruntled, accustomed to serving a
lord of the manor.
The
as
long
as their history
had
tilled
interfer-
could
For gen-
and managed
recall.
tilled,
had
fallen
sort.
without the
cliffs
provincial governor
holders, that they
owned
their land.
No
free-
this notion.
The
The
An
old
map
of Hven that
the village;
St. Ibb's
is
Isle
ofHven
not oriented
strictly
Church
is
meadows taking up
north to south.
The
village's
island, nearest
of the map.
common
almost no trees except for a grove of hazelnuts and the alders that
grew
St. Ibb's
Church stood on
the
cliffs,
to be
and on an-
other high place near the village there was a great windmill. All the
islanders lived in the village,
miller,
part-time job
a blacksmith
(though that
pastor, a
peasants and
rural laborers.
The
Though
islanders
their claim to
to
governing themselves.
TYCHO
82
narrow
ual
down
set
strip
and productive
& ICEPLER
fields.
Since
it
to
activities,
The
taxes.
nor on the mainland, but Hven was remote and uninteresting enough
to keep
him from
world.
Some
taking
In other ways
islanders
in
and even
sites,
the villagers as
this
flat refusal to
manor suddenly
But compared
inde-
present himself.
ious building
acorns
its
Tycho,
summer on
pendent
common
grazing land.
It
was
make
On May
Tycho
sailed again to
Hven.
He and his
"Hundred Thing,"
at
party
met
Tycho the
the
bailiff,
island.
"grands,"
island,
Tycho s
The
island
was
and hold
tinue
and pursue
his studia
and so long
as
he
lives
and
desires to con-
"observe the law and rights due to the peasants living there, and do
them no
The
Isle
of liven
83
little
Soon
who
that
after the
would
The
islanders
them and
to assess
in store for
their
there was
be.*
sizes
down
as
rightful dues
provide two man-days of labor each week and to appear with draft
year.
customary elsewhere.
It
new
to
Hven but
between
their
rich robes
toil for
of himself
duce
boil
up
as placing
plants.
had chosen
tural theory,
monious
again,
This
and
early
it
off,
circles
studying architec-
and squares
friends.
Norway.
Hven
in har-
them out
During
his re-
He would
later
add
TYCHO
84
become
Soon
its
& KEPLER
Architettura (Four
come
Palladio.
DeW
Andrea
a sensation
set the
standard
as a do-it-yourself
text
Palladio
had combined
reinventing
At
first
it.
glance, there
ideal
was
little
Palladio's
it,
and
example of us-
More
had been an
harmonic
same
ratios in nature.
when
that
made by vibrating
relationships
symmetry
strings
later
are
study those
Tycho's house plan* had portal towers on the east and west sides
fifteen
Danish
feet
wide and
The
height of the facade was thirty feet (twice the width of the portal
towers), the peak of the roof forty-five feet, the side of the central
*In his
Tycho
The
little
more than 10
inches.
way
The
Isle of
Hven
85
a sixteenth-century
square sixty
The
It
One
human
ear.
862,
is
based
and
all
sixty
form
a ratio of
to
among
the right.
pleasing to the
in
it
shown open on
is
1:2:3:4.
woodcut.
produce sounds
harmony were
to
relationships
tentions,
it
would be
house to recognize
all
all
that they
would
inevitably
make
his
home and
Tycho designed
and inspiring
his castle-observatory to
to
any
sensitive person.
be a miniature
gem of a
TYCHO
86
& KEPLER
most noble
dwellings.
The
entire
building was no larger than even one of the four wings of Knutstorps
many larger
contemporaries. Nevertheless,
late
it
castles
project,
and
in
least
inconvenience to
fulfill
They
shoul-
Hven at sunrise, worked on the excavation, and kept at it until the sun
set. The group changed constantly as men rotated in and out, fulfilling
each household's obligation of two man-days of labor in a week.
on
his
own
building
site across
among
carvers, or tile
skilled labor.
Tycho man-
artisans as well.
Nuremberg was
the only
man
alive
with adequate
skills to
build the
fountain that the king wanted for the central courtyard of his
Tycho
castle.
also en-
as-
all
lower story."
most on
a daily basis, he
holdings. That
first
still
attended to the
rest
his
house
al-
Skane, Sjaelland, and Hven, taking boats across the sound and riding
enjoying his
new
role.
car-
The
As the plans
as excited as he.
Dancey
of liven
Isle
87
said he
Pratensis
in place
it
and
draft
to
in-
and died
while giving a lecture at the university. Tycho grieved for this friend
his happiest
so enthusiastically
when he had
who had
faced
shared
life
many of
moments.
to find
when
He
ment
university,
officials, professors
8.
to
High govern-
rela-
homes of
from the
ceremony had
the
chose August
at the
building
summer was
on Hven, when at dawn
made long shadows that
Late
site at sunrise.
and the
trees
they could see the bountiful crops and grasslands of Tycho's domain,
might be expected
0resund,
a place
at least
in the
not
at
It
a wild landscape as
in
like the
August.
It
was
inscription
on the stone
that
Dancey cemented
into place
and "con-
Only
tragedies of that
moved
his wife,
who was
pregnant again,
TYCHO
88
to a
& KEPLER
farther north
on
when
which wasn't
palace,
far
enough along
he wrote in
to be occupied.
his journal that
servations
building
island.
He
On
colder
in the
new
December
he was making
twenty-fifth of December, so he
spent Christmas there. Kirsten and Magdalene must not have been
with him, for Kirsten was in Vasby, higher up the coast, on January
when
their first
The
During
make
him
young
calls
Kirsten's
bronze plaque,
2,
who
the "natural
still
in exis-
Tycho began
either at
noon
for
rupted in
throne.
late
Tycho
May by the
but without
went
full
complement of servants
the
and
responsibility as well.
They asked
what the
It
to join in
him
Kirsten
stars
to be taken lightly. If it
and
political crises.
it
pos-
Tycho
to calculate
birth.
Then
rely-
The
on the older
ing directly
Isle
ofHven
tables for
89
With
these
and further
calculations,
pages.
The
royal family
was
would be "well-formed,
astrological reasoning,
that the
would have
to
when
overcome adversity
The
intellectual interests."
came
little
wel-
"over fond of
to religious matters,
to
less
for
and
riches,"
added
produced a superbly
Hemmingsen had
it
was possible
Christian later
He
useless.
also repeated
what he and
by the
managed
stars.
human
free will to
was
it
into
still
after
High German,
presented
with the
it
He
most comfortable.
The second
dated
to the king at
Tycho
July
trans-
1,
Castle at Elsinore.
on Hven was
it
Kronborg
year of construction
villagers
how
lit-
set
more
skilled
as
filling
them with
first trees
and shrubs.
and planting
all
the trees,
as a frivolous
and
te-
TYCHO
go
& ICEPLER
men
on the mainland
to cut
wood and
boat
it
back to Hven to
fuel fires
for brick
forests in
Kullen
when he had
With
this
all
them
to
Hven were
bailiff, overseer,
villagers well,
men
and "sum-
The
tie
desertion
of some of his most able workers troubled Tycho, and he was not
about to allow
ing
it
in his stride
life
he was find-
exasperation
it
and
still
it,
He had
new and
autumn of 1577,
and mysterious
spectacle,
more un-
thrilling events
of
November
13,
new
in the gathering
dusk catching
fish for
star.
The only
planet in the evening sky at the time was Saturn, and Saturn was
never so bright. Fish and dinner were forgotten, and Tycho watched,
transfixed.
tail.
grew a long,
fiery
Worlds Apart
1571- 1584
in Uraniborg's
tumn and
in the skies
early winter of
577 hung
ponds
in the au-
far
what
this apparition
it
it
Germany,
hill
it
comet
to
fear,
wary of
in southern
his mother's
a small
meant.
above the
star
with a
little
tail.
town
He did
for
make much of an impression. More unusual and rewarmth and companionship of the mo-
ment with
his
mother
an
dreary childhood.
five years
old
that
was
city
the comet.
in his grandfather's
birth
carefully written
when he saw
was two-thirty
down
Forest near
this disorganized
house-
a respected discipline.
Tycho
even in
still
He
house in
TYCHO
92
& ICEPLEK
his
same
December.
The
knighthood on Johannes's
great-
Bridge in Rome.
By
men,
still
Later,
fifty years
in his mid-twenties,
he drew up a "birth-
made
including seeing the comet. Kepler was usually respectful and loyal in
of his
his treatment
that he
made
cation, he
age.
for publi-
about himself.
family, as well as
The
relatives.
man
with a
ruddy complexion. Johannes's notes said that though Sebald was not
eloquent, he gave wise counsel in the city and had a strong enough
personality to see that his opinions were respected
who
little
and
come
him
across so well
as arrogant, stub-
spent their early years underfoot in his house. "His face betrays
wrote Kepler.
his advice
liar.
She was
restless
woman,
his grand-
Worlds Apart
93
Johannes's father, Heinrich, was their fourth son, and he, by his
own
son's report,
"He destroyed
was
a vicious,
everything.
He was
some," and he "beat his wife often." Theirs was "a marriage fraught
with
Through
strife/'
mercenary.
dren,
and
The
He
mainly
to their
prominent
civic
mother
his brothers
whom
adulthood
and
survived to
there
sisters
fell
Melchior Guldenmann.
his
and
who was
as small, thin,
also
as
an
evil-tongued shrew.
Young Johannes,
Thev were
appearance.
also alike in
having
restive,
inquiring minds,
but Katharina had no education, and her interests were herbs and
homemade
What
in her son
would develop
Heinrich was
at
into
When
pity,
Sedaldus,
house
who was
in
Among them
who
were Uncle
and
low her
soldier
of these
left
three-year-old Johannes
relatives
fol-
TYCHO
94
& KEPLER
illness that
the
The prodigal
against the
two
him.
He
threatened to
home, much
"sell
re-
bit
epileptic.
when
his father
at
and broken,
way back by
begging. All
years younger,
nearly drowned,
was an
two Kepler
he died
at the
age of forty-two
his
his
close to
times.
The youngest
up
to be
an
Worlds Apart
95
He became
The
little
city
rial free
all
sides
status of
Though
some way
in
fairly accurate
its
quip
that
is
it
units
duchies
oprics,
like
Roman
cities like
become Germany,
as well as parts
of Poland, France,
principalities
Under
bits
and
pieces of Europe.
Augsburg each
decided
local leader
An
main.
holy,
and other
Austria,
Wiirttemberg,
it
Roman
was not
by the
an impe-
Emperor
sister.
Stadt: If
made
exception was
his
do-
Weil der
there,
both
nority
as well.
itself
The
its
powerful duke
officially
and
ve-
it
though grandfather
an impediment to
political ad-
vancement.
In
1576 Johannes's
his
father
young family
of Lutheran Wiirttemberg.
It
hill
TYCHO BRAHE
disquiet about the
and other
comet
felt
by
scholars,
less
educated people
TYCHO
96
undertook
first
step
to study
zealously
it
was to write a
& KEPLER
from a
scientific
and make
careful description
The
a drawing.
tail
Its
its
was reddish,
position, he
stars.
Looking
it
measured
Tycho wanted
like a
angular dis-
how
to find out
that meant, as
its
flame seen
new
it
had
far
for the
shift.
challenges.
It
was
positioned too near the Sun to be visible except for an hour or so just
after sunset,
on Earth
and
that
to
Furthermore,
it
in
movement
background would be
partly,
maybe
it.
it
displayed
He could
as-
own
futile.
Partly due to cloudy weather and the wait for longer evening
bility as the
he
first
shorter,
it
it
visi-
after
four hours brought Tycho back to the same viewing position, that
had
attributable to parallax:
It
to be the comet's
comet's
hour
and
own motion
five
it
about
observa-
interval the
utes of arc. If
minutes apart,
made
during which
is
it,
less
to a parallax shift.
Tycho found
differ-
that the
Worlds Apart
comet appeared
move only
to
gj
he
shift,
That
was disappointing.
result
this
amount of parallax
the
yielded something
daily intrinsic
He
three.
by
when
January,
the
it
left
over to be accounted
comet having
virtually
end of December
no
parallax at
all.
on the twenty-sixth of
for
Tycho
than the
felt
Moon
wrong about
how
far
carried
ing farther
He
was
it
Tycho concluded
began
ous,
difficult to
more
still
that the
to plan a book.
that followed
was
indis-
again.
was
specify precisely
a second conclusion.
week
it
the
beyond.
Tycho reached
it
decisive.
more
this
for
It
blindly.
he could use
Tycho
his
own
rely
up
his colleagues
visible,
was mov-
to catch
He knew from
them
it
it
started a
its
on the old
catalogs.
TYCHO
98
The
first
the king.
It
& KEPLER
was only a
little
earlier
been preempted in
it
a private report to
came
to
at
it
out.
Tycho had
also
file
occupied in the present case with what the comet portended. His
university
religious troubles,
failure,
a potential competitor.
at
hand."
and
in the
is
figure at court
to
best him.
more formal
mous
his
as
it
as a
way of reinforcing
tions as an astrologer.
to
The
his interpreta-
who
Tycho was
later,
interest to Frederick,
image
in-
wisdom
will
in their
be punished."
was nothing
to
worry
sonings of the
air
great disunity
many
fiery illnesses
and
pestilence
and
also poi-
violent warfare
and blood-
shed and sometimes the demise of certain mighty chieftains and secular rulers." Because of
tics, this
great mortality
With
its
among mankind."
now brought to
his reader
Tycho ad-
first
university lecture
do
Worlds Apart
gg
not determine the future. Resorting to anguished prayer was not the
proper course, he advised, for rational exercise of free will and ap-
The king
in
if
the prediction
would be wise
comet had
Frederick.
and
interpretations
knowing
their
that these
in
When
And
it
came
to
and implying
that
it
was an extraordi-
nary advantage to have Tycho himself at the king's right hand rather
than a defeatist like Dybvad
The
it
it
to the hilt.
shared.
politics
of court
than personal
punishment
life
or perhaps
scale.
for
inhumane
tyranny,"
and
for "those
who
those
"well-deserved
who were
are always
associ-
on the prowl
If the peasants
inhumane
tyranny,"
they might well have responded with rude noises, for during the
same
visit
peasants
who were
correctly but
villeinage
The
fleeing
also
Hven. These
self-righteously,
made
king's reply
also applied
it
a greater
deserters,
burden on those
who
remained.
was possibly
also
on
this
TYCHO
ioo
He
of an incumbent.
& KEPLER
at
ties to
there.
summer of 1 578
new palace
moved
at Elsinore.
swiftly
to
work
to
for
King Frederick
at
He
master builder.
gave
was a quick
him
to
study.
Before long he had mastered classical and Italian Renaissance architectural theory as well as perspective
signs for
windows,
spires,
details that
A few
months
after
him
in astronomy, alchemy,
named
would
delegated to
stars for the
him
like Steenwinkel,
the
of a long
first
finally
end with
new
catalog of reference
star catalogs
this
time
and obser-
vational journals.
When
in the
comet
all
made of
his
distances
autumn
book.
He
from the
Worlds Apart
tions (the weather
the observations),
usual
way
its
much
the
first
an un-
for
anyone
unusual in
also
why
chapter
was unprecedented
On
had occurred.
tion of the
It
author's willingness to
the error
as
to share so
101
Moon. Tycho
stars
was
left this
at
discrepancy in the
when
printing
was almost completed, he found the reason for the problem and
later observations
of the Moon."
With
so
much
introductory material,
planets,
ever that
though with
distance of the
In
than the
it
it
was,
Moon,
He
estimated
minimum
a less regular
motion.
Moon.
December another
royal prince
book
aside.
Tycho knew
that he
would have
to
all
the publications
on the comet
that they
Stadt to Leonberg in
moved
in
Weil der
Home
TYCHO
102
& KEPLER
disaster.
and her
for Katharina
was a
to
sell
children.
But
He trudged back to
the house.
The
family
Leonberg
moved
to a
they
somehow managed
and return
there. It
was
to acquire
at
about
move back
doned
as a
if
him. Nevertheless,
well.
Leonberg
sixteen,
by the
Heinrich aban-
him
in
this
political/religious strife
around
establishment served
to education pro-
Much more
and
this
estab-
German
at the
Schreibschule
life.
transferred
him
to a "Latin school."
The dukes of
in all small
towns
like
Leonberg.
Johannes's transfer was a significant advancement, for Latin
schools were the Lutheran substitute for the monastery schools that,
lectured, debated,
its
boys firmly on
this
path by requiring
Worlds Apart
start to
Latin, or not at
all.
103
In the
first year,
grammar
drills;
in the
took Johannes
five years to
move
to
eight
Ellmendingen interrupted
his
him
him
to
During
that pe-
to continue in school.
education
Those two
years were
one source of happiness had been snatched away. However, when the
family fortunes improved, his parents reenrolled
him
at age ten.
the
seminary"
more
at the
two
free,
cour-
years of study.
marking
Two
Maulbronn was
at
Maulbronn
for
two
University of Tubingen.
It
was
at
Adelberg that he
first
became aware of a
He
left
potentially explosive
letter
same
faith.
At
who
adhered to
slightly differ-
whenever he heard
in
rift
this
him
it
copies of
a practice,
anyone's
word
terpretations
for
He
TYCHO
104
& ICEPLER
indeed
for
political/religious milieu
make enemies
to see
I
all
sides
all
to find himself in a
Lutheran
win
late sixteenth
and
in the
early seventeenth
it
was
likely to
was a
his
life.
all
gift,
could
and sometimes
state that
a curse, that
Palace Observatory
157S-J5S5
In
continued to
soar.
and
early
The long-promised,
Magi
the
prestigious
canonry
endowment from
when
at
Roskilde
the Chapel of
It
was and
still is
one
of the most lavishly decorated in Denmark, housing a tomb, then under construction, for King Frederick's father, Christian
Though
the canonry he
would
a higher total
search.
He was
him
to
received
him
III.
when Tycho
in Europe.
young
who was
favorite,
King
learning to
think of himself as the equal of kings and to assume that his priorities
would always be
of the kingdom.
ter
and
his family
rising.
TYCHO
io6
tumn of 1581,
and Dancey
it
in July
that
& KEPLER
would be
done on the
to be
still
visit.
exterior of the
house, and inside only the framing was finished, but the grounds
were
laid
was possible
it
summer, and
Hven
that
it
Elisabeth.
common
lands of Hven. In
the cosmos.
An
foot-square area.
dug
The
to
make
(built
up of earth
formed a compass
(see
color plate section), with four avenues leading from the compass
One
of these avenues
it
at the
An
were
at the
servants' quar-
main house.
eventually three
and ornamental
a different variety.
low wooden
set off
as
brought to Hven.
four avenues and a central circle where the house stood facing
It
by a
was a palace
like
no other
east.
with
Palace Observatory
107
Crowning
its
east
the
and
west fronts. At the roof peak, sixty-two feet off the ground, a smaller
observatories
Two
They were
rations suggested
a Palladian villa.
to reinforce the
more an
and other
galleries,
illustration
from
Pyramids,
fantastical deco-
as
cannot have
failed
a golden-nosed wiz-
However,
practicality rather
Steenwinkel
harmonic
design, there
built.
The
galleries
rationality of the
made
much
and
of whatTycho and
making
it
unnecessary to de-
The chimneys ventilated no fewer than fourand sixteen alchemical furnaces. The weather vane that
topped
it all
off
nism so that the wind direction could be read from inside the house.
The
removed individually
to allow
Tycho and
his assistants to
study one
which she could "keep the keys." More than the immediate family
moved
tory,
in, for
the building
manor of the
fying since
Roman
combined
living areas,
and
also
self-
forti-
TYCHO
108
and
architectural
also
& KEPLER
board-
ing house.
which he
ter
which he marked D,
floor,
of
later
ground
a floor plan,
showed
a large
that he indicated
life,
room on
the
and even some of the research took place. In the summer, the
talking
moved
focus of activity
ground
room on
to a
a corridor
first years,
floor led
at the
geometric center of Uraniborg, stood the remarkable fountain designed and engineered by Laubenwolf, with a rotating, hydraulically
Queen
it
beautiful, but
running
Elizabeth
Sometime
room Tycho
III
of
the Louvre.
indicated as
turned.
later,
it
boast of having at
water
it
and the
room
meant
stove,
that there
keeping
it
assistants to read
and
fire
tile
hung with
beamed
a meal that
in his
book On
in
such a setting
Palace Observatory
109
dren joined Tycho and his scholarly retinue here to eat the long meals
that fused the ceremonial dining habits of the
one
and
assistants,
less
their guests
importance
(seated
sat
them
students, assistants,
there
is
all
middle of
who
room open
for
record of a typical
no reason
seat" in the
Though no
on the "high
to think that
relatives.
The menu
cluded a
first
menu
Tycho
in another
ate
Brahe
survives
any
less
from Uraniborg,
meal
in-
currant sauce, chicken pate, goose liver with cucumbers, sugar cakes,
and beef with horseradish; the second course was crabs and
lamb with
beets, followed
tart.
It
roast
took
TYCHO
no
time to eat a meal
or more, but
it
like this,
meant
& KEPLER
Tycho had
his staff
sion of the
and
and
as well as for
to have specified
should be
set up,
and
there
was a
who
in
retire,
win-
When
was done.
it
same room
slept in this
Denmark
theatrical skits.
all
E on
and
and
G were
three thou-
sand books and his great globe. The globe was important enough to
rate
its
own
designation as
observatory with
same
its
library
room was
staircase
and
the south
them were
six-
visible in
niches around the walls in Tycho's elevation drawing (see color plate
section). Later,
room
itself so that it
He
was possible
to keep
an eye on lengthy
distilla-
down
the basement
stairs.
The
The basement
house
level
in all directions,
wood
cellar,
extended a few
and
it
its
feet
beyond the
rest
housed
pantries, a
wine
of the
In addi-
A
tern.
Palace Observatory
laboratory, an-
that this
less)
may
have been Kirsten's domain rather than an area for servants only.
On the floor above the ground floor, the central block consisted of
more
living
"red"
were the
east
chamber" be-
a "yellow octagonal
tween them. Here was the Queen's Chamber, which Queen Sophie
occupied
when
Chamber
though
the
the "green
it
tures of plants.
the observatories
pic-
tollgate at Elsinore.
ceiling
The
areas
in
which
There were
satellite
What
less clear.
open
galleries
the interior of the central block was like above this floor
Another
flight
spiral leading
and a clock
of
stairs
spiraled upward.
If
dome would
have served
as a skylight
a "free view in
at the
all
directions"
from
there.
itself,"
is
a large
top of
ventilator,
from
far be-
the wind
ble just
at the
and
visible
low. This clock face registered not only the time but also
rection
was
it
di-
gallery
gallery
are visi-
floor
spiral staircase,
itself,
probably accessed
TYCHO
112
& tCEPLEU
either
drawing]
warm
dining
haven indeed.
One
of the marvels of
Uraniborg was the system Tycho had for communicating with the
tic
rooms
to allow
hanced
guests.
his
Tycho
image
He would
to
as a
summon
tor's
and thin
system for
this
Tycho en-
individual students.
magician by demonstrating
at-
each of the
bells in
air.
Tycho had
as if called
knew
without his
the student
visi-
must be near-
Tycho kept
diary.
It
was an
scholars,
home
Hven
in his meteorological
to his island
and
remarkable
his
nication system and the revolving fountain, to take the air in his gardens,
in
and
to
compose
love
phere of sobriety.
letter
all this
from Tycho
and exclaimed
art in itself,
and
least
mug
verses for
one another
accomplished in an atmosto
Bartholomew Schultz
combrim"
was a learned
of all theological."
"We
you
to the
As the
*Tycho's
Latin.
poem "Urania
Titani"
is
became
increasingly
has written in
Palace Observatory
113
not only exotic trees and plants but also aviaries and gazebos. Tycho's
goal
was
water
who
also cultivated
imported
and
plants, animals,
a paper mill,
no other
ranean observatory.
Hven and
the study of
birds.
many of
fish in
up
noble peers,
his
castle or
it
fulfilled
ad-
much
including
it
this
of Tuna.
villagers
European aristocracy
essential.
The
been a defeat for them. They were well informed enough, however,
to
know
1580 they
did, charging
move
cartage,
and other
labor."
sumers of the
wood
that
The fam-
in addition to their
summer of
had
visited
and reach
down
what
his
Hven and
a decision.
new
ants of Hven
It
reply.
The
A
its
charter issued
in precise detail
were to them.
as well
insatiable con-
his ministers
and
for
all
valueless.
The
TYCHO
U4
new charter
on the acorns
him
Hven. Such a
lected
it
& ICEPLER
fee
in Tycho's forests in
when
Skane or
else give
from these
islanders.
who
as his
them
uncle
mild father" and "did not lay new burdens upon them," which
of them "acknowledge to
do miss
col-
their
this
many
they
tears that
documents
all
It
as
did
not seem hypocritical for Tycho, in the context of the times, to talk
of Uraniborg and
mankind and
Hven
a love
whose
fulfill
to
their obligations.
Though
some
deny
his tenants
such
rival scholars
riod of his
life
He had many
went with
had come
as
to regard
Tycho
monster, and
as a
this pe-
his birth
a social snob.
He
had chosen
sition
tion of Uraniborg,
and
his
mounting wealth,
was meet-
elitist
attitude
and an
With
success following
on
many
success,
were
all
the
more
to equate
am
doing."
Palace Observatory
115
be their
as likely to
own
who
closest
seemed
to be favored
by
God and
think
altar,
it
was
responsibility that
The
his.
achievement of
by
to
produce instruments
become
specialists
close supervision.
craftsmen
and devote
all
it
was
who were
like those
essential for
he
him
his predecessors or
to
a standard
there.
under
his
At Uraniborg, he
did.
Tychos 'workshop
shop, was admirably well equipped, beyond any other such shop in
existence, with 'mills driven partly
six
He had
satisfaction,
in-
own
To
had
to
show which
in-
TYCHO
n6
tify all
observations
had
lated observations
& ICEPLER
made with
to be
re-
different instruments.
and documenting,
as well as the
and
everyday con-
at the
dinner table,
is,
in fact, utilized
by
in Tycho's time,
is still
observer on Earth
is
stars as fixed
tial
is
used.)
is
onto an
move
planets as they
stars, fixed
is
night by an
points
turning on
celestial
its axis,
and
on the
at
literally,
Moon, and
invisible "celes-
no longer taken
not
really
Their positions in
re-
lation to
watches them
at night,
The
which
tor,
axis
is
on
has an
of rotation. Just
its
has an equator
South
north
celestial
its
axis
North Pole
to
The horizon
lestial
as Earth's axis
is
another great
celestial
equator
(like Earth's
from what
in Basel. Stars
it
is
equator)
is
the
same
set
up
his observatory
Hven would
on Earth who is not
at
Celestial
Palace Observatory
117
sphere
North celestial pole
South
On
Figure 7.2:
Poles.
On
celestial pole
is
midway between
celestial poles,
on
a plane
is
the
midway between
the observer
two
points,
is
located.
one
east
The
zenith
is
How much
celestial
tipped in re-
observer.
They
are like
at
two
server
is
less
The
the
at the
moment
face of Earth.
Hence,
as
is
the
case with the horizon, an observer can think of the zenith as belong-
ing to
him
equator do not
they
TYCHO
118
& KEPLER
North pole of celestial sphere
Zenith
South pole of
Figure 7.3:
Anywhere an observer
stands
more
is
on
celestial
sphere
on
its
North
technical language:
The
observer's horizon
is
in-
There
7.5):
is
arrangement
this
around Earth.
the Sun, there
(In fact,
is
when
that the
moving
still is
or-
was and
Sun
in a great circle
is
orbiting which.
(see figure
the ecliptic.
The
ecliptic
is
The two
name
for
as
ng
Palace Observatory
/
Celestialequator/
__
y'
y<\
Horizon
Celestial equator
South
Figure 7.4:
Two
celestial pole
hinged
to-
summer in
Sun.
is
bob
The
and the
planets
due
of them appears to
same
to the rotation
move
tilts
the
tilts
in a great circle
also
have addi-
orbits
is
tilts
and
to
toward the
North Pole
They
Moon also
drawn
at a ninety-degree
much more
is
never large.
Tycho and
his
TYCHO
120
& JCEPLEU
South
celestial pole
Figure 7.5: For a Ptolemaic astronomer, the ecliptic was the great circular
"hoop," with
its
contemporaries
on the ecliptic
orbits Earth.
It is
zodiac
stars in that
belt: in
another
the
Moon
(figure 7.6).
sight
it
celestial equator.
ground
as
it
was
in the zodiac.
was possible
calculate
for
from one
Tycho and
set
to the ecliptic,
its
contemporary astronomers
to
his
an
on the
celestial sphere.
relative positions
Tycho spoke of
of these
circles
armillaries disparagingly as
Figure 7.6:
The
from
width of which
121
angle between the orbit of a planet and the plane of the eclip-
are always
Palace Observatory
is
B in
to
ecliptic,
marked with
this
drawing)
is
lines
zxA and
known
as the zodiac,
the
B.
them
himself.
would
later gaze at
The
ing
last
his
was one of
It
The procedure
for using a
quadrant
required
more than
of such phenomena
as
It
also re-
Compiling such
a catalog (for
TYCHO
122
else's
nearly dependable
sential tasks
of Tycho's
enough
career,
& 1CEPLER
and
it
continued for
es-
were
essential to
The
age-old
method was
to sight
star,
much
annoyed by
to be
less to
if
that
to achieve.
enough
to see
The
would
star
not necessarily be centered exactly in the holes, and the position could
ment, he came up with a better alidade (the straight piece of an observing instrument that connected the nearer and farther sights).
much
later in his
With
raise or
this
new
lower
it
was
It
(figure 7.8a)
it
alidade set
until
on
its
sides,
it
was possible
through
star
Tycho
for
slits
to
he marked
it
line
that
way he measured
C-D
BA
up
moment he
so that just
sighting
(its
on the
distance
slit
toward the side FE. That gave him the azimuth measurement
(distance
see
appendix
2).
To study
the Sun, he
could adjust the instrument so that the Sun's rays shone through the
round hole
and
visible
filled a circle
on
side
his drawing).
to
improve accu-
more
distant sight.
in a
Palace Observatory
123
azimuth quadrant of
Mechanica. To use
this
brass," in a
"medium-
it
so that
its
plumb
lines
G in the pictureshowed that one of its straight edges was precisely horizontal
through the
of the
on
star or planet
its
360-degree
circle
move
freely
along the
that
had
it
pointed
at the star
to measure.
was attached
at the
He
The azimuth
The
pie.
arc.
Tycho and
until, sighting
or planet.
The
its
along
arc
sighting arm, a
it
lowered
zenith.
able to
up toward the
circle,
allowing one to
TYCHO
124
& KEPLER
Figure 7.8
a.)
Instauratae Mechanica.
The
server.
square end
G, H, E) was at
(F,
clover
actly
had
slits
on four
sides,
alidade.
slits
forming
Tycho wrote,
the
slits
"it is
is
far
end,
arc.
The
its
at the
possible to
single
manipula-
widen or narrow
waste of time."
Using
b.)
more
cylinder as the
distant sight:
The diame-
ter
as
slits
lined
star
up the
two
both
y,
Tycho
when
_
KK
slit
to the other.
c.j
Transversal points:
The
zigzag lines of
made
it
.A
final
Palace Observatory
12s
him
to
make much
finer
he
measurements was
of the
visible
Having
his
at
Uraniborg proved to be an
its
ing them.
its
it
came
quality, iden-
He
number of times
or rebuild
it
manu-
able to supervise
it
to
make
and corrections
at
Uraniborg.
dream
8
Adelberg, Maulbronn,
Uraniborg
1580-1588
in Adelberg,
where Johannes
and Maulbronn,
later,
at four a.m. in
summer,
five in winter,
when
all
the stu-
its
no
free time.
instruction in
and
his
Greek
as well,
now
schoolmates
and
also in rhetoric
classical
faith,
rambling
tains
it
list
many
"spherics"
and
the happiest
came
was
to getting along
of "only those
who were
statements such as
civilization.
arithmetic.
moments
in
a series of real
difficulties typical
of his age
"I willingly
127
went
Seiffer
because the
from an old
rest
hated
me through my own
to school after
forester's
him
I
map.
too,
and
fault ... at
Adelberg
it
was
my treachery
[under
strong moral pressure from his instructors, Kepler had acted as an informer]; at Maulbronn,
particularly hurt
of them
progress,
all
and
could have
was
my
all
it
when
there
father's reputation,
was envious
talk
about him:
but he was
"Why were
success?"
come up with
it all
at this
age probably
was can-
down.
Kepler was not the colorless, drab individual that some authors
and
historians have
abundance. By his
TYCHO
u8
& KEPLER
man who
is
ment but
also ardor
"I didn't
obey reason
until
my
that last
maxim,
these words).
turous
life
in a variety
and
jokes
and
He
reveled in
with ana-
improve
memory by
his
tempting to memorize
The way
his
mind
all
flew quickly
among
grammar books.
writing continued to be
him puzzled by
his
men-
tal track.
to
ligious controversies
some of
Kepler's
Tubingen and
and
young
afire
teachers, fresh
of the Holy
Communion
espoused
cepting
little
at
by the
them. At Adelberg
of ac-
after listen-
He was
demned by
his instructors
pulpit.
God damns
the heathen
who do
it.
He
was so bold
also
as to
Calvinists,
and claimed
course that
would have
would, in
fact,
Tycho Brahe
129
also to
tragic
eventually leave
later,
and
that
to appeal to
for a job.
In October
room
He
Maulbronn,
as a "veteran,"
for
a third year at
his
examination and
and
his
own
and
trial
frontiers
considered essential.
great instruments of
One
as-
The
first
Schissler
not see
it
until
Denmark before
he returned
it
splits
between
inserting
globe to
By that time
pieces
to
the
wood had
the pieces.
many hundred
sit
Augsburg
Hven, where
left
library.
to construct
relic
and restored
in
brought to
its
shape "by
TYCHO
130
its
wooden
& KEPLER
he had
it
com-
"with such great care and accuracy that one might believe the globe to
be of solid brass." After waiting another year to find out whether the
globe would
still
zodiac etched onto the brass "and divided each degree of these circles
accurately into sixty minutes of arc
ac-
cording to our custom." By the time he had finished, his remark that
The
no small
"at
cost"
was an understatement.
celestial
to
produce a decorative
azimuth of a
lination
and
celestial object
Tycho
later
The
if an
and wanted
globe
to calculate
appendix
made
2),
from them
its
dec-
book Astronomiae
Instauratae Mechanica,
meridian
(see
appendix
2).
(I)
at
The
It
it
Two
other lines
itself
Tycho proudly
ecliptic.
measured almost
The support
was about
six feet in
on the globe
it
its
that are
reaches
and the
diameter.
piece of
finely
boast.)"
globe of this
"a
so solidly
size,
now
constructed up to
if
131
It
anywhere
in the world.
and
think been
(May I be
forgiven
He
entered on
it
the positions of
all
the stars he
ble to the eye were entered on the globe." Defending the length of
time
it
took him and his artisans to finish the globe and for him to
would
all
his
it
the task
eventually re-
many
that
have
it
Tycho and
his artisans
large in-
1582. Tycho
named
the
first his
"large quadrant"
and henceforth
re-
"small quadrant."
artistic as
Tycho
his "great
come
to symbolize
mural quadrant," an
his
Tycho Brahe.
his
north-south
line.
The
the wall.
On
the observer.
ing
Tycho
this
Movable
later
sights
them
set
assistants peering
slice
arc.
was nearer
The
engrav-
sights
mounted on
one of Tycho's
as the alidade
and the
was
farther sight
left
in earlier
quad-
the cylinder in
of the engraving.
TYCHO
132
& KEPLER
mounted proba-
on the
was working
floor above
Hans
its
it
at Elsinore,
artist in
Denmark,
Hven
to paint a
to
distant landscape for the background, visible through the arches of the
life-size portrait
arm
his
dog
of himself,
Tycho commis-
named him
court
to the attention
artist,
altar
of
of King Frederick.
St. Ibb's
tremely pleased with the portrait in the mural quadrant. "The likeness
could hardly be more striking," he wrote, "and the height and stature
of the body
mural
is
Tycho was
sisting
also
realistically."
masterpiece of Uraniborg.*
experimenting with
armillaries,
various circles
tial
rendered very
as the artistic
equator,
on the
and the
celestial
ecliptic.
instruments con-
relative positions
of the
Tycho planned
to
do extensive work on
work
in
book.
rings.
him
itself.
He had begun
They were
of the obser-
These
it
figures
appeared
Mechanica.
devices
marked Cand
the points
and
armillary.
Instauratae
on the meridian
ring
is
attached.
line)
The
next smaller
istence,
Tycho
still
5 8
knew he
to accomplish.
flex
tions.
As
which
car-
latitude.
hoped
and
measuring
THE EARLY
time,
located, with
In
The
could be raised or lowered along the meridian ring until they corre-
first
The outermost
instruments in ex-
bend
would not
give
him
fine
enough
TYCHO
134
mind
his
order to
accommodate
and
this time, as
he
at the
flex
level
& KEPLER
a successful design he
would need
a ground-
his assistants
ments.
The
large ones
with access to
all
he
now had
in
large observatories
instru-
better
satellites
The
shelter
level
high above
mention
tory as a
way of separating
trol
Tycho
also
his assistants
saw the
and
auxiliary observa-
would not
sults
get in
to
also
not compare
re-
a chance to study
rise in
would not
spoil the
insignificant
low por-
He
and expenditure,
a subterranean observatory."
He
set
diffi-
christened
US
vatory that he built outside the perimeter wall of Uraniborg, from Astronomiae
Instauratae Mechanica.
Stjerneborg (see color plate section) was designed with five great
or amphitheaters to house a giant armillary that figured
cellars
largely in Tycho's observational plans, a revolving quadrant, a zodiacal armillary, a large steel
had
cellar
removed or swung
ample storage
and
and space
own comfort
installation," a
bed
to use
a second larger
for
Tycho "when
a constant
bed to be shared by
others.
as
them.
low
There was
aside.
was
far
from
strictly
it
should
al-
functional in
design and decor. Tycho and Steenwinkel drew plans with the same
attention to symmetry, harmony,
Uraniborg
time
itself.
much more
and
significant difference
detail
astronomers,
occupying
that characterized
as a
man
this
of stature
preeminent place
in
all
history.
TYCHO
136
& KEPLER
on
their
heads.
praises
steps
down from
round
it
and
cellars,
poems
lished with
to the five
this
inscribed in gold
letters.
walls
from
own
his
clear:
and he anticipated
history,
that Tychonides
greatest as-
would come
lineage.
The
Figure 8.3:
Instauratae Mechanica.
To
an observer stood on a
star,
Through
of the
tier
equa-
celestial
slits
of the
he saw the
star
on both
at the vernal
equinox). In order to compare this finding with the right ascension of another
star
whose position was already known, two observers sighted from the half cir-
cle,
one
sions
They learned
To
find a
star's
stars' right
ascen-
sights.
its
on the
large ring.
(F). Like
met
saw the
star
moved one
on both
sides
To double-check an
its
informed
axis
until, sighting
at the center
observation,
and moved
star.
turn on
star.
for the
same measurement. As he
other."
for
137
TYCHO
138
astronomy
and highborn
realize
He
to
scholars, intellectuals,
also
b KEPLER
though
more
curiosity seekers,
who
of
regularly
visit
Hven,
his
and
was eager
fall
in a
significant way.
become
the
The foundation
structure.
1584, but
was not
it
for
its
it
axis
was
was put
great
December
in place in
summer
was
most of the
familiar rings
to be
missing. Except for brass alidades (the two "fan blades" that ran from
the center at
E on Tycho's
as rulers
made of wood
distortions caused
axle (the pole
on the
for easier
marked B
in the drawing).
pivoted on a hollow
At
first
steel
makes
tilt it
so that
Denmark
is
sense.
at its
ure of Atlas.
fig-
pivot point, and the two legs of the wishbone flanked the door to the
passage to the
After the completion of the mural quadrant and the great equatorial armillary,
Tycho and
it
to
a stronger base
his
shop went on
to
produce
a revolving
"large quadrant"
it.
by givIt
was
henceforth
known
fident that
He had
ijg
When
less successful
observations with
fulfilling his
dream of
Contriving Immortality
1581-1588
It
in
its
borg was a direct bid for immortality. The urgency with which Tycho
went about
his
1581 about
If Copernican
in large part
astronomy or
Mars came
his
Hence
there
One way
pare
it
as close as
Mars
does, in fact,
come
No observation
had a
parallax.
quire
all
his ingenuity
this point,
and the
devise a
to
show
that
finest
Mars even
would
re-
about
came
with that of the Sun. However, Mars's parallax had never been
measured.
At
did. If the
Sun.
Sun
come
good way
in his thinking
series, in
which
Contriving Immortality
141
Sun, while the Sun and the outer planets orbit the unmoving Earth.
In 1580 a
months
four
his
own
later
three or
earlier, it
Moon
and
scholars
that
orbit Earth
who opposed
an arrangement
moving Earth,
of
was, in
it
fact,
Though
it
and that he
retained an un-
parallax
measurements
nova of 1 572 and the comet of 1 577. In order to use the equiv-
alent of
two eyes
(as in
Jesuit
intellectual child
self-destructive paranoia.
Copernican system,
to the
rest
embraced by
Galileo. This
later
full
must be very
far
other.
About ninety
stars,
one
years after
Tycho attempted the measurement, Gian Domenico Cassini succeeded in measuring Mars's parallax by placing one observer in Paris
and another
in
Cayenne
available to Tycho,
in
another method, the one he had used for the nova and the comet:
observer could stay in place and
(or
of the Earth,
if he
thought
like a
other.
manner
let
is
A shift in
An
it
would
TYCHO
142
& KEPLER
7
7
Earth
Moon
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Earth
Moon
Mercury
Venus
Sun
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Moon
Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Figure 9.1:
Contriving Immortality
come
143
make
its
Mars's parallax shift was, in fact, not possible with Tycho's instru-
know
that.
actually
it
Tycho,
is,
and
that
Mars's parallax
it
it
still
was three
to be.
if the
Ptolemaic
farther
it
right,
Mars
Sun and,
make
best time to
closest
parallax
we know
would come
The
its
when
in fact,
on the opposite
side
Mars
tions
do
closest
others,
were
in
it
was
Some
its
at "opposition"
oppositions bring
hoped
that
five
at the
On
he pinned
all
his hopes.
The
was ready
in
June
December and
his staff
ground appears
his winter
background reference
parallax. In late
Tycho and
from
to be.
made
one holds
stars
January,
Mars was
at opposition.
a finger to one's eyes, the larger the shift against the back-
TYCHO
144
& KEPLER
The
morning.
in the
So
far
it
was victory
However, that was not to be the end of the matter. This campaign
for
new
Tycho had
essential
to wait
precise
and powerful
in-
more
find,
he and
background research
two
for
unaware,
Johannes Kepler.
1582-83
observations, for
the next opposition of Mars, in January 1585. This time his results
were nonsensical
was
smaller than
refraction of light
by
Refraction
is
to the
The most familiar demonstration is the way a rod apbend when partly immersed in water. Refraction was not
atmosphere.
pears to
was refracted
or, if it
it
evening,
Mars was
suffer the
starlight
same de-
know whether
would
his
Mars
observations. In the
this
Tycho be-
gan to devise observations that would help him determine the degree
of refraction to be expected for
stars.
As he continued
finally
came
to
ponder the
on-line.
1587, Uraniborg
and two
large
azimuth quadrants
installed in
Contriving Immortality
Stjerneborg and
numerous
March 10 was
Tycho wrote
14s
a letter to
Landgrave Wilhelm of
a typical night.* In
some
parallax.
cases there
were simulta-
neous observations with the sextant and the quadrant, and sometimes with the equatorial armillary.
in
Tycho's handwriting.
6:27 p.m.
the horizon as
[its
made
altitude above
all
made
armillary.
rial
measured
distance between
Mars and
8:30break
9:45
Moon.
the
1
passage of Mars)
torial armillary
meridian
and
trigonal sextant.
after the
up on the beds
bedtime.
in the
[Perhaps
underground room
many of them
at the center
of
Stjerneborg.]
"Owen
era.
They have
life
The
all its
recon-
their article
TYCHO
146
4:145:16 a.m.
and
armillary
new
& KEPLER
set
sextant,
its
angular distance
time stood
this
tion
refraction
Night
and sheep
Hven
darkness on
from
sites
sitions
sunken obser-
steps of the
or was
and understand
Tycho put
the observa-
his retinue
to capture
all
the Sun?
motions
its
since the
as
program of observa-
that
had so
tantalizingly
world began, to
no one had
all this
ever
done
computed what
fix its
po-
before.
meant, cor-
it
He was
for
elated with
it
Sun
did.
The
what he found.
Mars of about
orbited Earth
the planet
tions ...
astronomer and
five
come
on
He had
and three-quarters
computation of what
little
while,
Tycho had
for
one of
overturning
Ptolemaic astronomy.
During
1577,
this
much
same
year,
on
press,
and Tycho
comet
felt
This was no
Contriving Immortality
147
would have
to
announce
con-
his
THE DETAILS OF
together in Tycho's
mind
the
full
in
Room,
that,
during numerous
nights of observations
and
on
piece of chalk
he sketched out
it,
man
someone
into
with a
And just
this
proud, well-
is
first
focused
where
it first
more
about him.
Erik Lange was a good friend and a relative by marriage.
been present
Bygholm
at the
dedication of Uraniborg.
Castle in Jutland,
came with
which meant
a considerable retinue.
Tycho and
sinister,
problem
likely
He composed some
his
when he
them,
visited
this time,
Bar, a surveyor.
mathematician and a
assistants.
By 1584 he governed
that
Among
He had
he
was
Though he was
in Holstein,
Bar was a
flattering verses in
an attempt to
in-
Tycho.
taining Lange
had
to
do with the
fact that
guests,
making notes on
scraps of paper.
Viborg baited
Bar, leading
him
into pre-
TYCHO
H8
& KEPLER
one of
are
lightly.
all
half-cracked."
from
far
he insisted Bar leave the room, and he erased the sketch before
Bar returned.
The
investigation of Bar
moved
to a
new
stage.
slept,
Viborg managed to empty one of his pockets and found "four whole
handfuls of tracings and writings."
his surreptitiously written notes
him would be
returned,
actually belonged
episode as a disagreeable joke. But Tycho worried that Bar might have
seen material having to do with Tycho s
new
planetary model.
Wilhelm IV of Hesse,
in Kassel,
earlier.
Tycho was
carrying
still
who had
visited
on
so enthusiasti-
cally
now
new
The
When
for his
Tycho took up
his
pen
in
1587
still
to write the
new
material
remembered
Bar's visit
pla-
was nev-
quickly as possible.
scribing his model,
He ended his
much refined
flair,
Hven. All the planets revolved around the Sun, while the Sun
volved around Earth.
The
orbit of
de-
Mars
re-
Sun, which was quite possible, Tycho insisted, because the orbits
Contriving Immortality
crystal.
149
"crystalline
about
as early as
as-
Ptolemy.
He
irregular as
its
orbit
moved
it
fur-
which
celestial
Ptolemy,
as earlier
cir-
astronomy required
orbits to be.
would become
a standard part
book became
the definitive
model
and
Mysteriously,
Tycho
During the
sault
to
years
on Mars's
parallax,
he was
campaign
forty.
By
all
work
at
still
century a
man
last
much beyond
too important to be
al-
would preserve
the glory of
this
portrait
on the
who would
carry
on
that work,
this as-
The
in place.
The
observatory were, in
fact, precarious.
practicalities
were more
TYCHO
ISO
& ICEPLEU
fief
of Hven.
to adjust to the
problems
cre-
ated by her status. She was mistress of the household at Uraniborg and
probably enjoyed
and
tants
as
much
servants as
respect
Tycho's
sister
herself,
her.
christenings,
When
Sophie served
mistresses
whom
visited Uraniborg,
ominous new
whom
banquets and
as "an evil,
royal ordinance
scandalous
life
as if
The ordinance
de-
that the clergy separate such couples and, if the couple re-
all
over
Denmark
rites
of the church.
it
was
owed
their jobs
ordinance
Communion
perhaps
among
the nobility.
so as to
things less
"wives,"
with
went on
such as
shame, just
Since
visitors,
sisted,
funerals of aristocrats,
manded
and
festivities.
with
assis-
Queen Sophie
awkward
living as before.
and
this
of
to
St. Ibb's.
to
make
their
in
non-noble
June 1582,
however,
made
it
could give
still
money and
alive,
personal
way
royal ordinances,
to con-
chil-
and they
Contriving Immortality
i$i
A daughter,
came
Vedel,
in
Cecilie,
was born
for a visit,
in 1582,
and
patent granting the island to Tycho and his male issue, provided they
use
it
and
its facilities
of mathematical studies. To
heard
of,
but
it
it
to
of a
fief.
fief,
in
common with
a university than
sorship or headship.
situation well.
When Tycho
no
actual patent
King
was
Frederick's
with
it,
down, and
issued.
ill
more
a child,
Denmark. In
of
and
Hven
to the
allies.
Uraniborg with
all,
was
had no reason
church
pre-
offices,
work on Hven
ecclesiastical
implying
it
down an
is-
desire to perpetuate
its
own"
It
TYCHO
52
As favorable
rest there.
moil or
as this
later
when
the
& KEPLER
to
a patent
He
also per-
suaded Queen Sophie to put in writing that she could remember her
late
husband Frederick
Brahe's
own
children
II
as
one of Tycho
the observatory.
It
10
The Undermining of
Human Endeavor
1589-1591
In
15
8 9
opening
available.
at the Stift in
at the
peak of his
Finally, in
through the
forests
River.
castle
of Hohentubingen
that
sat like a
huddled beneath
set off
young man
like
a stark
Tycho
it
in the valley
of the Neckar
streets
an
along.
town
Narrow
for
of the Schonbuch, he
in
carried with
The
renowned
his forty-third
Tubingen.
versity
career,
to the foot
way through
of the
these streets
his lodging.
castle
promontory. Kepler
The
Stift,
where he
it
was a seminary
for scholars
who were
Somehow
"children of
and God-fearing
TYCHO
154
The
Stift in
& KEPLER
lived
his univer-
sity years.
dustry had been overlooked, and Kepler had been accepted. His instruction,
free,
and he had
a scholarship of six
dignified upbringing."
moved
of one
meadow
"for better
at
and more
young men
in their teens
from
all
over Swabia who, like him, aspired to careers of service to the duke
or the church. In his second year,
city,
on the recommendation of
was so
free
of financial worries
Tubingen,
as
would
when he
years.
life
education
the
learn,
it
trade school. Theological studies didn't even begin until the third
year.
dialectics,
rhetoric,
came two or
After that
closely supervised
155
An exam
in the spring
The
quarter.
regu-
Stift
had
attended, and
expected
it
orderly student
life
had
in his
all
this
the
teachers
in the university.
element amid
make
for
its
enjoyed by others
and students
being good
horoscopes
bursts of
temper and
knowledge
better
According
to Kepler's
own
a thoughtless
to
with
man named
"Although [Kolin]
Tycho
report,
a
friend.
equipped
a reputation
to be
for
at casting
managed
of
he-
few out-
had
still
Particularly,
who wanted to be
once made friends with me he always
Kolin,
his
ar-
ments seem
a sharper
to
work
habits,
have
He was
permanent
"Although
in a state
loss
I
am
all
of time through
my own
very industrious,
am
fault."
He
lost
time and
also admitted,
But
of
did
Kepler's
him.
else
ters."
my
eagerness,
his
because the
mind
capacity to carry
is
and time-consuming
finer, faster,
and quicker
TYCHO
56
& KEPLER
than the hand." His mind continued to leap quickly from one matter to another,
talk well
what
and
new
ments,
insights
Among
of,
is
subjects. "I
me
pushing
new things,
except
contin-
and
said
said."
him from
his studies
were the
The
women
and
since there
slight
roles.
were no
was performed
in the
open market-
in midwinter.
overexcite-
was fortunate
ics
to have
his teacher
of mathemat-
1578,
1577 through
others.
He
in
comet of
from the
Compared with
He had
were primitive:
string to line
up reference
stars
their positions.
men had
The
stars in the
results
were
more
accurate. In
Tycho suggested
that
way possible. At
that junc-
ture,
at the University
157
and correspondent.
to share his
work and
The
still
officially
taught
it.
man and
far
from out-
should be taken
fact orbit the
literally,
Sun.
TYCHO
158
& KEPLER
who had
all
"I
col-
of his
likely to
lie
have by
re-
to
be correct.
God,
made
it
Sun, the brightest and most splendid of all objects, the source of light
some Pythagoreans,
that they
made
in a
pagan
its
idea.
As
society,
all
had thought
similarly, except
Sun but an
Pythagoreans.
Kepler's idea
went
further. In
stars
its
space.
To Kepler
of equal straight
lines radiating
God
from
its
center.
number
member of
Holy
Spirit. In
keeping with
others.
He used his
sounded more
like those
its
orbit,
and the
planets' distances
made
source of
all
the years to
From
159
was
it
would not be
sur-
would prove
fruitful for
it
Kepler in
come.
thinkers of Kepler's
own
era,
girded his preference for the Copernican system and guided his speculation
ophy
that
the universe
The
philos-
to
all
and
universe created by
sci-
God
could not be other than the perfect expression of such underlying order.
What
harmony
Although during
pily
the
in nature
became
an obses-
for a lifetime.
movements of
Tycho Brahe,
for Kepler:
the heavens
essay about
how
He
and received
August 1591.
He was
him
a tribute:
ex-
as
continued. He
men who opposed Calvinist teach-
now entered
something of a
TYCHO
160
& KEPLER
On
him
that he
had
to, as
he put
it,
push aside
doctrines so opall
these compli-
heart
when he
Communion.
more
them
the pri-
grew
now
witnessed
was completely
at
odds with
He felt
Christ's teaching,
that
tween the divisions of the Reformation church was the only appropriate course.
He was
it
came
However much
shook
and
a devout Christian,
all
to the intricacies
of doctrine, he
dicta of others.
defend Copernican
smooth road
lying before
him and
to en-
came
end
to his happiness
He would
into play
judgment about
life.
it
was
and
his
later
con-
exceptional insight
unorthodox views,
set in
The
a "holding
their stud-
year,
Kepler
re-
ceived the devastating news that his time at his beloved university was
to
end
abruptly,
and not
in the
way he had
intended.
Protestant
Styria, in
161
The
Greek.
school appealed to
He
He had no
He had been
Surely,
accomplished yet
as a
and
but he
mathematician.
serve his church.
more than
On
all
it,
it
was
own.
his
ence of the
his sense
and
the lives of
his
put into the world for himself alone. If it was God's will that he go to
he had a
insist that
when he had
when
happened
that he
would be more
dignified if
he admitted ruefully
actually was."
Though
The
transfer
was
left
and with
set in
him
Tubingen
open the
in the pulpit,
faculty.
all
thought
it
Kepler managed to
possibility of returning to
move
to Graz.
Kepler be allowed to leave the duchy, and the duke gave his approval.
alien
territory.
Wiirttemberg
still
left
his
beloved Tubingen on
The move
to
Graz was
a venture
different:
Because
TYCHO
i6i
when he came
He
arrived in Graz,
Kepler trusted the will of God, but he could not have imagined
how
was
Gregorian calendar.
1 1
& KEPLER
him
in getting
to his future, to
Tycho Brahe.
k ng
first
at the close
to fray a little
built
with the peasants on Hven, but the customs of the time and the
islanders'
made
have
had
of the 1580s
arrival
commanded genuine
respect.
elite
when an
from
all
aristocrat
humble
stu-
have been a skilled manager. Students and assistants worked for him
untiringly
the potential of
them
men
of lower
classes
point
set
him
apart from
most of his
and
Steenwinkel being
a case in
He
seems to
aristocratic peers.
Pratensis,
and
well liked
Wilhelm of Kassel. To
by royalty such
as
nobleman
social strata
new
assistant
living at the
to ignore the
chasms
to bridge them.
who came
so.
to
Hven
in
1589
Longomontanus,
as
man
called himself,
163
farm where
for the
had delayed
the farm
church had
local
Longomontanus
later,
in 1589,
humble
favorites
skilled
and
sufficiently to
make him
Tycho and
sons,
visit relatives.
an
aristocrat. It
was
ditional nobility
rade, the
in his
If for
much more
planted by a
much
vigorous and
nobility,
heir
by divine
men who
become
tain extent,
in fact, than
the tra-
weary cha-
older aristocracy, in
right to Hipparchus,
left
the trappings
and pride of
it
him
a
to be
to
adorn
nobility.
He
this different
extinct,
still
on the top
higher,
tyrant.
The
autocratic,
vere him.
and
few years
and paranoid
to Kepler,
a sympathetic one,
The
finer side
later
come down
in history
is
not
who was
may
TYCHO
i64
590s. In the
change in
his
temperament
man
& KEPLER
in the
Hven by
night. In
jester,
fief,
but
as the
less likable
Rasmus
Pedersen,
who
lived
when
as a
on
a small
manor
gentleman tenin
Zealand that
life
tenancy
manor house
that
when
much
it
and he was
tablishment and rebuilt the house into something large and quite
splendid. Pedersen
his fishing rights
and exploited
his
usual norm. There were reports that after using their free labor for his
become
new
fields
them from
cottages,
and
finally obliged
them
to
free
buy
Gundsogaard
fields at
tainers
sow
sowers.
Tycho
fifty-two
to be
and
When
men
in irons to
his re-
behind Tycho's
seized Pedersen as
he
weeks
165
at
Uraniborg for
By
the spring
few months
later,
failed
ment of Pedersen
home
to
aristocratic peers,
who might
as
normal behavior
to view
On
his
his treat-
the
way
disappointment by
decision.
He
did not drop the matter. His next maneuver was to try to link
failed.
is
no record of the
result
By November 1592
a servant as prisoners.
later
are
ing Pedersen.
Possibly while
Hven, a young
at
Frobenius arrived. As
tutor in Saxony,
and gone
to
Denmark,
afire to visit
Uraniborg and
He made the initial mistake of seeking entrance after everyone had gone to bed. He might have been forgiven for think-
and calm
letters
it
was
"a beau-
would not be
asleep.
him
away.
With
the savage
1980s.
unknown
until
field.
his
memoirs
TYCHO
166
& KEPLER
Early the next morning Frobenius tried again at the gate, and
his letters
of recommendation
He would
a student.
Tycho agreed
one
of them from
to accept Frobenius as
at
the most
felt
dent from Bergen, Norway. However, things must have gone rather
about a month
well, for
him
cally.
He would
in the study
if
less,
the
ser-
Tycho
laid
The
intentionally framed to
what affronted
question.
it
im-
He would
make
six years
minimum,
now
or after he
left,
take
no notes
for his
own
benefit or later
personal use, and "serve without hesitation wherever [he] could fruit-
fully
labors."
He would
happened
to
who
would be no
salary
me what-
come my way."
Then he
years.
He wanted
and
in
and
167
was reluctant
promise never to
to
own
utilize
studies, for
knowledge
would be
it
waste of time to learn things he could never use in the future. Also,
he needed a fixed
salary,
usual,
clauses.
Not
to
Meanwhile
benius,
less
assistants told
him
that
it
was extremely
German,
said
it
would be impossible
like Fro-
The
ters
and
him
to force
let-
him with an
provide
return.
Rantzau
The
letter that
else.
trunk
at
Uraniborg
sides.
his
all
Tycho
At
finally acquiesced,
seal the
traveled together to
trunk on
Copenhagen.
all
When
Frobenius found a ship bound for Liibeck, hurried aboard, and sailed
"a
couple of
shirts, a cloak,
and handkerchiefs
in a
assistants
were
TYCHO
168
& KEPLER
Tycho
himself.
in fact allowed
many
all
and he viewed
it
as
the
made
his
good
who warned
man
autumn of
memory
that
same
as a fine
year.
Tycho grieved
lives for
him and
praised his
On
are,
the one
hand
who, wearing
for
left
who
revere
somehow
inadvertently
1 1
Years of Discontent
1588-1596
In
Tycho's
of
letter
591,
when
Pedersen was in
from
in
taller
quired whether Tycho might have a picture painted of a Rix and sent
to
him. Tycho suspected that the landgrave meant a reindeer and was
hinting that Tycho might send not merely a picture but the animal
self.
send
that.
reindeer, but
Nevertheless, he
in the climate
elk brought
mounted
consumed
to get
back
of Kassel.
down
the stairs
until
it
much
and
it-
he offered to
elk,
and
it
was
elk or
from Norway
home
at his niece's
elk, so
he already had an
either.
Tycho had an
was to wait
replied,
he had an
to
two
if offered.
Copenhagen, where
it
manor
beer that
it
died.
Wilhelm around
this pitiful
TYCHO
170
hint
& KEPLER
entirely
happy.
He went
that he
might choose to venture into other climes, the sky above be-
so far as to
tell
Wilhelm
it
mood or annoyances
But there
and
He
is
his
nificant
sig-
Tycho did
visit to Kassel,
book about
far
in April
588.
after its
flatly
way back
in
whom
he had studied
at
Rostock,
made
in 1582,
little less
servations) he
Rothmann
(still
that
all
the
letter to
way back
in
Then,
stating
re-
once again
1584
in
same 1582
November 1589 he
Thaddeus Hagecius,
1582 (two
parallax.
referring to the
when he
to be rejected. In
letter to
it
had been
large
Sun
enough
to convince
does. In the
same
him
that
letter to
Mars comes
closer
very nearly
Years
The
ofDiscontent
why
is,
171
making contra-
about their
dictor}- claims
results.
measurement. Kepler
later
1589 Tycho's
The
to
no evidence of one
for a
Mars
par-
Bar. Six
months
after
Fundaments ofAstronomy. In
entitled
own
it
that Bar
to establish priority,
and
he
some
most importance
to
laid
out a system he
details,
come
make
it
it
was
true. It
identi-
was of ut-
indisputably clear
One way
to
accomplish
this
was
Hven. Certainly
this
its
Bar.
1588 and
there. Yet in
was.
cal to
them
do with
book
in
made
letters to
the findings,
autumn of 1589,
after
He
have
as
much
Mars
He had
587, but he
re-
complete
knew he
did not
when
"Gingerich and Yoelkel point out the mysterious contradictory sequence ofletters and explain
how
TYCHO
172
The
result
He found
fact,
of Tycho's
new
& KEPLER
found no parallax
for
Mars
in 1587.
He
had, in
he had discovered a parallax for Mars, nor did he make any more
rious attempts to find
it.
The
se-
took place in summer, when the nights were too short to try to measure a parallax.
some of
his
The
sister
latter.
when
fa-
When she was a child, he had taught her some astronomy, and,
vorite.
him
in the observation
of a
lunar eclipse at Herrevad. Since then Sophie had married a rich no-
husband
died,
of 1589, and
ter
it
cated, well-traveled
as part
Eriksholm Castle.
left
a wealthy
inheri-
young widow.
first
Sophie
a
visitor to
at his
fell
in love
own
590,
same year he and Sophie Brahe were betrothed, over the objec-
tions of
all
Though
He was
placed un-
Tears of Discontent
Tycho's
sister
Sophie Brahe, in an
oil
painting by an
soon
173
unknown
was held
artist.
in
wardship
personal fortune.
In 1592 Sophie's
ever,
when Lange fled in secret to Hven, and Tycho helped him esfrom Denmark and his creditors. Lange's addiction to the dream
Tycho's
cape
of turning base metal into gold was beyond control, and he continued
to
no
at
home
at
TYCHO
174
it
& ICEPLER
to lead,
many people,
telligent
not
least
and learned
Tycho.
women
on
He
his patience
and
The
extensive
theless;
to
fall
loss
more
disastrous foolish-
energies.
to help his
Roskilde was
at
and
his limited
little
to fear. Christian
Tycho
ig-
little
more than
relatives.
of Tycho that Tycho had forgotten that kings needed extremely sentreatment and could not safely be regarded as familiar equals
sitive
or, if
they were
still
592.
a royal visit to
Hven
in July
made
humor of Tycho's
jester all
very
much
treasures of Uraniborg.
Years of Discontent
175
catastrophically. Christian
Tycho begin
that
would
he
repairs. If
commanded
by return
a reply
been no
dering
him
failed to
By
so,
its
but,
still
demanding
Christian himself
at Tycho's expense.
distracted
repairs,
to have the
The problem
in the
four daughters
thirteen,
and
Magdalene,
women. Because
their
before. Tycho's
were
wealthy, accomplished
young
to believe that
he could
had been
professors
at
Uraniborg.
Among
who were
of 1593, a young
prime candidate
prominent academic
to
Cecilie, twelve
flat
that
became
or-
the fief
In
The
courier.
his cavalier
it
as to
and grand-
with
Tycho
do
hire a builder
message
father
as well versed
so. Clearly,
for
man named
His
father,
Tycho
any of these.
Gellius Sascerides
family.
what
young
came from
distin-
had a wide
circle
assistants at
five years
TYCHO
176
when he was
& KEPLER
promising young
disciples. Tycho's
eight
He had
when he
arrived
and
thirteen
when
at
the dinner table. Gellius had continued to serve as Tycho's representative to foreign courts
years old
and
well traveled,
universities.
Now
among
the
young
a medical
scholars of
Europe. There could not have been a more appropriate suitor for
Tycho
late-six-
feelers
among friends,
man
If a situation
Mogens
sary.
went
to
his party
then took
seats,
and the
mony
on
ate
this
took place
Uraniborg, for
at
their behalf.
it
when
this cere-
to negoti-
or no: At
point the suitor was committed, but the bride's family was not.
were
difficulties.
had been
raised as a
nobility, she
no
substantial fortune
far
and no
Troels-Lund,
as
Years of Discontent
177
young
a brilliant
scholar.
would be
his prospects as
like.
gowns
and bed
and
necessities as
and embroidered
linens, kettles
all its
enough
caps, table
bed
tapestries, a
life,
leaving her
woman
entered
for
day-to-day needs.
Nevertheless, Gellius
depth. Even
place
on the
costly that
of a noble
scale
would
be.
alliance,
The wedding
fell
realized that
if he
would be
five to
he had no experience of
itself,
how
customarily a
number of small
silver
pawning
it
and
"morning
gift,"
life
merely by
Gellius's
spokesman, to
scale
down
it
these ex-
When
it
came
to a
way
an assistant but
self.
on
as a son-in-law,
at
Tycho
Uraniborg, no longer
at
Uraniborg
in late
September. Tycho
may well
him
either as
TYCHO
178
& KEPLER
was a
letter
Gellius
waiting for
to Roskilde, taking
He was away
again for a
Copenhagen.
which
young man.
It is
his
Gellius's
continued to
still
alliance
Ominously,
close friends
his
to
word
mind.
He
an
as
and
fell
apart entirely in
seemed contrived
to bring
an
irreversible
among
end
his
to the
marriage arrangements.
On
December
canceled.
A devastated
mistreatment in
this
Magdalene wrote
matter by Gellius.
in marriage negotiations,
when
the
The breakdown
at this
as a
point
formally
No man would
ever
marry
her.
At the age
Magdalene knew
condemned her
suitor Gellius
had
a private concern
and
and
to spinsterdom.
Tvcho Brahe
his
in the portrait
book Astronomiae
from
Instauratae
Johannes Kepler
in a portrait
painted in 1610
when he was
Imperial Mathematician
Prague.
in
at
as
it
appears
Left:
King Frederick
Tycho's patron,
who
II
of Denmark,
unknown
in a
artist.
ORTHOGRAPHIA PRiCIPV
>r.
InfuU
J^
Hucnna,
D O M V
jfa
AJlronom,*
ARCIS VRANIBVRGI
MD lm
inftaurand*
g.-ac::..
circa
inntrn
Above:
a
decade
later. It
in
Augsburg
in
at
Uraniborg
s library.
Uraniborg
in
582.Tycho considered
men shown
in
this portrait
of
OJSUTAIOJ11UM
_ SUBTI
largest
Frederick
II
and
at
his father, as
keep
it
appears today.
in
good
IV.
It
was
this
chapel
later
became
in a portrait
bv Pieter Isaacsz.
Wedding medallion
Johannes Kepler and
portraits
(1
597) of
Above:
The
cliff-top
Benatky Castle,
to Tycho to
The
Above
left:
Emperor Rudolph
II
of the Holy
Roman
on
its
Above:
Drawing by an unknown
artist
is
walls.
troops and Protestant vigilantes in the streets of Prague, near the Keplers' home,
in
February 1611.
Years of Discontent
new
university mediated a
would not
Gellius
ljg
life,
To enable him
all.
to
cial
this
time he judged
prudent to
it
shift the
blame by openly
among Tycho's
relatives.
The
at-
final break-
as the
like a
on every
way
to
possible
parts of the
defend his
at
common origins,
negotiate in
good
faith,
dragging
all
their
for failing to
Ill
more
on
at a
his staff.
written
down
to
observa-
are
in Tycho's hand.
In January 1596 Tycho took the only step that could restore his
family's reputation.
fear
of adding to their
grief,
he
at last
repeatedly not to
brought
for
do so
in
of the
later to a spe-
TYCHO
180
cial
court of nobles.
The
& KEPLER
outcome of the
specific
became
vicariates in
would
unknown,
ex-
move
trial is
Tycho was
trothal
and two
it.
to
enhance
his reputation as
him
failed be-
in scholarly circles
He decided
it
would be
a wise
his rivals
new paper
He
Rothmann about
ten to
included the
letter
Bar had
he had writ-
proved that he had worked on the problem of Mars and on developing his planetary system long before Bar
In the dedication carved
This
dam and
how
on
own
Hven.
paper-mill with
all
built
their accessories
own
and the
fish
existed previously,
supervision,
and
at his
own
by
it
do
time.
his
expense
for the benefit of his country, himself and his heirs. Let us
mill,
to
came
his
for his
increasingly re-
could serve
he was thinking
12
Geometry's Universe
1594-1597
In
Graz,
1594, he found a
much
rest
of
and
Styria, Protestants
Catholics lived side by side in nominal peace, but only thinly disguised
their hostility.
The
rulers
burg family and staunch Catholics. Under the Peace of Augsburg they
had the
However, nearly
the Hapsburgs
all
must be Catholic.
had found
it
cities to practice
and by no means
as a deliberate
countermove
574
col-
neutral.
to the
It
to
all
At
members of the
intents
first
this
Protestant community,
none of
in
in-
TYCHO
182
& ICEPLEK
Merian
Sr.
were almost entirely academic. His teaching duties were in the upper
school,
first
classes
none
vanced arithmetic,
ethics,
and
him
history.
He was
also district
connected with
One
it.
approach
known
told
this task
what
to expect
surgery,
when
district
mathematicians calendar
disease, the
farmers should
sow
seed,
when
Kepler could
form
The
at
year.
cal-
most
the weather
when
aus-
a patient or per-
the Turks
would
would
Geometry's Universe
183
produce for the entire citizenry of Graz and the surrounding countryside
albeit for
most of
his
"foolish
little
contemporaries had in
fell far
He was
it.
already calling
the
it
do sometimes
the truth,
tell
it
ought to be
attrib-
uted to luck." However, he did not fully reject the idea that there
human
were, after
it
subtly
district
influ-
and
far
all,
more
deterministically than
Whatever
far
found
at
came
true.
him
in a letter: "If
what harm
is
God
life,
as-
tronomy?"
mentous event
in his
own
life
most mo-
made
in his
some mathematical
like
him
skills
and
little
to set
him
in Europe.
astronomy,
On July
cant did
it
19,
seem
he kept
him Kepler drew
1595
to
diagram
on
TYCHO
184
& KEPLER
the chalkboard.
moving of the
known
and Saturn
enormous
The two
and
in Kepler's time,
ond entry
when
is,
since
as the sec-
other.
and Saturn,
travel in
circles
with Saturn, the more distant of the two planets, and passes
Kepler's
it.
same points
at the
point as the
first
point as the second, but again not quite, and so on. As Kepler drew
the lines, each went just beyond joining a former line to
make a closed
this
on
many
manner
a smaller circle
That second
outer
circle.
circle
was
visible in his
size
of the
the triangle rotated, the middles of the sides of the triangle "drew" the
inner
and
circle.
its
that
at
circle.
The
circle,
triangle dic-
made him
wrote
Looking
opened
triangle's lines
how
tated
The
feel as
later:
"The
insight
delight that
took in
my discovery,
shall
As he
never be
was
soon
as
Geometry's Universe
185
Conjunction
Conjunction
No
No
Leo
[Fire]
Scorpius
The
Figure 12.1:
happened
[Air]
in the zodiac.
curred
when
(lower
left)
Sagittarius,
diac
Aquarius
X*
IWaterJ
The conjunction
was
in Sagittarius, in
1623
the elements
in
1583
dates
earth,
is
in Leo, in
water
of drawing) oc-
The conjunction
in
1643
1663
in Aries, in
1603
in
air, fire,
will
be explained
for the
names of
Star."
(right side
same positions
upper
in the zo-
right. Instead,
2
5
TYCHO
186
& KEPLER
all
which
pondered on
six planets:
Why
ers,
change
to
its
this particular
mo-
moved
change? Like
was
it
and seemed
why
as to
speed and
this subject
There were
The
for
my
at a certain
Why this
many great
Why
speed
particular
scientific discover-
time thought not worth asking and to which they would have
sponded
at best
Kepler's genius
mandate
to try to discover
how
simply to describe
why
they
as their
are,
Although
it
as-
would be
their
patterns of their
movements, not
and
it
re-
to
move
to answer
to be
at certain
speeds
for concentrating
on the
in certain patterns
distances.
one and not the other. In the fourth century B.C., Aristotle had defined a difference between mathematics (including astronomy)
the one
hand and
terpreted to
mean
"physics"
on
that those
the other.
who
hook
proved a great
on
in-
boon
to
let
as-
astronomy
in eras
when
Geometry's Universe
187
if
one had
to
as-
look for
for
Two thousand
what
solar
larger plan
system in
this
these questions
he drew his
is
this so?
What
lies
behind
this tradition,
this?
According
fateful
as,
bucked
that
to be unanswerable, but
many of
by the time
What line of
reasoning was God using when he made things this way? and, What
are the physical reasons why the universe operates as it does? He had
them
in
begun
two questions
to focus that
mously important
to
sit
wonder whether
first
must be and
When
to insist
to
sys-
on seeking them
first
to insist there
out.
1595, Kepler had already tried out and discarded some possible answers to his question about God's line of reasoning. "Almost the
had speculated,
with
lost
size
orbit
any similar
He
that nor
which Venus's
this
set
size
size
of relationships had
fit.
tween Mercury and Venus, and another between Venus and Earth,
The
exercise Kepler
had
fit
set
either.
TYCHO
188
modern standardized
& KEPLER
Given a
tests:
list
behind
On
that
lies
test,
no pattern
it.
to this sequence,
a sophisticated standardized
no code." In
is
his
likely to be,
him
his
own
"There
is
of that answer.
by
to arbitrary
God
whim. Underlying
all
the
tronomy had
must
to be linked at
surely be the
way God
God
some deep
level.
Kepler thought
this
man
dis-
There
are those
harmony of the
He was
not. His
one of the
who
universe
pillars
made him
many
connections of the sort Kepler was seeking, and these are understood
now
as
them
man was
and
it
mony
lies
There
in the sixteenth
and
har-
hidden.
are also those
who would
Geometry's Universe
189
understand-
as his
him was
experience told
life
about both
live
true, to
be exuberantly enthusiastic
beliefs.
It
this
on
a quite
unimportant occasion.
with
this
is
my
all
so as
efforts
plan succeed,
way
that
said
He
all
Was
by the
triangle.
Jupiter
gle
it
and
more
should make
that
my
stepped back from the diagram and saw that the smaller
half as large as the larger circle,
it
close
believe Divine
what
believe
God
if
that
came
circle
was
was dictated
were the two planets in conjunction and the two outermost planets,
and the
triangle
was the
first
figure in geometry.
ber of lines from which one can create a closed geometric figure
is
three.)
would
similarly
fit
between
forth.
Unfortunately
this
those
"known"
Something
triangle
wondered whether
much room
and adding
sides
It
was too
Beginning with a
One
can go on
TYCHO
igo
& ICEPLER
number of these
nite
among
surprising if
why
mind,
Kepler nevertheless
swer. If only
five
felt
he was breathing
he could discover
why
down
dimensional system.
mensional forms
"you have
in
(two-dimensional drawings),
flat
reader,"
three-di-
he wrote,
there
same length
no such extensive a
is
collection with
solid,
which
solids in
teristics
solids.
all
pealed to Kepler
same
length, in
which
all
the
reveals that
of "perfect
only
solids," also
five
known
have
as
all
Pythagorean or Platonic
and no
It
it
on
instead.
my discovery
gon, hexagon,
five
which
He
which
to ask
certain polygons
occurred to
It
in
had
still
six planets.
it is
would not be
polygons and not others had been chosen for the design,
these
infi-
this
ers
it
it
Kepler's
and produce an
they allow
these
others.
seemed
nested inside a sphere so that every corner of the solid touches the inside surface
of the sphere.
And
any
Platonic solid so that the sphere touches the center of every face of
the solid.
To
Kepler's
mind
this
meant
there
Only of
Geometry's Universe
lgi
them
The
could
it
"cir-
from
all
tion. Here,
when he
were
Sun and
set the
six planets
God must
The
book on the
reason there
subject:
memory
book! In
of the event,
is
Mars
Mars
[Mars's sphere]
this will
circle
earth
solid],
and the
circle
it
con-
circumscribe around
and the
circle
containing
and the
circle
Now
contained in
it
will be
number of planets.
an icosahedron [twenty-sided
contained in
it
will be
the
little
Mercury. You
Venus; inscribe
solid]
now
and the
circle
in
TYCHO
192
Figure 12.3:
& KEPLER
Mysterium.
Kepler had
made
must
orbit. In other
fitting a
must
how
in turn dictate
size
he was
how
my
whether
this idea
must
be.
tetrahedron
Kepler proceeded to
if
and
the drawing
Jupiter dictated
with the
as, in
for his class, the triangle dictated the size of one cir-
of
words, just
and the
so forth.
orbits, or
watched
as
one
Geometry's Universe
body
after
another
fit
precisely into
its
193
among
place
the planets." If
only he could study the best observations in the world and could
his theory against
if
test
The months
thinking.
that followed
marked a change
of Kepler's
in the focus
Now,
to find out
correct,
whether
he had to turn
his
and
as-
had judged
it
after
and he
realized
put to
rest the
his elation
he
all,
was
to
letter
he
first
called his
new
full
idea
of ap-
It
was
clear
exile in
my in-
was an-
Graz. "Just as
tention remains.
my work."
God, he
also wrote,
"wants to be
in
astronomy through
known from
the
Book of
Nature."
would be
dering:
nearer the
The
Sun have
first
had learned
as a
is
it
called a
planet
TYCHO
farther
way around
orbit, just as a
its
& KEPLER
all
the
were moving
to
at the
complete a
same
lap.
But
Kepler thought that the amount by which planets farther from the
It
were
Pondering
why
this
should be
so,
whirl around
force than
it.
A planet closer
to the
Sun would
feel
more of the
The
distances
polyhedrons, but
In every spare
it
was not
moment
of
book.
district
He
his theory
of the
still
Was
there any
Was
meaning
to
there a reason,
it,
force in the
When
Sun
that
final polish
on
planets.
his manuscript, Kepler's
its
orbit.
it
moves
its
orbit brings
farther away.
It
it
nearer the
explained in the Copernican system by the idea that the closer the
Geometry's Universe
more
it
195
feels
difficult to ex-
plain in Ptolemaic theory, with the planets orbiting the Earth. This
is
moves the
tronomy,"
to think that
in the center.
He suggested
planets.
as in his
this idea
might "lead
it
why
it
does,
of the force
to
produce
areas of
(i.e.,
who
from both
by suggesting that
directions,
his
math-
made
that
it
is
Sun-centered
and
from
were seriously
his school
and
his
Kepler's
in person.
traveled
It
in
February he took
home
to the
duchy of
visit.
visit
Tubingen
to discuss his
sition in
and
father's father, in
ill,
seemed
as a scholar
ironic to
as
him
soon
and make
his
to
po-
as possible.
on the
enthusiastic
Kepler's book.
The only
stipulation
was that
it
to publish
be approved by the
TYCHO
ig6
The
university senate.
senate,
& KEPLER
changes.
First,
own
his (Kepler's)
discovery in a
style.
He had
settled in his
own mind
felt
that
it
would make
As he would put
in the
when
men?"
It
seemed
essential
point.
Without
that, the
that he intended
that,
it
book
on
this
fell
God
to be. Nevertheless,
though he might be
all
to
ment
it later,
its
readers along
he bowed to the
senate's judg-
was not
in his bailiwick.
Kepler also visited Stuttgart during his leave, to pay his respects to
the duke of Wiirttemberg,
who had
earlier
first
experience of castle
life.
to
move
He had
to Graz. This
was
who were
jor achievement.
Gripped by
(as
he put
it)
it
was a ma-
model of the
Geometry's Universe
Whether
solids.
it
Negotiations and
would be
trial
built
was not
to Graz,
on
settled
this occasion.
At one
197
was
to create
much
fill
model.
a paper
and even
would contain
a differ-
from small
their glasses
faucets
The duke finally decided to admoney to have the model fashioned in silver, but the project
bogged down in problems with the silversmith, and it was never
vance
got
completed.
With much
Germany
of Kepler's time
estate,
met Barbara
Miiller,
Miiller,
at
accomplishments
husband or son-in-law
misgivings,
Kepler's behalf
left for
may have
Kepler
in the
as Kepler's scholarly
Miiller's
left
former professors
for
stayed
It
from Graz
He
Much
Kepler's absence
The December
whose
for seven
project in
stretched far
away
visit in
during his
in
make him
in the eyes
of Jobst
impressed his
good
a
stead at the
prime candidate
Miiller. In spite
of
had some
success. In
June 1596,
five
to return to
months
after
ig8
TYCHO
Ulm
& KEPLER
to have his
and
his fiancee's
wedding
silk fleece
ble taffeta."
Kepler dawdled three months longer and then came back, expecting a
congratulations
round. Instead, he
all
given Herr Miiller time and cause to reconsider once again, and he
was
now
convinced that
his
daughter could do
better.
Kepler was
much blame Miiller and mentioned frankly that one Stephan Speidel, who may have been working against the match for his own selfish reasons, probably only
wanted to see Barbara better provided for. Though Kepler had exclaimed that when he met Barbara she had "set [his] heart on fire,"
sorely disappointed, but he could not
theirs does
He may
Barbaras hand.
The
and when,
in a
moment
him from
body
his
to accept his
and
set in
motion
for
an April wedding.
It
was
far
for his
daughter was
He had no
than a poorly paid teacher, and he could promise Barbara and her
young daughter by
port. Barbara
a former marriage
little
man
that he
district
Though Kepler
first
came
paymaster or
clerk, a
would no longer
Geometry's Universe
lgg
such that
are
if I
leave
from
my own pocket,
in a
showy
for
at his death.
"My
assets
is
must make
great outlays
it is
fashion."
letter to
how
It is
certain that
am
tied
and
The
It
also
and
school. For
It
my
no matter
seems that
salary, if that
He wrote,
would
suit
would
not, af-
me. However,
befell.
public one
Lutheran or
misfortune
me. Yet
to
if
if
no longer
if it
my wife
were to
die.
Thus
safe for a
... a personal
me.
Kepler reported that the wedding would take place under ominous
constellations.
dicted "a
there
more
The
agreeable than
dignity."
happy marriage,
stars pre-
in which, however,
13
and
Earthly Machination
Divine Right
Germany
into
its
sixth
to
coronation of Christian
IV of Denmark. The
lightly
social
child
whose wishes
king.
but he nevertheless
made
a splendid
showing
Tycho
ill-fated be-
at the festivities.
He wore the golden chains of the Order of the Elephant (a symbol that
was prominent
traits
in the
of two kings.
The Brahe
family was
crown
power
to place
lay not
it
on
much
in evidence. Tycho's
it
The
would not
its
course.
A new age
201
endure
likely to
forever, as
host and
its
numerous
He
Tycho.
foreign guests
his relatives
Scarcely a
the ax began to
fall.
Christian,
to another.
Norwegian
the
fief
transfer
of
fiefs
it
to the lord-
lieutenant of Bergen.
same
fief
hands and then been restored to him when he petitioned the crown.
He did so now,
accomplishments
at
summary of his
given this
dow Uraniborg
by
his
permanent research
ration signed
came of age
ally
as a
so.
had intended
to advise Christian
had
to en-
institute
II
when he
Uraniborg eventu-
hope
that Christian
visit to
Hven, and
king's wishes
whom
his wife
and endow
was a distant
relative.
Christian had clearly fallen in love with Uraniborg during his child-
hood
visit.
Tycho had,
finally,
TYCHO
202
exercise his
own
divine right,
& KEPLER
and
no mood
in
to respect
an expensive
Uraniborg
of the
as a relic
who had
how
forgotten
in January 1597:
run by an aging
He chose
aristocrat
equals,
past,
Tycho had
treated regents
and
rulers as his
to be adequately deferential.
came
to
of Nordfjord, and
with the promise that future requests would be received with pleasure,
its
message was
clear.
own
their land
would come
there to "see
Denmark,
and
on Hven.
It
counted for
fulfilled his
promise to
learn that
ac-
Tycho
like a well-loved
wearisome elderly
in his chagrin.
among
its
as a
petitioner.
his ministers, to
the
moved
families.
to a castle
which had
St.
Hans
on
Cloister,
lust.
and
On
as
it
fires
more
restless
A set of expensive
usual.
The
Tycho
203
and the Brahe arms and motto that he had commissioned and intended
as gifts to friends
a seemingly
small matter, but they had been part of his plan to restore his honor.
There had been a time when he could have quickly put minor
backs behind him, butTycho was an older
and
resilient,
more
short
pick up
on
all
patience.
the pieces.
Even
so,
not
so energetic
defensive,
man now
set-
falling apart,
it
irritable
and
re-
on
research
his life
son not to
By
and publishing
looked
late
let
less likely
the
all
more
all
rea-
anything drop.
rating rapidly,
and
it
at
became abundantly
clear that
He
put Longomon-
hurriedly from
777
to 1,000 stars
The work
The immediate
sion in
Copenhagen, and
press there.
Tycho used
as
set
up
books in
move
observatory, laboratory,
to his
his
li-
man-
and printing
The
last
the date
15, 1597,
dis-
continued. His assistants had completed listing the books. After that
note, the journal,
a royal patent
whom
582,
faithfully
fell silent.
was issued
or-
TYCHO
204
& KEPLEU
had mis-
treated his villagers, allowed the pastor of St. Ibb's to violate the
injustices.
Copenhagen was
in progress
to be temporary.
his
the
all
was
1 1
viewing the
quickly.
Friis
bailiff, alder-
and
clear
fair,
and
it
skies,
six chil-
dren, along with his assistants, the housekeeper, cook, butler, maids,
and other
servants,
had turned
their backs
on the
exquisite house,
coming
of Stjerneborg with
covers.
down
its
silent
to the
their
into bud,
way by
carriage, cart,
little
on the
music or
set foot
home
twenty-one
for
In G R A
soil
harmony of
years.
later that
own
wooden
and foot
mood
date drew near, the days and weeks that followed were
as the
happy
for
them. Barbara was only twenty-three, two years younger than he.
miniature portrait
made
at the
time
shows
her looking somewhat older than her age, with lovely, intelligent eyes,
a sweet
mouth, and
205
as his
own
printers. It
Dissertationum
first
copies of Kepler's
book
title:
Prodromus
Continens Mysterium
Cosmographicarum,
arrived
Cosmo-
Celestial
Number,
Size,
abbreviated to Mysterium
age, Kepler
commented
life
all
usually
would
book
its
wa-
first,
only, sci-
on
physi-
Owen
entist until
cal
title is
Rene Descartes
(in the
wrong
insist
book been
so seminal in
known and
perhaps not
his
known
at all to Kepler,
and
far,
"Science historian Bruce Stephenson has quipped that "most of the larger problems that con-
raised, indeed, in
its title!"
TYCHO
206
the
rest.
He
also
& KEPLER
it
for
most exuberant
wagon
to
Kepler
style,
some
not be
it
its
He also begged for Galileo's opinion of Mysterium: "You can believe me,
I prefer a criticism even if sharp from a single intelligent man to the illconsidered approval of the great masses." Galileo did not
would be no
Among
other scholars to
whom
them
changed
his
mind on
him
entirely.
Johannes
and declared
that
The
art
at first,
astronomy
planets' dis-
There
reply.
that
some-
of philosophizing."
who had
failed to
"spent
Bar, or "Ursus," as
he had latinized
Hven. Using
had
II,
mathematician
at
name
(ursus
is
Bar.
Latin for
world since
for a
was
good
astrologer.
So success-
now ensconced
as imperial
his
his
false credentials,
had
Limnaus
Fatefully,
whom
status,
listed
in
the
Kepler's
first
A year and
a half earlier, in
who
Graz
November 1595,
at the
was not
have in astronomy
my teacher."
In
fact,
urging of a supervisor in
had written
is,
of ill-con-
as
letter
would
stars
and our
sci-
either.
letter,
longer a nobody.
those
were
a motionless Earth
discarded
dis-
knowledge
little
in the letter),
that
him about
pupil." Kepler
theses
tell
to
of Kepler to be
characteristic
207
He had
young
deli-
was no
strengthen his claim that the "Tychonic system" was his invention by
Astronomicis Hypothesibus
attack
on Tycho. To
scholars
who
he had
first
in
it
would appear
that
side.
May
friend."
Kepler innocently sent Ursus not one but two copies of Mysterium,
questing that he pass one on,
In THIS
set
SAME
late
if the
re-
of problems in Copenhagen.
Though by and
large
Uraniborg and
TYCHO
208
the University of
& KEPLER
with
as
Longomontanus,
mies
among
a relationship that
to
some of
its
most
Uraniborg to take
jealous ene-
the
city,
in a
mansion with an observatory that no university could match, provoked afresh the resentment of men who argued thatTycho's research
drained the university of financial support and
its
ablest students.
The animosity came not only from astronomers but also from
theologians who were pleased to see him at bay. Tycho found himself in the crossfire
who were
and ad-
tolerated
Tycho and
less so.
toward mar-
Communion.
Leaving the island also did not mean leaving behind the problem
ofTycho's tenants.
summons
The
to court.
report of the
two
to appear
before the king himself. This time the peasants' charges had
do with Tycho's
their
own
more
to
church property had been an issue between Tycho and the king before,
also
The
villagers
down
ritual
this omission.
of
of baptism
at
whim.
at St. Ibb's,
Tycho countercharged
and
that
the peasants
The
pastor of
St. Ibb's,
further investigation.
did. Wensosil
ritual
failing to
with his
209
common-law
The
teen years.
attack
on Wensosil was
Communion
life
for eigh-
It
was Tycho
for
it
was
had the
legal
right to appeal.
to
month
his
enemies
instead. Wensosil
was im-
if
When
himself against his peasants before the king or see his pastor take the
The town
came
to Tycho's
door
in the
name of
Copenhagen
the king,
and the
city walls
He
ommendation
at
Tycho's
to
still
the bas-
Copenhagen
observatory.
at court.
future employers.
a letter of rec-
household,
mounted on
Westphalian nobleman
view of
work ended
On June
constable
a
who had
The
Copenhagen.
TYCHO
210
The
long, lumbering
The
children
carriages carried
and iron-bound
and
down with
loaded
jewels.
family's clothing
chests containing
his laboratory
silver,
Tycho and
(all
Wensosil.
& KEPLER
draft animals,
all
in
some of
the wagons,
water to cross, wading with them through river fords, and prising
ditches.
riodic checks
on the
Tycho probably
two
and
brought along
make
pe-
fidence
also
a recent
an observatory.
in
it
He had
When
he ordered
always
outward con-
how ephemeral
his first
quadrant
at
followed that practice ever since except with the four largest instru-
More
recently, while
he had seemed to be
man
fitting a
The
to
make
caravan
wound
this
it
in a style be-
stature.
making thorough
move and do
tip
all
the
carriages
Rostock,
less
Hven. Tycho,
celebrated
211
Uraniborg and
was an
exile
work
his
for
twenty-one
years.
On
of a house.
shell
the wall where the mural quadrant had been, Tycho's portrait gazed at
nothing.
The
library shelves
al-
No water spouted from the fountain at the cenNo summons came to the garret rooms through the se-
of the house.
cret
bailiff,
sights
could be pointed
summoned
great
wooden
laborers
at the stars.
day to maintain the manor and occasionally received aid from representatives
Sweden
and
castles
down
what they
did.
homes
stately
Though
all
again.
over
Denmark and
still
in-
no record of a
when
is
museum showed
little
it,
it
was trun-
common
evil lord
who had
show
its
inscription
still
site
on
of Uraniborg
Not
island change
planted a hedge to
Knutstorps Borg,
for generations.
on the
legible.
in
a place
TYCHO
212
The
& KEPLER
statue of Tycho Brahe that stands in the restored portion of the garden
at the
Uraniborg
site
on Hven.
site.
They
built a small
museum and
him
as a half-
December 1597 another Mars opposition brought Mars particularly close to Earth. "I wish he had been there," Kepler would
In
write
nity,
much
later,
parallax."
The
parallax of
weapon
in the
win-
would
be.
14
Converging Paths
June 1597-November 1598
the
move
to getting little
muddy roads did give him time to think about the future.
Though he may have suspected that he would never go back, Tycho
had not given up hope. He was not the first among his powerful famdusty and
ily
to be driven out of
it,
be the
Peder
Oxe and
Tycho and
to return
first
his brother
tual
city
was a tonic
and
umph and
manage
nose.
he, if he could
status.
treating
left
him
as
in tri-
intellec-
his family
could enter
St.
Tycho began
to
to
do
in
Denmark
TYCHO
2i 4
He had
journey.
to restore his
ately. It
& 1CEPLEH
The campaign
Denmark would
begin immedi-
would include
in
a direct appeal to
Tycho's
still
powerful
ment
The
in a
more
pres-
and from
relatives)
his
astronomy and
would be
for
them
all,
whether in
Denmark or somewhere else. The third part of his plan was to exploit
network to secure a new patron among the royalty of Europe
his
someone
else
Tycho drafted
his appeal to
made by
and reminding
Regency
if
to appear deferential
courtier,
and how
but he had
known
who had
him down,
to turn
sense
and
good
political savvy.
administrative burden.
lenges,
was
parallax
it
had
and
in
The
research for
his finest
ended
instruments
in disappointment.
Rostock he was
filled
Denmark than he
with fresh
chal-
Converging Paths
own
sense of his
make an appeal
worth.
He
to Christian
21s
fail
to
and himself,
who was
domain
on
intellectual
his
own
and
social
terms. In Tycho's
he
astronomy
clearly felt
he
Denmark. With
would
later
Urban
VIII.
Tycho had
at least
been astute enough to remove himself and most of his worldly and
scholarly treasure out of Christian's reach.
While waiting
had cultivated
to use
Ulrich of
agreed to inter-
less,
than
Duke
for years.
as a
subservient, compliant Tycho, surely did not take well to this re-
Duke
which
of appeal.
a feeler in the
thought in terms of
campaign
islands,
to find a
and the
first
new patron. He
letter
went
to
still
Lord
Chancellor Erik Sparre in Poland, asking about the possibility of obtaining an island in the Baltic
political
to
naught.
left
Rostock and
took to the roads again. Tycho had decided to seek the hospitality
TYCHO
2i6
& KEPLER
on
to find
at
him
home
in Bramstedt.
richer,
adorned
amids.
men
tics
as
in
built
many
He and
palaces, as
of royal patronage.
Though Rantzau
was
only a viceroy and not a suitable patron for Tycho. However, he was
in a position to lend
live until the
Tycho
a castle
moment came
where he and
to return to
castles.
his
household could
Denmark
or
move
else-
by the long
train
man
It
was
a splen-
roomy enough
to set
it
had
It
was
skies,
up instruments.
among
way
seal
hostile.
and read
to
it
hand
aloud.
He had written
was
Christian's reply,
and
it
who
was
Our and
equal.
from
as if
day on,
We shall
to [write] as if
be otherwise
re-
Converging Paths
if
you expect
to find in
217
Us
a gracious lord
and king."
and children"
low
(a reference to Kirsten's
implying before
all
status) to
woman
was a brutal
pique.
It
letter
fit
of
and
of the
buildings; he
Hven
as a
a suitable wage; he
all
had
these charges
per-
had
in-
deed been brought formally against Tycho, and the record was not
yet clear
whether he was
guilty, the
king
may
reason for outrage at the argument that the crown had unfairly transferred fiefs
letter
went on
was reason to doubt Tycho's claim that the transfer of fiefs had so impoverished
him
that he
had had
Knutstorp to sup-
port his astronomy, in the interest of the honor of Denmark and the
future of science.
"to lend in
News had
money
TYCHO
2i8
& KEPLER
your children and not for the honor of the kingdom or the promotion of science."
As
do what he ought
service
We
know how
would not
in
to do, then
shall
on "reasonable
it
would
serve as a
you should
ought to do
as a servant
to declare
our
mathematicus and
humbly
first
you
your
afterwards
Meanwhile, Christian
will."
offer
it.
and seeking
As he expressed
doubt the time
new
position were
no easy prospect
will
render [Christian]
come when
more
Danish
me and my
Characteristically,
great
friend:
"No
clear-eyed
and
sensitive
at his age.
about what
but
it
of
is
will
be
researches."
in his self-image as
one of the
102
lines
elegies.
After sending a
to other matters.
Though
him
to
Hven,
it
was
all
the
more urgent
that
Wandsburg become
The day
after
Tycho resumed
would
lavish, elegantly
bound
and
this as a sort
tell
of his
life,
his
work,
II,
em-
Converging Paths
219
peror of the
his court in
Prague, and
Tycho planned
the last weeks
During
ing to finish "filling out the thousand," in other words, to bring his
catalog
up
thousand
to the
Now,
at
Wandsburg, the
exile or rejoined
him
assistants
who had
(possibly only
ac-
two of them
at this time)
nor
stars that
pendent
by
sets
his standards,
press
European
good enough
rulers.
sion, hand-lettered
At
New Year
Rudolph
to publish,
it
to
imver-
on vellum parchment.*
as a gift
and entrusted
its
safe
this
volume
also to
Emperor
six-
Twenty-two years
tion as
earlier,
when he had
in the lead-up to
men
to
whom Tycho
it.
letter,
had written
Tycho consulted
as well,
including the
*It
was
this catalog
not
a better
one
visited Uraniborg.
There were
TYCHO
220
enough
& ICEPLER
bound
where he planned
fine silk
who
nev-
to send
with metal
them, some in
clasps. Perspective
differently
press in the
depending on
leather, others in
vellum or
copied nature and drew the viewer deep into the picture were the
height of artistic fashion in the late sixteenth century, and the thirty-
struments
book
in Tycho's
than a scientific
treatise,
"mannerist"
this
style.
his in-
Far
more
Former
assistants
copies of Mechanica
ops,
and other
rulers
who had
valuable contacts in
Denmark and
them
stir
rulers
him
in exile.
Hven
at
left
effective courier.
whom
who
an extraordinarily
in
to
was
Archbishop
Tycho, but he came away with a gold medallion and a fine riding
The
him
if
him
that "the
one
whole German
ad-
father-
Brahe, the "unique and most laudable restorer of the sciences"; the
Converging Paths
adviser,
Tycho Brahe's
case.
221
These
them
letters
mean-
himself. Tycho,
while, covered his bases by sending gift books to other parts of his
many
touch with
as
his staff.
ties,
them
inviting
direct routes
He had
kept in
to join
at
German
universi-
from Denmark
and
as
word
spread of Tycho's
by
for visits.
means of keeping
abreast of
all
over the
and
a letter.
One
two books
moment he
saw the author's name: Ursus, none other than the Nicolaus Reimers
Bar
at
Uraniborg in 1584
grief since.
Though Ursus
own and
and not
now and
referring to
again, claiming
Tycho
likely to achieve
as
more
anything im-
ears.
The book that Tycho now held in his hands was even more disNot only did it attack Tycho as an astronomer and plagiarize
his work, it was also a scurrilous personal assault on him and his family. According to Ursus, Tycho had been forced to leave Denmark because he had committed an atrocious crime. Ursus mocked Tycho's
disfigurement, commenting that Tycho could "discern double-stars
turbing.
TYCHO
222
through the
& KEPLER
time
But
don't
know whether or
me for the
at the
usual purpose.
who were
If there
theft,"
me had
with
Of Tycho's
possessions hereafter."
it
book made
was
intellectual.
The book
also
it
clear
actually
he had. "Let
be
it
title
himself, because
it
was too
As Tycho
cluded a reprint of a
letter
in Graz.
The name,
Kepler had
ter
written to Ursus,
first
among
the
minor
among the
stars"
this
in-
his let-
was enough
fawning young
like the
to ensure eternal
sun
enmity be-
idiot.
When Tycho put aside Ursus's book and picked up the second book
he had received that day, he found that by astounding coincidence
was from
this
same
Kepler.
it
Tycho
was
also
possibilities:
book would
inevitably
letter
come
with
react
dence of
Ursus's.
little
mind
entirely out
book gave
clear evi-
as
and knew
it
talent
Converging Paths
II
CO LAI RAIMAAI
.-.
$.
VJl
223
DITHUARSI
ROH.C4S", H* UATHEMATICL
DE'
ASTROJSIOMICIS
HYPOTHESlBVS, SEV SYSTESSTUpKOMCJliyH HTTOTHESirM J
fciCKMmn, Mjljnm, vtjitirwm, tv*r* fxfamm fibittf
'" ttlit'o.
s'Jc7/S DtMONSTHATIO,
i
Cum^uibufJiimnnufubtilipmuijpimpendijsetJrli.
TMrmJ fin. <r 7n
fiajtjmplmi i.i
>4..i ^. B.
The
title
latory
icrii.
also
0NI PRIVILtClO.
AS5<):
On Astronomical Hypotheses.
book
by
like the
Tycho
side,
were
among
stars,"
the
and
only of our time but of all times." Perhaps Tycho was wryly amused
that this ranking did, in fact, place
Tycho concluded
that a
campaign
He
him
them.
He
Finally,
der to his
Due
own
to try to
also
he
Ursus.
as
soon
Ursus's visit to
as possible to discuss
set in
motion
advantage.
century Europe, though Kepler had sent his book off to Tycho in the
late
late
TYCHO
224
& KEPLER
who was
addition to
the time to pen a whimsical description of himself, in the third person, as a "house dog":
That man
pearance
that of a
little
little
and
is
is
His ap-
agile, wiry,
his appetites
crusts of bread,
he drinks
a dog-like nature.
way
is
on he grabbed;
dog,
yet, like a
He
on the move,
ferreting
someone
else,
when
to get
among
most
and imitating
his
they reproved
favor.
He was
con-
trivial
and
He
is
when
up and growls.
He
is
him he
flares
that
he barks
at
them.
yet he takes
good
lotions.
care of his
life.
my
He wanted
voked him
his
imagination
[all
to take
well.
made
this
away or
my
it
was
stepdaughter.
in reI
pro-
first
child, Heinrich,
Converging Paths
February
2.
22s
cast for
him promised
life far
and
brother.
"only better,
The
stars
fa-
aptitude."
None
of that was to be, for the baby Heinrich lived only two months.
In June Kepler wrote to Mastlin,
own
little
son,
same
letter
lessen
my
who had
my wife's grief,
heart:
and
this passage
all
The
tension be-
to
The present escalation dated from December 1596, the December after Kepler's return from his leave in Germany. Archduke Ferdinand II had come of
open
hostility.
age and assumed rule over Inner Austria, including Styria and Graz.
Ferdinand's father had tolerated Protestants in his lands, but his wife,
Ferdinand's mother, was a fervent Catholic
tolerance,
who was
appalled by this
in Catholic Bavaria
Jesuits.
would enforce
his rights
For the
few months
first
after
fears
letter to
citizens
of Graz were
in
They were
to begin
in earnest.
their
buoyed by
hands
invited their
own
disaster,
TYCHO
226
of
gesture
& KEPLER
from the
pulpit.
The
Catholics re-
were passed
The Lutheran
college
and
all
Ten days
teen days.
and
ters
later the
They had
teachers.
archbishop banished
to be
all
Protestant minis-
week
The
Estates of Styria.
all
and school employees must not only be out of Styria within the
tors,
Anyone
nightfall.
failing to
obey would
its
environs by
and
limb." Kepler and the rest of the faculty at his school hastily packed
a
few
essentials
their families
and
was
a valuable
also
him.
he was the
district
had
argument
who
Not
favor. In addition to
mathematician. Because
nor Catholic,
leaving
relent.
to return.
this
city,
it
provided
could make
this
argument
for
mained
a helpful
had other
and knew
that Ferdinand
him-
Converging Paths
self enjoyed
still
in
city, his
whose Protestant
When
petition
Kepler pe-
was granted.
safe.
227
clergy
to
circumvent the
nearby country
services at
as well,
in Catholic cer-
emonies. "Heretical" books were banned, including Luther's translation of the Bible. Searches took place throughout the
city,
and ten
now that
He
himself
want
much with
any time."
to lose
result in his
it
was that
new job.
autumn of 1598,
at all.
a letter
also
Meanwhile, the
it.
and
letter
praise of Ursus,
penned
Tycho was
still
would
that
later,
He was making the best of a far less imAn appointment at the University of
actually
does not
aroused no interest
in
years
in the early
and
He
inclination to concern
Thus
no
far
that
Tycho had
known
He
could only go on
TYCHO
228
& KEPLER
TYCH O
brilliantly
during that
from
Wandsburg
his
most powerful
chancellor
working
advisers
circle at his
court
Caspar Lehmann
as well as
from
it
this
to the
as gifts.
three
gem
and
artist
illustrations in
air at court:
all
astrologer
and scholars
all
over
Tycho wished
in person.
were
undisputed inner
emperor
his
Barvitius
this
Emperor Rudolph's
in Tycho's cause.
1598, showing no
to present
that
Rudolph
could scarcely contain his eagerness to meet Tycho and would offer
him
him
come
to
to Prague:
his
The
far
from
his
was back
when
It
just
gave
Lehmann
much
his
summer, mainly
that the
abilities
completed
emperor had
lost all
mathematician.
By September 29 Tycho,
his family,
and
his retainers
had packed
everything up for another move, and the great household was ready
to depart
the
wagons
again, lashed
down and
library, furniture
were on
The armed
es-
Converging Paths
mounted. Tycho's
corts
carriage with
229
its six
and outriders
fell
into
than moving
and
for himself
friends
By October
5 the
where Tycho
aged
his wife
Duke Otto
calling
elicited
II
made
another
letter
far
of reference,
from Hamburg,
this
When they reached Magdeburg, Tycho took advantage of the presence of an old friend and correspondent, Rector Georg Rollenhagen,
to further his
Tycho had
campaign
first
to crush Ursus.
It
his brother,
to question
Rollenhagen in
detail
about an incident in
to
doing so
in
it
himself.
no matter how
but should
Tycho had
ing
it
clear
also
accompany him
his
summoned
emperor
in underwriting
Lange
By
this
all
many
but given
TYCHO
23 o
& KEPLER
ous April, which had included a request for a document Tycho could
use against Ursus.
The
stop in
to consider
whether
it
Prague accompanied
as
man
dent
commitment
tions having to
good
an
much
with
to the
cast-
for granted.
help in negotia-
seemed advisable
it
lack of total
be. If
or,
it
could
the wagons, and winter was not far away. Tycho reverted to
all
earlier
and
servants, escorted
by Longomontanus, returned
his
to
Wandsburg.
re-
They
still
month
in
come awaited Tycho. Word came that the emperor was delighted to
hear he was on his way to Prague, but that an epidemic was raging in
the area, winter was closing in, and the court had temporarily moved
Tycho was advised
from the
city.
winter in
He
decided to
15
Contact
November 1598-June 1599
November
late
In
opened
Kepler
a letter
knew
that he
had made
The
reply
or early
what the
and
first
it
it
was bad.
letter at
make
Kepler.
But Tycho had sent Mastlin a copy, and Mastlin, reading that
in
June and assuming that Kepler had the original, had immediately
written to Kepler, reprimanding
him
Then
had
Mastlin's reprimand
months
him
work was
worthless.
finally
ful as
five
to reach Kepler.
and
when
had that
in his
hands
It
in February. It
letter,
polite
and compli-
it
Tychonic system.
try applying
it
to the
He went
TYCHO
23 2
on
comment, however,
to
& KEPLER
that Copernicus's
measurements
for the
more
Tycho's
to use in-
hook dangled
"One can
He was
so
ion of my method."
re-
Tycho
wrote that he could not imagine that Kepler had been aware that
Ursus would use his
He
tion."
letter in his
him
a statement of his
le-
more
severely
Tycho had
criticized
might be
his
knew
that in
Mysterium
much
between
criticism
flattery
a del-
icate line
other.
actual
words
to
him,
He had
also
know whether
know which
letter
than one, and he had not kept copies. In a blind panic about the appalling situation he
of the age,
who
actually
was inclined to
like his
great
men
Contact
Why does
a
man
play
market
begged him
and behold,
My
spirit
him
is
... If he
were
The nobody,
place.
if he
for a gift
my flatteries?
on
in the
flair:
reply, written
them
233
it
praise
that
was then,
my new discovery.
who
was he
dis-
extorted a
gift
had
just
made.
If,
to be explained
my opin-
Tycho's response this time was gracious, but he kept Kepler in his
place by saying that he
and
tellectual friends
who
set
him.
enormous value on
his
on
his
knew
depended
own
field
but also
as
someone with an
better.
He was
arts.
No
ex-
situation
in his element.
it
research permanently
and
emperor would
in as
offer to
generous a manner
his
he required.
It
TYCHO
234
might
still
happen
that he
& KEPLER
would be greeted
as a distinguished visitor,
converse with the emperor, but only be given gold chains and medallions
and
finally
word of influential
the
good
but
as a contract,
Tycho, for
Rudolph
friends
it
possible to
make
all.
and informants
and
yet, the
emperor
his assurances
all
as a supplicant.
at
letters,
was almost
at court
sealed,
would
still
that
and
as
delivered.
be approaching
to use every
means
his position in
He
the Alps to present copies of Mechanica and the star catalog to rulers
in Venice, Florence,
and
for Tycho.
in Venice gave
for himself
him
a knight-
hood, and he secured for Tycho the favor of the doge of Venice,
of Parma,
all
in Florence,
flicker
ties
Denmark the
previous autumn.
wedding.
ents,
On
their journey
home
in
Brandenburg-Kiistrin,
Rantzau arranged
for
passed through
Tycho
to
and
Schleswig-Holstein,
new
mar-
They
He and
his wife
wrote to Christian.
had enemies
at
for
Tycho knew he
much
fell
into the
wrong
Contact
By
this
aged by
He
omy.
this setback
set
on Prague, was
discour-
less
hood home
23s
and
it
who had
in Jutland, that
book about
to present a
when he had
earlier
than
his lunar
audience had to be
his first
By March he had
fruition.
sired to receive
him
solar
his
create a presentation
He
positions.
him
Rostock, asking
in Prague.
to
come
as gifts
again
and
for his
own
He
him
use.
The journey
to Prague
seriously
ill,
made
was delayed
passable.
At
last,
on June
14, 1599,
Tycho and
his
entourage
left
Wittenberg,
would wait
in the
with the
for
official.
Tycho, in
July, as
yet arrived
eldest
city,
pro-
Ursus
slipped away.
In
Prague.
RAZ
He
also heard
to his
own
He had
prospects.
TYCHO
236
& KEPLER
nearer.
It
someday
travel to
work seemed
to
him
increasingly to
depend on being
able to consult
child, Susanna,
stubbornness.
had
pay
to
it
When
for his
As he grieved
to
comfort
still
until he did.
his wife,
and worried
how long they could hold on in Graz, Kepler's mind was also
busy in a new and happier direction. He wrote to Edmund Bruce, an
English acquaintance living in Padua, about a new theory he thought
about
might
in
letters to
swers to the questions that interested him, Kepler had begun to look
to music.
He was
not being
original.
One
in the history
when
made
this discovery,
mony
as
B.C.
is
and
it
seemed
mind of God.
It
was
in
to them, with
ample reason,
Kepler would
later,
and
he,
lines
when he designed
at its center
original
creating, in effect,
two
down
is
Contact
fundamental.
two
237
major
five to eight, a
1:2:3:4,
minor
minor
sixth.
The
major
sixth;
and
other ratios as well. All these ratios produce musical intervals that
human
"harmonious." There
ears find
this
He was no
was not
is
ratios,
at root a
be-
matter of mathematics or
num-
was geometry, a
tribute of nature
clearer
at-
than mathematics that some things are possible and others are not
that
some
things
"fit,"
and others do
not.
It
solar system
was the
size
planet's orbit
first
when
Copernican
like
it.
if it
seemed
Kepler wanted to
know how eccentric the orbits of the planets were, but he also
wanted to know the physical reasons why a planet had a certain degree of eccentricity
The second question his polyhedral theory could not answer was
how a planet's distance from the Sun was related to the length of time
it took to complete one orbit, known as its period. Kepler had discussed that relationship in Mysterium, but not to his satisfaction.
Again, he wanted to
physical causes
his belief that
why
must be
so.
certain,
had established
all
things had
TYCHO
238
to proceed. Kepler
logic
was pure
delight,
it
which he
felt
harmony was
vine logic,
& KEPLER
that discovering pieces of this
delight in cre-
a manifestation of that
in
which
same
di-
to find links
His
first results
and
to Bruce,
seemed
to indicate that
he was
and
that his
little later
to
Herwart
new "harmonic
theory"
He was
in Mysterium.
something similar
if
the lyre
is
to
hung up
he put
same
it)
moving through
the
nious chord
made sounds
air,
of the
six planets
might be
would produce
relationships that
related
harmo-
strings
on
On
a stringed instrument a
It
this
scheme with
all
worked
Venus
major
to
an
octave);
Mars
third);
From
a fourth).
major chord
in
all
to Earth, 8:10
minor
third);
these intervals,
what musicians
call its
"second inversion (see figure 15.1)." Kepler was not entirely pleased
with
in
this
second inversion.
root position
He would
velocities
were not
far off
in the heavens."
it is
when he found
Contact
239
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
-Q
Saturn
ets in his
time
set
it
The
polyhedral theory.
planetary periods
out to calculate
in relation to
how
orbit
its
were
the
well
amount of
known. He
one another
his
Copernican
results
principles.
in
to be
if
compared
had
with
the
Though
orbital
still
somewhat
far
sizes
Then he
calculated
from
his
dral theory.
Kepler proceeded to sort out what he had learned from each theory.
tances
gave
him
relative to
empty
He
left
over might
had
to be thick
enough
to
accommodate
of the planets' orbits were what they were was that any other
eccentricities
would
spoil the
harmony.
solids to three
of the
re-
five intervals
TYCHO
240
& KEPLER
Figure 15.2: In this drawing, the borders of the planet's sphere are
broken
lines,
the orbit
roomy enough
to
by
a continuous line.
accommodate
The
and
farthest
sphere.
was nearest
to
its
The more
in his chord.
It
it
was the
sort
shown by
is
in his theory
was
squares,
flat
is
a ninety-degree angle.
Add
is
270
sum
degrees.
The
Thus
it
seemed appropriate
ratio
circle)
is
that requires a ratio of string lengths 3:4 should define the space inter-
val
interval
worked
summer,
felt as
for the
that having
though he had
come
"a bird
later in
under
a bucket."
Contact
had
reflected the
it,
mind of
and when he
did,
fact,
it
and
the Creator
thought
found
241
would be twenty
years before he
his third
in the
world
make
who
had no astronomical
observations revealed
that
planetary system as
theory of
"little
celestial
However, Kepler
like
fact
also
little
who had
was
visi-
be so inconceivably
sol-
ought to be
own
winter
at the
stellar
far away.
arrangement of the
easily
blow them
over.
man
If only,
"My
most
rich
is
this:
his
he has abundant
to
make
proper use of his riches. Therefore, one must take pains to wring his
TYCHO
242
treasures
from him,
To
to get
to
pub-
Kepler,
anyone
& ICEPLER
else to
its
glimpse
it
to resemble the
dragon nesting on a
to use in a meaningful
way
himself,
it.
at this
mind
to
16
Prague Opens Her Arms
July 1599-Fehruary 1600
garden near Rudolph's palace. Tycho showed him the three books he
had brought
said he
for
would
to receive
summoned
of introduction. Barvitius
find out in
them.
emperor wanted to
be
letters
receive
himself,
and he would
officials at the
When
at the
slightly
more
willing to agree
God
has acted by
some
TYCHO
244
now come
& KEPLER
Barvitius drove
Tycho
and magnifi-
ated
emperor himself."
hill
on which Rudolph's
situ-
glorious,
Tycho
that if he liked
it,
it
him.
for
said
subtle
say" that
the tower was inadequate to hold even one of his instruments and that
he was not overjoyed with the house. The emperor had foreseen
possibility,
to
mention
several cas-
tles
this
would
at
that
to give
him an annual
When
the
room on
the
in the
bench with
tomary gestures of
which
saw
[the
back against a
emperor] sitting in
table,
completely alone
whole chamber without even an attending page. After the cushe immediately called
civility,
me.
his
"I
stipend,
his audience.
me
over to
him
little
among
other things,
how agreeable
way
so that his
whole
face
left
of his
them out on
laid
Then he
briefly.
Arms
most graciously
24s
the table.
reviewed the
that they
would
please
him
greatly.
Rudolph
window
his
to
Tycho
as
shown
Tycho
tell
that
arrived
He now
Rudolph had
it
to
son to fetch
it
and gave
to Barvitius
it
dience chamber to report that the emperor did not want to accept
Tycho's odometer but
its
pattern. This
eccentricities.
was
far
was Tycho's
Rudolph was
happier
among
first
would
among
after
settle the
to
summon
we
choice
own
live
if
estate that
he accepted
same road,
all
later.
making
him,
make
comfortably." Tycho
favorite
to
into a
and
people.
it,
including his
sacrifice the
a six-hour ride
gave Tycho a
emperor would be
castle farther
along the
bluff sixty meters above the flood plain of the river Jizerou, this was
name
when
the area
TYCHO
246
flooded, the
water.
& KEPLER
The mansion,
like
castle
Also
as a fortress.
first
like
Uraniborg,
it
boasted an
in
directions,
all
By
late
rooms of the
cious
castle
lotted
each.
his family
setting
up
go.
The indoor
this space
his instruments.
al-
space was
Though none of
Tycho was
bright, spa-
feet
for astronomy,
to see
it
laboratories.
He
by making
castle
floor plan
repairs,
and win-
a line
on the
floor near a
window. Benatky
it
Tycho's annual grant took longer than expected to pass the council.
The
Denmark had
soon
as
one became
available.
However, shortly
By
of the
estate,
after
late
fief as
Tycho began
costs.
Arms
247
Miihlstein had also learned that the salary the emperor had promised
money from
the treasury.
much
He
word was
king's
his
tentions, orders
on the
royal treasury
good on Rudolph's
Denmark,
make
else as well,
money in
to
in-
produce payment,
the treasury to
make
pledges.
sufficient
fail
as
mu-
would
of-
knew,
of Rudolph's
where the
estate.
all
things possible.
The promised
hereditary fief
could not be Tycho's until he had applied for and obtained citizenship, a slow bureaucratic process.
Denmark, and
Powerful
as
much
a part of court
life
him down.
However,
such
as
it
also
and administrators
officials
The
left
Prague
With
him
this
much
priority,
Tycho
felt
if
clarification,
at
Benatky
as
cheaply
as possible.
set
TYCHO
248
was
to
& KEPLER
"little
the cliff for the instruments. Tycho's salary also was to be paid, in
part out of rents
By
autumn
late
been to
start.
had died
from Brandeis.
so
was
less living
in the district.
had come
Tycho moved
going on
at Tycho's
women
were frightened,"
as
it.
mitting
it
to censorship,
it
him and
assign punishment.
the
there
city,
Tycho had
beast"
first
sub-
summon
ominous
into mathematical
an
in-
no longer escape
hanging over him. There were rumors that soon any Lutheran
made
to
THAT AUTUMN,
threat
power
down and
creasingly
censor's
offi-
sell
to take
away
fear that
his pos-
had
earlier
the Keplers decide to try to weather the storm rather than re-
locate elsewhere.
The
loss
all
directly,
"No
ordito
Arms
Kepler, "I
249
that
it
will
not be worse than that which threatens us here so long as the present
government continues."
He
up a clerical
to
Wiirttemberg to take
posted to Graz, was out of the question, because his disagreement with
as a student,
was
now stronger
than
ever.
could never torture myself with greater unrest and anxiety than
now, in
my
if I
One
possibility
in
philosophy or
might be
He
Tubingen
and
rent.
sadly,
prices of grain
in
Tubingen or whether he
am
as
man
with more
innocent
political experience,
as a child."
Tubingen. Kepler
also
own
reported the
hope
for a future
to
He
in the past.
Von Hohenburg
and he needed
who
failed
to be
exceedingly discreet.
With each
whose
failure,
success in Prague
after
all,
Kepler might
so far away.
to
Tycho Brahe,
The
possi-
to leave his
family behind in Graz, for the letter had said nothing of them, and he
would have
to put his
to be a tyrant.
forgiveness
He had
of another
TYCHO
25o
With
the
new
year,
& KEPLER
new
1600, and a
came
century,
the invitation
Emperor Rudolph.
councillor to
a
way
to get
from Graz
to Prague,
much more
confidence had he
known about
tion
and
must come
but of his
time
this
it
clearly
his invita-
free will
own
a letter
him and
his family.
castles.
Prague
enormous
castle
complex
many of
around such
was the
seat
of the
hill
from the
streets that
more of the
spanned the
days as
ferent
end of a
much
river.
few
dif-
Kepler,
still
The
of the steep
it
was
alive
with
dors from
all
left.
streets,
many
Bustling, exhilarating, a
and
this
men, craftsmen,
It
scholars,
and
Arms
a living for
hundreds of trades-
artists.
was some days before Kepler was able to get word to Tycho that
he was
in the city.
However,
"as
soon
as
At
2$i
first
how
little
Kepler
what seems
me
cordiality:
"You
will
and highly
to discard a pupil's
to be the
mathematical
and
in
modesty and
my turn
de-
issue."
arrival.
desirable participant
own
he intensify
sharply about
Ursus
friend
"lest
man
let
to drag
chair,
he
He
and companion
in our obser-
in his
Johannes Kepler
back with them. Kepler had every reason to anticipate from Tycho
earlier
welcome
as
as
six
;;
J%.
'
Jyi
,:f
,;
'c
#tjw~*
MiLjy
^ wl
w
Dysfunctional
Collaboration
1600
The CARRIAGE
shifted
on
its axles,
in
and
the road to the top of the bluff where Benatky Castle stood. Kepler's
mood
tion,
anticipation that
would be
lationship
Tycho Brahe,
able to understand
and the
must
surely have
and
any other
The
his ideas.
man
alive,
intellectual re-
as the plains
better than
and value
made
to,
and
that
skies that
opened
to
view
fertile,
as the
in his letters,
and
limitless
road climbed.
Tycho's arrangement for Kepler to ride from Prague in the carriage with his eldest son
had been
flattering
granted
as
him
powerful
like a character
to be real. Kepler
Dysfunctional Collaboration
253
would
regret
the trip."
Alas,
it
disillusionment, homesickness,
mood
deteriorated to bleak
The
future.
The
other matters.
struction
there.
had
bustle
went on around
a bewildered Kepler as
castle
under recon-
at the Trippeltisch.
though they
in
where a
had much
man
sit
and confusion of a
in
common
unusually distracted
Magdeburg.
state.
left
He was
He was
Tycho was
fact that
who needed
still
was completed.
He was coming to
mind
would look
financial support
nor
for
anyone
else at
from the
like Kepler,
was homesick,
At
first it
frustrated, uncertain
scientific
for
cir-
work.
of the future,
disaster.
for Kepler to
were
Benatky
like
huge disap-
Tycho,
in
when
an
in
their attendants
do
that he
workmen
women
to be
Tycho's wife
Kepler, of course, did not speak) as they, too, tried to live normally
TYCHO
254
& KEPLER
spite
mealtimes
ticularly despised
man accustomed
and quiet of
to the peace
He
par-
room on
his
Kirsten and their family joining Tycho and whatever assistants and
visitors
much wine
as
at all
his
Sometimes,
tidbit
his
as casually as
of sweet to his
jester,
the apogee of
one
And
the discussion
command
had
most highborn
nagel.
and
later
way Tycho
servant or employee.
described his
own
Teng-
assistant,
status at
hand
A "hired
Benatky
at that.
Kepler
way up
petitors included
intellectual
as well as
skill
when Johannes
his position.
Miiller,
and
to climb his
com-
seniority, like
own
month
Tycho's
petition
first
son. Kepler
after his ar-
seemed that
"One of the
his family
with him.
Dysfunctional Collaboration
my
for
desire to learn
first
me
my
examine
visit to
2$5
fig-
Mysterium and
understand
being so
secretive.
felt invisible
young
scholar
realize,
not forgotten
this
and
Tycho had
slighted,
at his din-
the linger-
hung
at the
moment
less
on
his
mathematical
skills
weapon
against Ursus,
might
that Kepler
and
his lingering
secretly be Ursus's
him
Ursus
affair,
keep Kepler
meant
that
at
It
ally.
that he
let it go.
as a
own
to
also
it
observations.
full
potential as a mathematician or
had been
sufficiently
met Kepler
flights
Tycho
correct.
Though
his
Mars
parallax
from Benatky
who
show
to
in
might be
he
that the
Tychonic
campaign had so
far
sys-
been
come
as the
man who
astronomy and
set the
It
had
to have
seemed
TYCHO
256
served
him
& KEPLER
that Kepler,
him
who might
have
as threatening,
and
Tycho's.
in spite
Copernicus
at present, preferred
of his
Tycho
"An astronomical
money
sweat and
treasure
over so
many
ears,"
to
waste.
secretiveness
up the building
and he has
clearly
who
that
all
the
more
puzzling.
He
the workers.
is
Although he
is
is
is
all
No
doubt with
bit,
"by
later
pervision of
two and
it
on
the
possess a daring
me would
working only
be to give
mind
me my head,
as assistant to
certainly the
himself.
su-
most
an
gifted
assistant,
way
to deal
me concentrate on the
He would of course be
to let
most
divine providence," as
"saw that
with
described
dragon decided to
astronomer
at
al-
unpretentious man, a
An
favorite
Dysfunctional Collaboration
257
his assistants
work
his family.
When
in pairs.
could use the true Sun, rather than the center of Earth's orbit,
reference point for Mars's orbit,
as the
It
was Longomontanus
who
vate
handbook
Kepler
on
his
still felt
own
frustrated.
He had
move ahead
with them, he needed time off from Tycho's projects, and he needed
data on all the planets, not just Mars. "I thought
would
later also
get the other observations," he said, but that did not happen.
He
most
in-
at
Benatky
trigued him.
that
it
little
made no
two most
work on
his
(as
that
TYCHO
25 8
& KEPLER
Longomontanus and
gifted as
"well-rounded
at least as
who was
better
equipped to analyze
ob-
his
this
work
"He said
that
he himself had been occupied with similar [work] but liked to avoid
,
and
right,
Tycho would
be open-
also
ing the possibility of learning he was wrong, and having the world
learn
tions
it.
His most valuable trump card was that he alone had observa-
and
the
means
to
make more
someone
as skilled
who had
forfeit if he
it
as
gave
Kepler the
to a
man
it
was nevertheless a
Longomontanus
to a project
significant step
when he
reassigned
the
earlier,
young man,
little
and find
it
might an-
He
He
extracted a written
The
secrets.
least a part
to have
perhaps
his talent as
him
as friend
and
*Gingerich and Voelkel have pointed out that Tycho, had he kept his observations
col-
strictly to
himself, could have claimed whatever he pleased about his findings, whether true or not,
to gainsay him.
and
Had
league.
Dysfunctional Collaboration
there been
minded about
259
He had
that spring.
and
abilities
in the
them
for
importance of his
ideas.
and
own
also the
wherewithal to save
the Keplers from their intolerable position in Graz. Yet here was
no
curmudgeon and
hand-to-mouth
to the
opinion of others.
"My
not
my
existence. Kepler
Whence comes
this foolishness
it
at
He
it
itself,
How distressing
after
all,
some
progress
work on
from the
planets.
was looking
ments that
his
work
to
shifted
Benatky on
how
al-
had
for
some hint
was responding
was showing up
to a force
in
coming.
in Tycho's observations,
in the
Sun
He
found,
as
he had sus-
was
it
if the
in
an innovative way to
using
planets
TYCHO
26o
seemed not
that
it
work
to
for Earth.
nearer the
& KEPLER
a particularly significant
as
it
moved
sped up
as
came
it
was
its
as
planetary theory one must find the physical causes of the motion.
Ironically,
added
success only
Having
to Kepler's frustration.
and
copy
how
rightly,
travel,
my purpose
(he
"If I don't
is
find
some way
Kepler was to
all
intents
to stay
and complete
The
clifftop beehive
speak held
all
my own
guest.
Tycho had
a contract, or even
It
no promise of
regular
than he to go
women whose
mad
She
in this
fi-
home
likely
life
at Benatky.
nancial support, Kepler could not drag Barbara away from her
to
that,
ily
want
He
let
a salary.
Tycho know of
his distress.
Tycho chose
ment
as a lack
much
reliability.
From
Tycho's per-
young
man
He was
depart.
Dysfunctional Collaboration
261
man
to be excused
that
and he con-
good position
to
to
moment
He knew
wanted an authentic
no one
victory,
needed
to
remedy
Kepler's problems.
ous January, suggesting that Hoffman meet him and Kepler to discuss
Kepler's job position.
While
that meeting
many
most men to
dured
and
crises
indignities that
would be
Benatky did
it
it
he en-
sufficient to drive
own
his equa-
report,
he
it
on himself to
ment he would
ate his
accept.
When Longomontanus
employ-
suggested he moder-
slightly revised
memoran-
dum. The demands were not unreasonable, but they were irksome
Tycho. They included permission for Kepler to go into Prague
to
when
he chose, though not to stay long; time off during the day for family
affairs to
compensate
for
TYCHO
262
relief
from observing
made him
& ICEPLER
off;
and
name
would have
to be at Tycho's ex-
Much more
of a stumbling
block were Kepler's demands that he have a salary both from Tycho
noon on
own projects, and that he and his family be given a house separate
from the castle. The house was particularly important to Kepler.
his
"Tycho's house
ily is great. I
is
do not want
to
mix
my family with
hedged
and modesty."
would
leave,
Tycho
his bets
make
Dithmarschen presumes
Though Kepler
later
affair
involving him-
know
these
the
piece refuting
Longomontanus thought
It
was
likely that
listed
to write a similar
he
among
still
his
demands
mind when
lished
and
was probably he
it
At
who
"all this is
result,
letter
from
Dysfunctional Collaboration
263
Kepler that Ursus had used in his book. Both, he thought, would
represent important evidence in his postponed case against Ursus.
The
Instead,
on April
5 Kepler
Kepler's
down
on
Kepler's behalf.
together,
Kepler's
to negotiate
demands. In return
The
three
assistants to
off,
work on those
secret.
As
days.
He
his family,
It
and he offered
to
He had
came
good
faith,
He was
fairly
knew from
the
on such promises.
Kepler,
applied to
for a reply.
tually collecting
at
emperor, though he
work
sat
for the
men
of
and argumenta-
Later
Kepler,
too
much
left
with Jesensky.
Tycho's equanimity following this episode was astounding, almost
out of character, and perhaps stemmed only from the fact that Kepler
of Tycho's ambitions.
must have
told
him
this instance
that Kepler
Tycho refused
TYCHO
264
stroy himself.
He
& KEPLEU
had never
own
and
family.
Moving ahead
that Kepler
The
would need
smoothing things
in
a written apology
out.
react
more strongly
The
Tycho
that
fact that
copy
it
it
him
far.
No
away with
well
letter
and help
would be
all
one
this badly.
less
fourth
too with
some reproaches
is
against
me
(for
how
shall
in the
end
have confi-
Somehow
to his senses,
realized the
Kepler came
vitriolic.
Astonishingly,
his carriage
with some success. The plan was that the emperor would
Kepler
officially to assist
Tycho
for
two
Graz and
in addition
would
would allow
its
it
years.
During
as district
summon
that time,
mathematician
much
leeway,
Dysfunctional Collaboration
26$
hope was that since the assignment would come from the
the
Roman
of Styria would
Tycho arranged
for
him
to
feel sufficiently
much
move
pressured to approve.
brighter, settled
his family to
down
to
work
Benatky In May,
who had
Denmark when
fled
it
commuted
off.
to service in
earlier threat
Kepler
horoscope
as dis-
way
to join
his
the army.
good way
to
may
make
It
was
* Kepler's
later
traveling
Tom
in
the
in
real
life
England on
they had
able
When
Stoppard's Rosencrantz
it
Knud
and
Guildenstern Are
Gyldenstierne, another
a highly favor-
18
Me Not
Seem to Have
Lived in Vain"
"Let
1600-1601
bring
all
of the shipping
same
Tycho decided
lanes, in that
recently, in order
Tycho had
left
on
down
in
release
cut.
Tycho
hit
on the
strat-
to
Tycho had
instruments
ted to leave
initially
still
been
on Hven,
their way.
to Prague
at
Benatky, Tycho had sent his son for them and appealed for help to
his brother Axel,
had
left
now commander
at
Helsingborg. Longomontanus
Denmark and
as far as
Me Not Seem
'Let
The Golden
made
on
to
Griffin (far
Have Lived
left) as it
way
their
Unaware
With
mud and
in Vain'
267
appears today.
swollen rivers to
Hamburg.
Magdeburg, would
summer was
halt
them
again,
Tycho believed
one
in
logical consultations
on
state decisions.
modations
known
for
as the
Rudolph arranged
for
re-
accom-
had hoped
to avoid
by choosing
now
a castle
came
to a
he
city.
long after his arrival back in Graz, the Styrian councillors refused the
request that they release
pay
his salary.
him
to
work
to
which
as-
there could be
salary,
TYCHO
268
this decision
& KEPLER
A despondent
to return to Benatky.
possibilities.
He even ap-
like
worse than a
rejection.
On July 27
a notice appeared,
all
citizens
of Graz had to
would be required
to leave Graz.
come
It
took three
to the table
and be
When
list
of sixty-one banished
He was
citizens.
2,
he said he was a
at
Benatky accepted
he found astonishing.
"I
this disaster
that
abandon house,
and homeland.
If it
loss,
that he
then
if
this
way with
the exultation
During
is
so
albeit
so sweet,"
fields, friends
much
and
the sur-
Kepler sensed
faith."
to follow.
this
falling apart,
than he had
leave her
real
was meant
was
it is
is
it is
suffer injury
at
his family's
it
much
whole world
easier to
work
husband and
his calculations
lives.
Me Not Seem
"Let
to
Have Lived
in
Vain"
269
eclipse of the
it
eclipsed
Moon was
not large enough to cover the Sun completely, and that therefore a
total eclipse
there were
It
many
seems that
discussions,
him
given
total eclipses
in spite
on
astronomers
on how
knew that
record.
instructions
all
to Kepler
about
at
this
Benatky for
problem and
on July
had been
right; the
10.
Tycho
Sun's.
method of observing an
this
He
size
to pinhole
the observation
depended on the
eclipse
Hence
was
Moon.
ered by the
Before the
summer was
He
optics.
became too
As soon
at the heart
his conclusions,
a salary
still lies
over,
and then
set
it
aside
when
of geometrical
rays,
and about
pressing.
as
at
Benatky or
in Prague,
he had
The
failure
Kepler to
dence
came
quickly:
come
as rapidly as possible."
TYCHO
2 7o
Though
was impossible
it
& ICEPLER
to
misgivings about putting his and his family's future at Tycho's mercy.
Without
from day
to
Tycho were the most well-meaning and generous patron, was too
carious
and demeaning an
whether some
pre-
existence. Kepler
"little
if
him
at
Tubingen. Kepler knew Mastlin's reply could not reach him before he
left
the
way
and
to Prague,
Kepler's plan
went on alone
It
it
to
was
him
in Linz. Linz
for Barbara
was on
his step-
far
to talk to Tycho.
Kepler, Barbara,
fit
in
as
left
the
destination,
known
city.
They loaded
possessions as they
ever
and
and
or cared about,
all
in the
They had no
All she
real
had
all
own
were leaving
among strangers.
all
Barbara had an
almost irrational fear of poverty, and there was no promise of a paying job ahead for her husband.
It
On
ter
the journey north to Linz, they kept the hope alive that a
in Linz, there
was no
letter.
in Linz to follow
might yet be
Kepler
them
a letter
knew
that
ill.
it
They left
from Mastlin
now
mind about
later either to
let-
for
all
leaving
stay together,
Prague or Tubingen
for there
he was absolutely
at Tycho's
as well.
and
mercy
He made one
last at-
"Let
tempt
ing
way
to bluff his
him
in
Me Not Seem
Have Lived
to
to a better job
advance of their
arrival,
in
Vain"
271
it
was
necessary that he pay his respects to the duke before settling else-
him hope
great advantage
outright
to offer
lie.
him an
sideration.
est. It
an extreme
His
letter
was a feeble
try,
Kepler's serenity
oped a high
fever
but
it
weeks
first
were
con-
at the lat-
not an
if
if Tycho
attractive position,
He named
would be
who
to Prague.
city,
took them
When
on October
in,
devel-
the ex-
19, 1600,
it
Kepler's fever
work
for
Tycho
Mastlin, and
in late October.
no other
possibilities
had
arisen.
As Kepler would
write,
"God let me be bound with Tycho through an unalterable fate and did
not let me be separated from him by the most oppressive hardships."
Kepler's fever
had contracted
city,
was
watching the
to
ill
little
money
they had
would be reduced
to
maintaining their
in sight.
little
family in
cost
120 gulden. Kepler's annual salary in Graz had been only 200
gulden. Even
much more
if his
now
TYCHO
2 72
Tycho made no
ation,"
& KEPLER
Kepler to give
passed. However,
"first
consider-
Tycho was
try-
ing to secure a salary for Kepler from the emperor. Rudolph, Tycho
knew by now
tion
by which a
salary
nod
mechanism
man and
in
mo-
his family
could starve waiting. For the time being, the Keplers had no choice
who was already paying the Miiller family's expenses out of his own pocket, because
money for them from the emperor was overdue, now dug deeper and
but to depend on Tycho for everything. Tycho,
By
enough
Golden
much
Griffin,
larger.
Sign of the
managed
Kepler, Barbara,
to rejoin Tycho,
at the
to squeeze
and Regina.
it
appeared
when
to
wed
for a lavish
Tycho's daughter
in the
summer of
wedding.
He
told
and
cash to do otherwise.
Meanwhile,
still
in the
autumn of 1600,
Kepler, Barbara,
would bring an
them
in
offer
and Regina
from Mastlin
letter finally
for Kepler in
letter
reached
Tubingen, and
my life. The
only certainty
is
four years. Evidently there was nothing he could do, except, as he had
letter,
to "pray for
The
"Let
Me Not Seem
Have Lived
to
in
Vain"
273
possibility
to do.
Though Tycho
had not given up the idea that the movement of the planets and
othet celestial events
somehow
valuable time.
life
on Earth, he found
ill
as-
a waste of
at ease
mil-
own
had been
best satisfied a
assassination
each
particularly
would have
dictions that
itary
He was
influenced
assassinated). For
human
Tycho,
who
at
which
his father
astrology.
belief,
Tycho knew
in
emperor of that
The emperor
political
also
wanted advice
that
politically neutral
sel
who
to offer straightforward
were
coun-
Benatky with
know about
alliances,
no choice but
to learn whatever
to try to
he did not
exaggerations,
and
lies,
he did
1600.
Not long
Rudolph
to be dealt
after
a rational ruler
unfortunate
whom
moment
Tycho was
for such a
Roman
advising. This
It
was not
was a particularly
fell
under
his
TYCHO
274
most
now
direct control
the
& KEPLER
Czech Republic
is
dynasty (Rudolph's) that had not, even in the best of times, been
free
summer of 1600
this diffuse,
smol-
and threatened
Rudolph
to ignite in a
major conflagration.
II
fla-
Bohemia but
tragic failure in
who
was possibly
stable
Rudolph decided
to expel a cloister
from
Graz that
all-out conflict.
a mentally un-
them
acts.
The
them
because their prayers interfered with the black magic he was using to
turn base metal into gold. (Had Erik Lange heard this accusation, he
to Tycho's side
reawakened
without
disliked the
skills in
delay.)
it is
a tribute
madness.
court.
first
leaders
his
brother Matthias,
whom
as his
they judged to
be virulently anti-Protestant.
On
he
the
more
deniably a part of
him
own
that
long-overdue
enjoyed moving
in the
most
was un-
elite circles
"Let
having powerful
at court,
peror's
Me Not Seem
men
had received
in
to
trust in
Vain"
in
He
also
many
in Prague.
men had
from Graz
he
27s
was vindication
It
Copenhagen.
Have Lived
used
it
to observe the
in
same
in July.
For Tycho, another mitigating factor about the move from Benatky
to Prague
against Ursus.
ous
legal actions
Tycho
set in
that Ursus
was seriously
ill.
The
vari-
man
he considered
underhanded swineherd,
as
as
he lay on
just
his deathbed.
Tycho reported
that the
Bohemian
law."
in Prague,
Ursus in the
was beyond Tycho's reach, but Ursus's book was not, and
its
very existence was a threat. Tycho told Kepler that he was not so
many
insults
self
and
out
all
and
lies,
his
book, stuffed
full
of so
my associates." On
the empire.
It
to
was
an affront to Tycho when the council paid Ursus's widow three hundred gulden to compensate her for the confiscation of the books. But
let
that happen.
It
in
suf-
With
all
to
TYCHO
2 76
The
& KEPLER
where Tycho
set
up
autumn of 1600.
Prague, then from the hostelry to the house, while at the same time
dealing with a half-mad emperor, Tycho accomplished
ingful
work
in the
left,
succumbing
Denmark. Tycho
mean-
little
reluctantly
to the
assistants
and
one
else
hope
to
The
autumn of 1600
there
was no
complete
last
way he wished.
at
about the time Kepler himself returned. The emperor arranged for
Tycho
to
mount them on
now
He had hoped
as
to use the
need to
summer-
Tycho was
install
the in-
"Let
From
Me Not Seem
to
Have Lived
Vain"
in
277
state
sky.
his al-
ready high regard for Tycho had increased during the difficult months
they had weathered together.
When
Tycho petitioned
and
At
a status that
of their
bles
last
new homeland.
for citizenship
emperor him-
to inherit
large, especially if
still
he
after
left
Denmark)
that
he was
finally calling in
On
secure.
He had
Now
it
to relinquish
came
from Denmark.
to Prague
It
sion
still
down
that, for
when he
a beautiful
months
earlier:
first
house
eighteen
rejected
was undeniably
hope of
all
that
large
man-
to turn
it
enough, and
the location was too accessible to the court, just a few minutes' walk
all
in a carriage.
an antidote to despair.
He
took smug
ters inviting
satisfaction,
when
all this
lifestyle
time in Magdeburg.
was
relatives in
summer
Denmark
nuptials
let-
to his
would be
empire.
appearance, but
it
was a triumph
to
inform them
to
make an
TYCHO
2 78
pampered
& 1CEPLER
his
ing a nobleman.
Nevertheless, the discouragement of having to
move
family and
During
a serious drain
on the
fifty-four-year-old Tycho's
had
who was
talk
still
though he was
dened with
how
"still
cares:
"He
extricates himself.
His success
little
wondered
at."
new
at this
letter to Mastlin,
is
to be
it
move ahead
many years.
When
moved
Tycho and
his family
moved
to the
and
at all
Several
a great
interest.
there too. Yet in spite of the difficulty Tycho was having find-
satisfied that
still
all
known
his "choicest"
observations, but only "inside his four walls," and say to him, "Get
to work." If Kepler asked to see observations other than those
set before
I
Tycho
the
same
letter
mentioned an idea
for prising
some of
the observa-
"Let
Me Not Seem
he would,
to
Have Lived
in
Vain"
279
if you
ask
man
As
ories
for Kepler's
own
astronomy, he spent a
him
to
after
is,
do
all,
reply.
little
this
ductive winter. "A fever gripped me," Kepler later recalled. "In the
meantime
illness
on the dispute
of mine
it
letter to
am
doing
distasteful to carry
obsessed with
still
proving that he, not Ursus, had invented the Tychonic system.
Not
him
who, he
main current
Liddell,
in
credit for
it,
of Tycho's
whom Tycho
fears
The
to have
visited
Hven
over the years he remained a responsible scholar and teacher and one
hostility.
Kepler put his feverish head to the task of coming up with something that
more
would
clearly
fully
and
ascribe the
he "rebut even
distorted
pothesis
and more
new
to
my
invention of the
hypothesis to me, as
is
new
finish
it
hy-
right, just as
still
He
unfinished
manuscript was not published until 1858. Kepler made the most of
a
poor assignment.
scientific
It is
one of the
about
TYCHO
28o
and
to Kepler
in favor
& KEPLER
model. But, wrote Kepler, "If in their geometrical conclusions two hypotheses coincide, nevertheless in physics each will have
additional consequence." In other words,
liar
its
own
pecuasking
the "why" questions, seeking the physical causes for the motion,
To
on
this treatise to
had
died,
wife's inheritance.
Keplers unless
thorities did
month
make another
trip
it
trip
to salvage
tied to estates
and
useless to the
Though
was an
fever that
had
afflicted
him
as a
welcome
angry exchange of
letters
ended
Kepler
agreeably, but
still felt
it
more
more confidence
Tycho
every-
who
and he
guest.
Tycho
work
was giving
The contretemps
was symptomatic of
in
him
fi-
the dissatisfaction
letters,
"Let
to
Me Not Seem
Have Lived
to
in
Vain"
281
bride looked pregnant. Perhaps she did, for Tycho's grandson was born
in late September.
Though Tycho
some
expressed
young couple
mensely
who
was im-
in
considered his legitimate child and could never have married into the
nobility,
referred to
him
repaid a
many
umph
as
whom Tycho
promise
years. In this
little
trothal to Gellius.
list
political
in his
power
to
ill-fated be-
make
the
tri-
illustrious.
reclusive
sister
Sophie,
rows,
hoped
come, but
to
ill
invited,
though there
last
minute.
recurring disasters.
wedding
Elisabeth
and Tengnagel
the
left after
Kepler returned in
late
make
that
autumn of 1601
finished
when
By
in-
and
less
the decision
a half
crowded.
had taken on
to
was
put his
full trust in
nitions that he
cision
a lifetime
Kepler. If Tycho
would mean
to live,
trusting Kepler
no hope of accom-
finally
was indeed burdened with premohe surely anticipated that that de-
beyond
his death.
though
And
TYCHO
282
Tycho had
him
trusting
man
any other
mean
& KEPLER
available
made
more than
a year,
Tycho
Tycho
invited Kepler to
first
accompany him
time, he introduced
him
on
at last
Kepler.
to
on the prodigious
tables based
world had ever known. With the emperor's gracious permission, these
names of their
The Rudolfine
Rudolph and
royal
monument
to
was nothing further required of the emperor than what he had already
granted Tycho
thrilled
with the
idea.
The paperwork
Tycho placed
secrets
all
of his family.
this
On OCTOBER
13,
secrets
from Kepler.
1601,
a friend, Councillor
the table for any reason before one's host had risen,
to this
it,
him
Minck-
he himself put
Now
bold decision,
would no longer be
adherence
for
and
trivial
it
rise
just a
from
was Tycho's
an offense,"
as
to his deathbed.
at a distance
had
"Let
Me Not Seem
to
Have Lived
Vain"
in
283
more
in-
timate details about the days that followed than are available about
Holding
seated.
Although he drank
enced pressure on
Kepler wrote,
life.
little
his bladder,
he
felt less
state
Moon,
Saturn, and
down
the
banquet.]
Tycho's
own
He endured
five
Finally,
it
condition was
little
made worse by
On
his
by
little,
24 October, when
away very
At
his delirium
tears,
failed
and
had
efforts
of
and he passed
peacefully.
terrupted,
fol-
last night,
in-
to an
seem
It
to
was only
me
not
to
God and
added
to his description in a
TYCHO
284
Tycho
Brahe's
tomb
in the
"although he
asked
me
knew
that
to present all
my
& KEPLER
Nova
that
in Prague.
when Tycho
lay dying,
hypothesis."
on
his
Kagerod on
lay.
where
do
so,
it is
his parents
had always
felt like
it
man
far
chosen to
Prague did, or one that would have pleased him more. Kepler described
it:
"Let
The
Me Not Seem
to
Have Lived
in
Vain"
28s
and decorated
gold
in
with the Brahe coat of arms. In front of the casket were carried
candlesticks,
his titles
and arms,
and
a black
Behind
in gold.
the casket was led his riding horse, followed by a black taffeta
by
men
The
walking single
file,
officials, all
noblemen.
councillors, barons,
judges,
and
zens.
The
girls,
and
chairs in the
and
ser-
women and
assistants
imperial
after
one
them
the
most distinguished
each
streets
walked
as if
were so
sat all
full
citi-
were
of peo-
between two
walls,
and the church was so crowded with both nobles and commoners that
was
in
hung over
it.
When
the
sermon
the crypt.
knew
among
that he
the assistants
was no longer
and
servants.
to continue as
any
He must
However, he already
sort
of "hired hand."
19
The Best of Times
1601-1606
two days
came
to
tell
him
that the
emperor
The
title
carried with
it
comple-
for a
had
last.
florins,
in a century.
Of course,
at his old
as the
Graz
Brahe fam-
To
price.
of Prague
known
as the
New Town
first
(it
time since
287
had
it
With
it
narrow
streets
for Kepler
life
the court in
in Europe, wealthy,
resi-
cosmo-
many
echoed with
its
it
"a
wider av-
enues and stopped at splendid houses that were not only impressively
large but also exquisite in their proportions
men
II
make good on
many
superbly productive
details
and furnished
Rudolph
and
and
artists
all
the promises
interest in learning
a wider
community
and scholars
that
to Prague.
and
drew
One
of
his life
tle if
any attention
name and
to the activities
reign are
still
paying
lit-
his
at a time,
scholarship.
now Kepler's.
his family
own
to
After so
were
was growing
prosperity,
The
larger
on
despair
and
strug-
The
little
Regina
much
at last
aspire
Johannes,
Barbara, and
to happiness
and
life,
with
many friendships,
TYCHO
288
and splendid
served,
& KEPLER
scientific
Not
appointment did he
until five
months
after
tinued to encounter obstacles collecting even a pitifully small portion of what he was owed.
He made
When
treasury records.
the Keplers
fell
him
persistence failed,
appended
is still
and
to the
it
in
from Barbara's
The
home was
it,
live in poverty.
but the
lifestyle
ing lace
collar,
the expected
work clothing
mathematician appeared
perial
attire
What
did.
Kepler's letters,
man
Their
manin his
with a stand-
at court
in public.
band
they
as
her hus-
wrote in her defense, placing the blame on himself that their marriage
the
few
skills in
Kepler's
lived
their lifestyle in
simple household
more candid
letters,
economy
at-
martyrdom thrown
in the face
of her husband
is
own
uncertain. She
clothing budget,
While Kepler
about
the
real
flourished, Barbara
women
to
life
and the
that she
bitter
lives
had
in
of
nei-
Prague
make
evet,
much as he. She did, howon some who met her. Contemporary
good impression
289
as
more sympathetic
much
in evidence. In
and
cholic"
"fat,
self in prayer
one of his
solitary,
later
melan-
all
and of
their relationship
it
much
biting
and
both of us well
knew how our hearts felt toward each other." The quarrels would
end when Kepler saw that something he had said had deeply hurt
Barbara. Overcome with guilt, he would stop immediately. But "not
much
exile
religious, there
was
little if
would
fol-
his mature,
compli-
were not matters to discuss with a woman, always spoke in Latin and
avoided
German
visitors to their
mathematician and
scientific
pany.
felt
for.
in Prague.
as a private individual,
shamefacedly, longed
when he conversed
home.
Both
as imperial
known
Kepler's
officials to
TYCHO
29o
& KEPLER
own
spur to his
as a
first
brought him to Prague, remained close and provided him with two
astronomical instruments, for Tycho's instruments remained locked
away, unavailable, waiting for the emperor to
spondence
for
he was an engaging
make good on
also kept
up
the
a lively corre-
with numerous
letter writer
and
he had in Graz
as
trology. Kepler
an activity he
had become
now
less
produce
cal-
to give
and
to
less
as-
He
began applying
new, more scientific approach, attempting to trace whatever appeared to be established from experience back to causes and physical
links,
and
in
entirely.
many
all
di-
One
kinds of advice.
essay
Pope Paul
Another had
When
to
do with
came
it
Galileo's discoveries
of the
rest
how
and
and
Georg were
out
grief,
financial matters
would be
settled.
He
them or
find
took charge of
them whenever he
him of be-
291
He
made any
Through machinations
uscripts.
could not
also
progress
at court,
Tengnagel contrived to
double Kepler's
self, at
rial
salary,
mathematician. To Kepler's
of progress, and
it
impeplenty
He handed
so close to answers.
thinking
to be
Mars
observations.
Those he
over most of
secretly kept,
it
emperor
the
of
his
and Tengnagel,
in the
mathematician. Kepler
employment
justify his
made some
as
im-
First,
within eight
summer he had
al-
He had
he had
albeit
with
many
interruptions, since
first
by Christmas.
He was
still
the
which proved
about
new
difficult
him
"to think
and time-consuming
things."
at age
of a
lot
of
in the car-
many
elements
of optics that were relevant to astronomy besides those he had been investigating in
Graz
which
light
is
refracted
TYCHO
292
as
it
& KEPLER
mind
to this
success, for
ment
in the
Moon. He
anticipated
producing a
the sizes
great
on the
treatise
subject.
human
problem
there, for
he was currently
no
But he needed
it.
eye.
met
great success.
The
were wrong.
Applying
his idea
of light
to keep
to delve into
works was not new, and there were theories that attempted
it,
he
treat-
rather, projected
Working
by a
like a "pencil
the image
on the
rays,
is
he was the
of light,"
retina.
first
as
he called
it,
It
retina.
upside
is
down and backward on the retina. He was not able to explain how
the mind compensates for this, but he did arrive at a precise understanding of the way in which differently shaped eyeglasses could correct nearsightedness
and
was
farsightedness. This
a particularly rele-
ery he had made: the inverse square law of light. If a burning candle
is
set
cle,
on
surrounding
in the center
of the
it
circle.
on the
table
a cir-
is
Kepler, thinking in
from
circle
one point
but in
light,
also
Wherever you
away can
form
of a sphere.
as
Someone
at the
being
little
are,
at the
farther
edge of a sphere
is
and the
How much
dimmer.
light looks
293
as far
away
as observer
A, then
observer B's sphere was four times as large as observer A's sphere.
saw the
far
light
away
saw the
as
only a fourth
as bright as
A did.
light
only a ninth
If
B was
as bright as
did.
As
and B
Kepler's inverse
states,
far
light source)
is
little
four.
is
more than
it,
The
nine,
and
is
three times as
inversely proporas
into publication.
The
ideas
and
book and
later
and
optics
applied to the
tele-
scope in another work, Dioptrice, became the foundation for seventeenth-century optical theory.
After their clash in the
managed
to
make some
joint progress
moment
in the spring of
Rudolfine Tables,
Optica,
He was
as
at that
reluc-
possibility
of working on Mars
may
to use
when
courting favor
situation in
In the
summer of 1604 he
TYCHO
294
& KEPLER
to
some of Tycho's
The
observational journals.
precious
in
Kepler's
work on
He was
study of Mars's orbit. His book about that, promised for Easter
1603, was well behind schedule.
to print until late in 1605,
propriate
In the
pregnant,
title,
and
it
would, in
not be ready to go
fact,
would have
new and
highly ap-
New Astronomy.
Astronomia Nova
autumn of 1604
moved house
Old Town,
It
in the
One
still
months
Wenzel College
of
daily.
after the
Mars, a
don
celestial
his writing
new
He saw
1 1
When
event be-
Kepler could
make
when on
The
of great agitation
He had
almost forgot-
7 the sky
cleared.
had been
all
star
that
book about
official in a state
dawn on October
man, he learned
seen a brilliant
him no
sense of the
left
justified.
As bright
diamond
in
the colors of the rainbow, this nova appeared in the sky near
Saturn and Jupiter, which were near conjunction. Mars was also close
by.
his "star,"
his.
2%
As
Kepler's fateful
drawing for
his class in
Jupiter
regular pattern in
The
years.
all
It
at the
fire,
The
as "trigons."
"Kepler's star"
the element
by Aristotle:
hundred
known
four areas,
in
takes eight
fire,
Any
on human
with
new
star at the
rest until
and
he and
all
imperial mathematician
this
wonder.
Bachazek built a small wooden tower so that Kepler and he could see
the star better,
a delightful
Among
good
physician, mathematician,
own
ideas
on the
To help
fulfill
to publish his
matter.
that prediction,
two years
later
Kepler himself
De
Novas
as
Astrological Discussions,
it
faded.
and
Glorious
Stella
subtitle
was
held opinion that the planets had ignited the nova. Kepler insisted
it
was
much
fixed stars,
farther
and he made
good
case (based
He
on erroneous
data) that
TYCHO
296
& KEPLER
like
had been
flying
around
happen by chance
form a new
to
oil
that a salad
would
result."
He
and
it
slices
might
of egg
at last
tioned the matter to his wife as she set a salad on the table before
him. As he wrote:
this
"'Yes,'
responded
my
not so nice
dear, 'but
as
one of mine.'"
but he ended by telling his readers that the best advice he could
give
them was
to
examine
their sins
and
no
repent. Star or
star,
that
Modern
was a Type
last
thousand
in 1006.) Kepler's
visible to the
naked eye
was the
until 1987,
satellite
last su-
when one
galaxy of the
haps not so
The
much
The domestic
claim in a
make
The
for-
letter,
childbed, to receive
them
women
to visit
hospitably, to see
activity,
does
my wife, who
them
it
not
lies
in
out!" Perhaps he
should have reconsidered his lament that Barbara had neither heart
house became
livelier
known
melancholy.
a frustrating
and an
ex-
He came
to think
of
it
as a
tradition the
planets.
By
297
still
still
be several years
off,
mathematically describable at
all.
orbit
is
final
that Mars's
elliptical.
on Mars,
to
make
that
planet the focus of many observations. That "problem" was the catalyst that led
Kepler to his
first
made
it
clear that
its
orbit.
Once such
an
straight line
drawn through the center of the system (Earth or Sun) and the center
of the eccentric orbit was called the apsidal
apsidal line passed through the point
(at
line.
Extended
farther, the
farthest
it
was
Common
farther
away they
are.
Closer looks
Tycho had
all
faster.
move much
higher above
it
in the
on an
is
eccentric orbit,
is
was not
at
other
sufficient
TYCHO
298
& KEPLER
Orbit of planet
Aphelion
Perihelion
An
line):
off-center orbit
Sun) was
to be "eccentric."
The
to
was said
is
the apsidal
line.
Extended
it is
is
farthest
down
revealed
orbit. It
planet appeared to be
that
accommodate
it
would
in this
speed.
difficult
of the
far
might hope,
decree that
stickiest
problems but
came
at exactly the
it,
"I
consider
it
a divine
time
The Best of Times
knowledge of the
299
of astronomy or
secrets
else
no
for centuries,
circle,
circle
to within
and
circular.
extremely small.
Tycho were
margin of error
this
made
is
it
orbit,
The
at least as
of which
as-
arc, a great
improvement on the
ten-minute error tolerated before, but the discovery that Mars's orbit
was
elliptical
would
all
from
failing in the
pass through
as
attempt to draw a
circle
whose rim
level
in-
ventiveness from Kepler that arguably has not been surpassed in the
history of science.
The
Tycho
attack
to
as
it
The
first
to address
involved two
It
its
line
Sun
(how
of Mars's orbit was from the Sun). If Ptolemy was right about the position
of the equant in relation to the center of the system and the ec-
centric, they
From
as far
Benatky, he chose to
let
first
at
TYCHO
300
metrical logic
and
& KEPLER
when
fortable
to
ting a precedent
and
logical
whether
marks
ries:
measure
is
He hoped
Kepler was
test.
correct,
had
is
criteria for
suspicion
up on
his
if
his polyhedral
and harmonic
rasa.
Though he
like
most
former theo-
on the
or-
described his
ef-
explorers,
He had
already
come
to believe that
He
it
that caused
rigor, ideals
of symmetry
were incom-
was not
enough and
Sun
though
in their orbits.
the di-
move
knew
understanding planetary
the planets to
those hall-
forts as a
judging
set-
still
a theory
He
ideals.
whether
to
symmetry and
would continue
and
his
own, placing
implicitly,
No
one had
sci-
ence to find answers; he was working out what "science" was and
would
of Mars," which
first
later
his
referred to as
301
men
century astronomers,
and planetary
when he put
the
Sun
his
in the center.
fortable,
his
contemporaries
Hence
felt
com-
Kepler's
mind was
skill.
models
tional
like a battle.
to
coming
"real"
in a fair
way of discovering
He had no problem
At age
setting
more
tradi-
for himself
and leading
as a
no
among
would
what might
on
in the heavens
actually be going
.
At the
outset, a confident
To understand
one must bear
there
in
mind
was no reason
still.
to
that for
most of
wonder what
and even
in the
Kepler's contemporaries
like.
In
other planets, but he had not carried through with this in his
TYCHO
302
mathematical
analysis. It
& KEPLER
up when
farther
closer to the
away
aphelion).
(at
Sun
Sun
had been
interest to Kepler
speeding
(at perihelion)
He
must and
believed
it
move when,
a significant
that if he used
as his reference
at
of 1600, he asked for and obtained Tycho's permission to use the true
Sun when
He again
to the
this regard,
many
is
nothing unique.
it is
It is
Such an approach
of invisible
circles
invisible points.
him
also
made
it
when
closer
just a planet.
Sun.
it is
it
it.
However,
it
epicycles
and equants,
for Kepler
needed
all
way
an astronomy
do without them.
a superb
skills
to
much
of modern
yet.
He
also
derstood
it.
comes along
sat
still
move
had
does
to affect that
unless something
it, it
moved
it,
and
if
that
something ceased to
move
at
all,
"Why
does
it
move
it
as
it
it,
"Why
keep moving?"
of motion he
set
to
question
all
discoveries he
Kepler's
303
the way.
God's work on
it
If the
and
at
in this enterprise, as
earlier,
then
and Astronomia
which divine purpose had been moving Tycho and Kepler with the
most
intricate
No
Tycho had
feared,
more
he did
it
his
"Let
me
own way,
celebrate the
Copernican
20
Astkonomia Nova
1600- 1605
AFTER BEGINNING
stration of
intended
ler
an
as
ex-
Ancients."
Kepler
scribing
felt
and
them
and
Mars
fined as being
at opposition.
when
a planet
is
7.6).
its
made
Opposition
the
is
on the opposite
because of
effectively.
his assistants.
vations of
is
from the
Tycho and
his assistants
knew
this,
Astronomia Nova
305
Equant
Center
of
# Earth
between
its
Kepler wanted
lay in relation to
its
(right).
(left).
it
them
in
one important
detail:
tween the equant point and Earth. Kepler wished to make no such
sumption but
His work on
this
where Mars's
as-
still alive,
still
and
it
con-
thinking in
To develop
his
in line,
it
at opposition.
At
this
time Mars,
would appear
at that
moment were
first
in 1580.
Hoping
to
measure Mars's
care.
Kepler would
parallax,
later
he
make
TYCHO
306
& ICEPLEU
a great deal
Though
when
it
It
and
Sun
is
on opposite
background zodiac
stars
sides
permanent
are wearied
too bright.
by
difficult, the
on me who
of
behind
skill
No astronomer was able to see Mars and the Sun at the same
to hire a
it
of
new
him
he was able to make a simple model that agreed with four of Tycho's
observations of Mars at opposition.
late, for
its
From
this
model he could
calcu-
any given time, where Mars would be seen from the Sun
remaining
six
his
his
limits
of those
observations.
by
sitions predicted
his theory.
stars, as
It
Mars
knowing
its
Sun
was true
in the po-
background
see
know how
at these positions.
new
six-tenths of the
way from
halfway between,
as
the
Sun
to the
obtain the correct distances, he had no choice but to put the center of
the orbit right back where Ptolemaic astronomy had traditionally
put
it.
And when
he did
that, his
from the
Astronomia Nova
Sun).
The
were
errors
as large as eight
The
failure
was not a
307
him
had
had given
where
his readers
new was
Tycho Brahe,
us, in
faith
required:
so careful an
and
utilize in a
we should
appropriate that
itself, it is
manner
thankful
this
we
recog-
that
to a crossroads.
Kepler then told his readers that a "renovation of the whole of as-
all
observations
would cause
Kepler
Earth
It
errors in
(as
correct.
in-
and asked
directions
behooved astronomers
motion was
now changed
as
at
were
his readers to
interest,
look toward
brilliantly
con-
Though
showed
like that
that
it
lay instead
same
as its
somewhere
in the
results
equant point and the Sun, and that was where astronomers had
tionally put the center of the orbit of a. planet.
is
the equivalent of a
little less
Even more
tradi-
significantly,
at arm's
much
manner
in
than
is
possible here.
Appendix 3
it
might seem
it
later.
could have.
It
him
would
between Tycho's data and Kepler's use of it. The process did not "draw Earth's orbit"
though
it
describes in a
for Kepler,
is
elliptical.
TYCHO
308
& KEPLEU
moving
as
it
moved
when
it
came
closer to
it
was
like a planet.
was a truly
Copernican astronomy. In
his readers to that
his
were headed.
Kepler saw that the speeding up and slowing
dictable mathematical regularity to
He
Sun.
lion
it.
inversely proportional to
decided that
down had
had
its
at
a pre-
aphelion
had arrived
at his
Whether or not
Kepler had
become
to be correct,
honing
parts,
whole amounted
mathematical
his
to
much more
skills
and
sets
than the
of observa-
sum of the
creative nexus
between observation and theory has seldom been achieved and never
surpassed in
able to see
all
beyond
cheered for
joy, for
them were
still
Kepler did not turn directly to the question of whether his distance rule was correct, for he was determined to prise open a door
into a
new
era of science
they
tion.
knew
He was
all
So he chose
at this
mo-
Astronomia Nova
by
309
far the
of his work.
Kepler was wrong to believe that understanding the physical ex-
come
what
that
before knowledge of
tions,
though often
his laws.
One immediate
was that
it
seems that
futile,
which he discovered
it
result
how
pointed up
scriptions of planetary
in a planet's distance
motion were.
and
He
motion must be
Though he had
made up
already
his
lines
to dictate changes in
its
in
own mind on
of the
dif-
force that
moved
move
stance.
It
it
was
difficult to
conceive
with no body
in a circle
It
if
had
the planet
clearly
how
at its center
body
must change
its
speed
to take
bumping
will
melt
all this
Ptolemaic machinery
like butter,"
as
it
cir-
Ptolemy
off on a trick
Sun
of
an
become impossible
at the center
all.
"The
wrote Kepler,
camp, partly into the camp of Brahe." Kepler carted the epicycle off
the stage, but he didn't throw
it
away.
when
the Tychonic
The
planets to orbit
worked
in turn, to orbit
around
TYCHO
310
move
geometrically equiv-
posed a
parallel
it
of a physical explanation.
was no match
It
was simply,
alent to the
& KEPLER
Moon
circles Earth,
The
in the
way he had
fall
and hence
had
off as the
he came so close
It
it
does,
Earth and would assume that both are free from any other motion,
then not only would the stone hurry to the Earth but the Earth
would hurry
would divide
comparison
with
by the plan-
light,
Kepler
son that
felt
when he
orbit,
felt
its
relationship to distance
evi-
is
surrounded on
all
it is
correct,
shows up
speeds.
sides
He asked his
readers to
by an audience. Those
in
he turns,
his
his gaze
Astronomia Nova
\>A<7
Oa
<( )>
fourth as
much of the
Ob
fell
as planet
tied to the
Sun by
this force, as
had
ets
moved
The
though
feel
only a
force that
at different speeds.
were "prone to
A, would
force as planet A.
moved
311
The Sun
therefore
rotating
body
empty
more
strongly
its
force in
done
recently
netism, but
it
was mag-
and that Gilbert had recently shown that Earth was a magnet.
reasonable to think that the
coming from
Having
along the
it
Sun could
Sun
all
all
moving the
directions
all
planets.
on the other
it
would be
emana-
tion
was
but instead
exist
ecliptic,
It
it,
It
affected
would
felt
by the mo-
feel conflicting
that if a
"poles"
would
TYCHO
312
& KEPLER
not help but end up orbiting only near the plane of the Sun's equator,
where they were not affected by the opposite stream of motion on the
other side of the Sun.
Kepler was
tion for
why
more
a planet
why a planet's
work were
around
carried
for
why a
only
If the
all.
moving the
on the Sun,
in circles centered
as its dis-
would be
the planets
distant
an explana-
planet's distance
thing at
He had
still left
planets toward
as yet
unknown was
to dis-
He
mind
or
were
if this
so, there
was
still
distant
it
enough
to
move away
when
clearly,
He conceded
and that
that there
how
far
was
it
how
one way
is
it
close
in
in the ap-
might be ways
An
modern
it
movement
this
endows
a planet
At
that
it.
ment, done
all
and needed
to return to the
he could
in the
to
way of pursuing
mo-
physical explanations
planets' true
How much
its
orbit
clear.
time
it
took a planet to
depended on how
The
far
it
its
along
much was
Astronomia Nova
hence
its
speed, continually
way around
the
all
313
To
the orbit.
get a
He
360 equal
of these separate
Then he
arcs.
arcs, as if
laboriously proceeded to
Of course
180 of the 360 "spokes," since planet-Sun distances on the other side
of the orbit would be the same. Having done
stance,
first
at
that,
he could, for
in-
orbit. The sum of those 30 orbit-tosum of all 360 distances, as the time it took
move
to the
Even
it
He decided
to
was made up of an
infinite
Knowing he must
many show up
circle
use something
number, Archimedes,
like
of a
circle.
Archimedes reasoned
number of isosceles
and
triangles"
infinite
few that
a pie for a
circle
and
combining
"An
it
that
size,
isosceles triangle
is
a triangle having
few ad-
rim of the
two
sides
number of triangles.)
circle.
The more
triangles
TYCHO
314
& KEPLER
complete
combined
circle.
all
of the
triangles,
tripled;
and so
was a relationship between the amount of the rim that the combined
bases covered
an arc twice
for
triangles.
would be twice
For example,
as big.
combine
their areas
an
infinite
He
thought of the
circle as a
an
infinite
number of
each triangle
distances.
would con-
how many
more
triangles
two
of equal
triangles
With
so forth.
it
was reasonable
Even more
area.
area,
this idea,
it
was
up on
tri-
to conclude that
Combine
way
the planet
Whether
bit,
moved along
this line
where the
lematic.
And
its
orbit,
and
areas
within the
circle.
triangles
were no longer
isosceles triangles,
was prob-
drawn from
with Earth's
nearly confident
orbit,
enough about
it
in
it
it
When
he
to declare that
it
was
correct,
and
at
Astronomia Nova
315
Figure 20.3: If the Sun were in the precise center of the orbit
would be
isosceles triangles.
(a),
(b),
the triangles
the triangles
he was
rule,
still
shown here
in
elliptical orbit.
trying to apply
it
its
final
When
he
from
line
it
it
to the Sun.
move
for, let
first
to a circular orbit.
a straight line
drawn
Watch the
of the pie wedge
has "swept out." For every two-minute interval, the wedge will have that
same
area,
but
it
will
not always be the same shape, nor will the edge of it that
touches the orbit always be the same length. Near the Sun the wedge will be
fat
and cover
thin
and cover
planet
is
moving
much
shorter portion,
meaning
that far
two-minute
it
will
be
interval.
TYCHO
316
& KEPLER
"second
his "first
later.
new
The
tional accuracy
it
limits
of observa-
Earth.
At
made
this
this critical
understand
correctly, that
The
in the use
of Tycho's observations.
now
the
Mars
It is
not
dif-
data, judging,
Because Mars's orbit was farther from being centered on the Sun than
Earth's orbit was, a flaw in the area rule
was more
or-
came
its
He found
agreement when
it
heliocentric
had come
to a
it
he was back
showdown:
Either the circular orbit was wrong, or the area rule was wrong. Kepler
could not rule out even the possibility that both might be wrong.
Though
still
far
who
Doing
that while
lion
cheats by
still
circle
but bowed in
The
precise
A triangulation
it
at the sides.
circle
Mars was
like
of a circular racetrack.
an oval
race.
is
Astronomia Nova
kind of
sume was
might be expected
in nature
sessed with
tical
317
it
also
in
to as-
an
ellip-
seemed too
surely
the orbit were a perfect ellipse the problem he had been struggling
had been
was not
intense. His
rule.
He
ovals,
to
do
mathematically at
tions degree
instead.
grew
sort
fi-
confis-
all.
An
made
sense
results
comment about
proximating
ellipse," to see
ellipse that
what he might
learn
He had earlier
(as
from the
he described
exercise.
it)
been
the
something
it
his
The
in the
middle so that
approximating
correct orbit
ellipse,
had
to
be
in between.
made
his efforts
more
TYCHO
318
difficult.
force
He had begun to
Sun but
the
& KEPLER
for the
elliptical orbit.
One
it.
That was
of Kepler's uses of an
one of the
cosa). It is
it
was an error
reached chapter 58
when he
would
And
rather go
his
approximating
satisfying to
its foci.
on an
fell
why the
and
new
light,"
a circle
a feature that
was deeply
This, as
from
into place.
ellipse
elliptical orbit!"
a torrent of answers
had
Kepler put
it,
"first
was "the
made
sort
planets.
model agreed
What was
more,
if
with the
orbit,
and only
his
said of himself,
after the
one
for
which he had
ellipse.
He
fin-
ished the manuscript that year, adding a subtitle to emphasize that his
dowed
his creatures
richly en-
curiosity,
and
Astronomia Nova
his
first
is
at
A planet
moves
in
an
el-
ellipse.
mans
sufficient
time on
this
astronomy.
many
He had made
first
made
the decision
to a
new
servations
and mathematical
Kepler scholar
Max
theory, the
from the
other."
The
limits
of accuracy
of Tycho's observations had turned out to be exactly right for the task
Kepler undertook:
"
not afford to neglect those very important eight minutes ... but had
they been considerably narrower, he would certainly have been caught
in a fine
meshed
net, because in
many of his
calculations he
would no
it
TYCHO
320
Figure 20.6:
imating
the
Sun
Comparing
ellipse.
of the true
of the approximating
elliptical
is
ellipse.
drawn
at this scale,
foci
ellipse.
& ICEPLER
as the
circle.
a gross exaggeration.
in
E and
the ec-
and of
his
human
intellectual
and
scientific history.
He had
indeed plumbed
Tycho Brahe
He had
21
The Wheel of Fortune
Creaks Around
1606-1618
earlier
Nova
to
clearly
The
difficulty
was
settled
when Kepler
write a preface.
tionibus, begins
like
De Revolu-
Copernicus's
Osiander
prefaces to
The
significant
publication of Kepler's
astronomy books
book moved
when
it
all
copies of a
book by
appeared in the
entire edition
It
in history.
his imperial
right to dis-
mathematician, but
in
The
at a snail's pace.
was Rudolph's
Heidelberg to
sell
to give the
to cover
un-
paid costs.
first
arrived in
cele-
TYCHO
322
& 1CEPLEK
all
ished praise
friendships,
Rudolph
lav-
been paid.
it
warm
his patron.
ous Protestant
still
as well.
problems collecting
was
Sadly, Kepler's
and
the
talers,
Tycho
him from
his salary,
Barbara had
women
his
made some
of Prague, but
friends
among
the
more
pi-
after a
at all
1606. In the
river.
Ludwig,
there that
from
for happiness
and
stood
him
Palatinate.
enough,
a representa-
IV of the
As
their
in rather
endless, stalemated
of
Kepler's celebratory
all
political indecision
good stead
his power.
Oddly
for
shy,
and
his
mental
state
had continued
to deteriorate until
recluse that
it
he
was
The Wheel of Fortune Creaks Around
difficult to
323
to the royal
family had
met
in secret in April
606 and
Two
to within
army
march of Prague.
a day's
to Matthias the
cluding Prague),
and Lusatia
Silesia,
for himself,
with Matthias
(in-
named
months
Its
On
March 15
and a
councillor twenty
brilliant
and
of the carriage
scientific interests.
window
to call Kepler to
little
sure,
other planets.
dis-
Von
because he had established with his polyhedral theory that there could
be only
six planets.
who
Sidereus Nuncius
loaned
it
to Kepler.
request that the imperial mathematician send his opinion back with
the
moons
out.
To
Kepler's
relief,
he read
orbiting Jupiter.
TYCHO
324
& KEPLER
Galileo Galilei
discovery of Jupiter's
it
but the
fact that
stars
away
as
in the universe
for
was revolving
remained points
indicated
no
moon
its
own
it
no
ver-
orbiting. Kepler
him
faith in
first
my
trip. Galileo's
it
was
tele-
turn
were the
among
effusive: "I
It
took
assertions."
32s
cum Nuncio
felt
called
One
on
to Galileo's
as a
Sidereo (Conversation
voiced suspiartifacts
about the use of telescopes, though he had seen only inferior models
in
as
Kepler had hinted broadly to Galileo that he would like to have one
In the late
summer and
early
was
as far as
autumn, soon
borrow
a telescope Galileo
comment, draw
9.
had sent
over
all
so,
friends,
and they
man would
in chalk
on
look through
a tablet
what
he had witnessed through the lenses. Only after everyone had done
this
combined
to
is,
book
"I offer
that
is
first
two
known
lens systems
as the
and
"astronomical"
TYCHO
326
made
Kepler
& KEPLER
recommending
later
His silence
may
letter
correspondence
seventeen years
first letter
about the moons of Jupiter, for Kepler had not hesitated in a friendly
fashion to set the historical and scientific context straight by
men-
on having
and since
Galileo had chronic difficulties recognizing fine gradations in friendship and support, he
Later, in
may
letter as threatening.
ries
about them and pointed out that the phases of Venus that Galileo
sisted
in accord
little
that the
tides.
At
who was
man
And
of his
Moon
letters
life
and
ideas, Galileo
a whimsical
gift,
1611,
a letter
and Galileo
New Year
it.
had nothing
inertia.
about
read
had
on
much
with Tycho's.
had
just as
in-
a New Year's
Gift;
or,
On
Wackher's laughter
when he
was
last
know
last
327
among such
friends as
von Wackenfels.
complish
is
not
waited in dread
a desperate
Archduke Leopold
move.
foolish
He
would
this
ac-
clear.
as
Barbara was
and
V, bishop of Passua, to
city,
still
came down
on February
Barbara was
less resilient.
19. It
little
in Prague
and occupied the area surrounding the palace and the Lesser Town
nearer the
river.
Bohemian
city,
Protestant vigilantes
banded together
churches in the
tlefields as
streets
and Catholic
the two groups fought for turf, while in the imperial palace
men
and
ruin.
The emperor
tempt
Life as Kepler
make
1, as
paid
Prague,
in
levels,
made
had known
had come
to
it
to
in
an end.
feelers in
an
at-
With
list
of
328
TYCHO
a professorship or a political
& KEPLER
appointment
in
slammed
on
record, that
Wiirttemberg
this
amounted
might spread
his
poisonous ideas
to a criminal view.
among
A man espousing
it
Though
school similar to the one where he had started his teaching career.
was not
a university
thought awaited a
man
appointment of the
sort
It
being treated with respect, and the position of provincial mathematician was created especially for him. Since Linz was in Upper
Austria, he could also retain the
title
of imperial mathematician.
House,
praise."
He was
also
map
of Upper Austria
be more
like
his-
it
had been
life
would
in Prague,
and
it
had
sure of happiness.
now
ill.
Matthias's Austrian
329
around 1612.
fever.
herself.
3.
still
sick,
needed him
make
the
in Prague.
To
move
the
to
last,
between
a grief-stricken
political situation
home and
a doom-stricken palace.
and attempted
to mislead Rudolph's
Matthias.
still
predicted long
Rudolph died
in
life
for
Rudolph and
the
emperor and
enemies by
With
to keep as-
in-
his astrology,
difficulties for
TYCHO
330
appointment
Prague. In
as imperial
May
& KEPLER
to be followed
by
his
two
children,
aged eight and three, moved to Linz without the wife and mother for
the sake of whose happiness Kepler
to
go
there.
on
taking
this issue
him
and,
me heartsick,"
among
home with
earthly church
plight
makes
"It
so at
for Cal-
recant
had decided
Kepler's reputation as a
his
themselves that
and having
to
home
little
man,
in
any
his religious
florins
side to his
regularly. Also, in
salary
as the
library,
imperial support
The
first
children,
it
was
mind
was not
to in Linz
essential that
scientific.
He weighed
letters to
woman
in his
but by a number.
to luxury.
Numbers
three
number
gality, diligence,
five,
a serious, loving
dowry
marrying beneath
four had
ceited,
five.
grown
woman, whose
331
less
his children
him he would be
of waiting.
Number
six
her.
Back
up
his
but
four,
blewoman.
im-
number
respectable than
his station.
tired
humility, fru-
mind
to
number
who was
a no-
immediately, she
re-
jected him.
the offer withdrawn because of her youth. Finally Kepler cast aside
The daughter of a
old, seventeen years
five
most of her
God had
led
him
Reuttinger.
lived
Susanna
life as
at
in
Linz.
Kepler's
stepdaughter Regina
thought that Susanna was too young to be a good mother to his two
young
children,
made up
his
mind.
in Linz
about the
He loved
Susanna,
and he trusted
next
TYCHO
332
riverbanks and
to express
their volumes.
to install
& ICEPLER
some wine
casks at
home and
rel,
its
shape. Kepler's
book on
popular success, and his superiors in Linz were not impressed that their
barrels
Rudolfine Tables and the map. However, Kepler's study of the wine
barrels did satisfy
him
More
ade-
mathematics that Kepler developed in the process became an important step in the history of the
Another unexpected
development of
side advantage
integral calculus.
failed to
Geometry of Wine
When
ing
little
money
there
Barrels) himself
coveries he
It
in
was
his
way of rais-
dis-
(New
as
he put
it.
The
first
By
this
come
as
much
if
not more of
book, read
all
over Europe.
Meanwhile, however,
after
completing the
first
three volumes of
An
day of the
year,
and
and such
would be
book was an
astrologers. Kepler
333
knew
Planck to
use. Kepler's
is
now was
own
set
the time.
to print an
made
Kepler's MARRIAGE
Mars and
Earth.
to
woman and
as
an unpleasant, meddlesome
trial.
Germany could
but she was not a wise one, and she had no social
ple with
her,
whom
easily degenerate
she associated, or
who were
skills.
woman,
Those peo-
The
crisis
had begun when she had sided with her son, Kepler's
"the crazy,"
Frau Reinbold,
whom
Kepler
later
had
dubbed
One
of
to abort
TYCHO
334
& KEPLER
barber-surgeon, and at least once in the past with the help of a herbal
when Frau
Reinbold,
ill
after a
The
distress.
had been a
earlier
She demanded
To produce
the potion
witchcraft.
on the
no means
In late December,
when Kepler
fully to
tial
He immedi-
his
words
skill-
involving his mother. Several years before, he had revised his fanciful
Moon,
mother
summon
news of
as
an old
woman
skilled in folk
magic
his essay, or
Wiirttemberg or Leonberg.
As
it
bailiff there,
Not wanting
libel case
The
girls,
knowing
the old
who were
was
carry-
woman's reputation
as
The Wheel of Fortune Creaks Around
a witch, stepped aside as
33s
tact.
dirty look
feel
money
or
was so narrow,
arm had
hit
family, contrived to
had been
to Frau Reinbold)
including the
bailiff, still
Lutherus Einhorn.
is
a witch's grip;
it
right impression."
At
this point,
tempted
to bribe
with her
libel
Einhorn,
for
light.
and
He
Katharina Kepler
Einhorn with a
action
still
and
suspended the
forget the
arm
libel case
move. She
at-
he would proceed
incident. This
was a windfall
would come
to
in Stuttgart.
that she
a disastrous
band made
made
silver goblet if
a quick decision.
had
fled
Though
there
was a
risk
of implying
there to
Kepler in Linz, just in time, for the council issued an immediate order for Katharinas arrest and "strenuous examination" about these
matters and her theological beliefs.
A witch
trial
had begun.
Katharina lived with Kepler and his wife in Linz for almost a year,
until the following
but
now
that she
was such
and
his wife
The household
and obstinate
336
TYCHO
and
& KEPLER
one-and-a-half-year-old Margarethe
new
her grandmother.
ter
During
mind and
tion.
He
own
safety
and reputa-
Tubingen and
He
who had
womanhood
husband Philip Ehem
grow
ter,
to
into exile
and
whom
ac-
he had watched
fifteen-year-old Susanna, to
Regensburg
motherless grandchildren.
Danube from
journeyed to Wiirttemberg.
The
interest in Katharina
to
fruitless effort, as
Calvinist.
He visited
It
seemed
safe
enough
He
1618. Kepler's
lost three
new
seemed
to
back in mo-
Tubingen
to try
at length.
arrived
a visit to
still
returned to Linz.
was
who
libel suit
home
just before
ill.
Christmas to discover
daughters within
six
months.
22
An
Unlikely
Harmony
1618-1627
on the tedious
and turned
them
a continuation of the
in
when he and Barbara had mourned the death of his first infant
Susanna. Now, in another profoundly heavy period, when the decimation of his family gave scant evidence of a
the
His research
he
among
empted
his
own
ideas
by about
During
the
list
also entitled
fifteen
hundred
years.
He was
both
similarity.
had added
to
pleasant to the
human
ear.
ratios that
were ac-
TYCHO
338
& KEPLER
scale.
Kepler had
lis-
With
his usual
these
numbers
number
7, for
example?
mony, while an
him of his
only
Why
infinite
Some
chosen
number of others do
not,
and
that
reminded
He began to look for a similar way that the raconsonance had been singled out. He thought the
polyhedrons.
five
of musical
tios
to
The
triangle, square,
levels
of "knowabil-
Euclidean
classical
all
tools.
it
"un-
knowable polygons
string lengths,
(3, 4, 5, 6,
harmony
and
8)
were used
in the ratios
between
with a 7 in
that the
it
numbers of sides
been avoided by
in the
God when
a ratio of string
On
produced dissonance.
It
seemed
The
interval.
a ra-
logical to Kepler
Hence 7,9,
11,
human
age of their Creator, they have an innate ability to enjoy manifestations of consonant ratios, an ability that doesn't require
any knowl-
had thought
similarly
A house built on
An
the principles of harmony
Unlikely
Harmony
339
would be conducive
to lofty thoughts
and
worthwhile study, even for those unaware they were living in such a
structure.
When
the results with the available data, he had been content with a mar-
allowed
him
cided to
to tolerate later
revisit
God might
setting
up the
ancies Kepler
de-
what other
have used in
to take
more
human
intervals that
mean
and
at aphelion,
find
no helpful harmonious
and
its
their
fastest
speed
He
He
could
(at perihelion),
at perihelion
distances
relationships there.
between a single
relationships
speeds using
and
planet.
in-
deed find an arrangement that was true both to the principles of musical
harmony and
and
ec-
centricities.
Of more
significance,
on
May
15, 1618, as
between the
and
their distances
way
rejoiced,
"whether for
matter.
It
waited
six
orbital periods
can await
it.
"I
am
ecstatic,
.
of the planets
wanting
its
reader for a
hundred
to give
years, if
it
does not
God Himself
book he included
man:
TYCHO
340
Ta
is
the time
& KEPLER
Ra
it
takes Planet
A to
complete an
orbit
is
Planet A's
average distance
from the Sun
(Ta/Tb)^ = (Ra/Rb)'
Tb
is
the time
Rb
it
takes Planet
complete an
orbit
is
Planet B's
average distance
from the Sun
to
Figure 22.1: Kepler's third law of planetary motion, the "harmonic law."
Kepler discovered the true relationship between the orbital periods of the
and
planets
their distances
Harmonice Mundi.
tio
in
motion
is
light
You have
cause
1
light
lured
me
into the
consummated
abilities that
works
to
the
work
You gave
to
to
which
me;
mind can
most
for the
have
all
the
the meanness of my
now
to readers, so far as
my
want mankind
if
to
know
in a
about, inspire
me
as well to
change
it;
into indiscretion, or if
men
ciful,
have pursued
my own
glory
among
An
Harmony
Unlikely
341
had endowed
bring
King James
Mundi
to
his creation
in attempts to
and
other polities. However, only four days before Kepler completed his
life,
letter
civil suit
was
filed against
correct.
had collected
Katharina's enemies
a forty-nine-count indictment
The
re-
young
girl to
become
a witch.
One
fashioning goblets from the skulls of dead relatives, had asked the
gravedigger for her father's skull so that she could have
for her
With Einhorn
1619.
The
still
acting as
set in silver
few days
later,
on August
At
bailiff,
chains.
it
this
7,
their
case.
sleep in the
trial,
TYCHO
342
with
& KEPLER
all
transferred to
it,
to salvage whatever
inclined to
own dwindling
The
reputations.
faithful
he planned to defend
Katharina himself.
Kepler chose to take his family with
September of 1620.
They
crept
in
away
Kepler
may
on
still
his
young
Linz that
son, Sebald,
without even
telling
left his
left
him when he
it
fled for
good.
Kepler found his mother in prison in chains with two guards and
required to pay these guards herself, as well as for her food and upkeep.
when
the
trial
was
manner
that so
that there
much
of her
would be
money was
little left
for
be-
them
over.
Kepler had been advised that having the defense case written
down would
all
the defense
lawyer's
cost for
a lost cause.
The
proceedings
dragged on, with more lawyers, more witnesses, and more written
ar-
much of it in Kepler's
The trial ended
and
all
It
An
make
ulty.
trial,
Unlikely
Harmony
343
on
that fac-
The
and
his
court declared
itself
uncertain and
ordered that Frau Kepler be examined once more under the lightest
shown
the instruments of
torture.
On
to the torture
and
a bailiff (not
Einhorn
this time).
The
torturer himself
scribe,
showed
her his instruments, described their use, and with the greatest possi-
ble sternness
Contrary to
the truth.
tell
all
to
summoned
As the report
reads:
after
knew
to say.
had nothing
that she
She
came
to light
lence
take His
demon
Should she be
and
Holy
fell
God
God would
knew
florins
for
fense, Kepler's
trial
and
vio-
He would
not
set free.
her.
The Reinbolds
that
Spirit
do with
killed,
if
expense of
power of her
self-de-
ing April.
As soon
as
TYCHO
344
& KEPLER
journey back to Linz. There were two young children in his family
now, for Susanna had given birth to a daughter, Cordula, the previous January, and Sebald was nearly three. But Linz, in the autumn of
1621, was a different city from the one they had
earlier.
Not long
been defeated
olution in
Bohemia was
over,
Bohemian
of White Mountain.
at the Battle
II,
left in secret
Protestant rev-
army had
rebel
The
a year
occupied
still
now emperor
of the Holy
Roman Empire
leaders.
at Tycho's funeral,
in Prague)
and had
was one of
them. Jesensky's tongue was cut out before he was quartered. His
gory head, along with others, was stuck on a pike on the bridge
tower,
off,
left to
decompose
less
and
finally fell
river.
knew
Communion. Though
since everyone
The
an odd suspicion
his head,
his
appointment
when
all
was sealed
it
would
mathe-
it
as imperial
city,
for a time
as
many
skilled assistants as
Planck required. All the turmoil had not completely halted Kepler's
An
Unlikely
Harmony
345
leaders
work on
in Prague.
the Rudolfine Tables, nor had the death of yet another of his
summer of 1623.
The production of the Tables had been a matter of the highest priority when Tycho died, and during his years in Prague Kepler had
children, four-year-old Sebald, in the early
filled
ally
for eventu-
this end,
new
challenges.
first
Much
show that
the
was not
the reason for the long delay in their appearance was "the novelty of
TYCHO
346
& KEPLER
In 1617, while at
across a
how much this new invention would simplify the computations that
took so much of his time. In the winter of 1621-22 he wrote his own
book on logarithms, and he proceeded
to use
them
to solve
some of
At
last,
new
logarithmic form. Tables like these did not give daily positions of the
were
any
far
more
generally useful,
making
it
possi-
into the future or the past. In the case of the Rudolfine Tables,
Kepler's instructions about their use, with examples, took
half the
many cities.
Once again,
with
it
lem.
up about
were
far
trip to
won him
cities that
stars,
and
latitudes
from
over.
tables,
and longitudes of
difficulties
now
situated,
these cities, he
effort.
He had
directly to
cities
virtually
to print the
and censorship
all
rights. Nevertheless,
it
than any of Kepler's other works, that led to the widest recognition
An
manuscript such
of complicated
its
far,
and
any
he, in
Ulm seemed
work done
As
this
case,
and no war
skilled printers
347
religious turmoil.
Harmony
as this,
tables,
Unlikely
at the
notion of having
outside Austria.
was debated, the Thirty Years War, which had not ended
Upper
and Ferdinand's
on the
opened
and
had
During
consumed
this
and
to be
burning
two-month
siege,
somehow
The
loss
manuscript
his
were the
last
When
lifted in
depart,
and
this
time
it
old,
in the direction
of Ulm. By
Regensburg the
Danube
river
elder sister
Cordula was
five.
Beyond
left his
Ulm
When
plates
on December
10, 1626,
wife
"on a
he
ar-
street
TYCHO
348
& KEPLER
He had
own
his
when
set
of
the press
book
times,
as the
his
new
press,
he proofread each
life-
made
laws that
name
first
it
correct,
on the
and done
page
title
it
all
as the
primary author.
Kepler decided that the Rudolfine Tables should have an elegant
He had
frontispiece.
summed up
tispiece
cluding
its
whimsy.
It
hewn
are
history,
and was
at
the
in-
at the
back
make an
had
on the
right stand
ground
sits
propped
fron-
a masterpiece of
logs,
roots.
The
world of astronomy,
same time
his fingers to
its
it.
by columns
built
left
and Ptolemy
his
column
a Corinthian
it.
He and
where there
is
about
at the ceiling
of the tem-
(How
Tycho points
for
it is
correct,
si
sic?"
that?)
six
far right);
shadow.
An
The
Unlikely
its
349
Harmony
flies
the
Hapsburg
eagle,
with coins
Kepler did not show Tycho's heirs the panels in the base of the
pavilion before publication,
center panel, a
map
ting at a table,
cloth, his
of Hven. To the
major books
listed
on
left is
a panel
banner above
showing Kepler
his head,
and
sit-
table-
model
TYCHO
350
& KEPLER
of the roof of the temple on the table before him. Tycho stands above
beside the
it is
Kepler
who
has labored in
ment,
this
Tables.
The
up admirably
to Tycho's
and
Kepler's
hopes for them. The planetary positions given by the Tables were
more
tables
that
much
The
others.
to five de-
63 1 he
Owen
Gingerich (1973).
of the depend-
An
ability
sits"
of his Rudolfine
that
of Venus
Unlikely
Tables,
not
De
that year
Raris Mirisque
live to see
351
a short pamphlet,
He would
Harmony
he had been.
"On November 7, 1631, the astronomer Pierre Gassendi observed the Mercury transit from
Paris. The result was a triumph for Kepler's astronomy. The transit of Venus was not visible in
Europe, because it was night there when it occurred.
23
Measuring the Shadows
ONCE BEGUN,
September
printing the
to leave
the
them again
book
to
after
had
son
good
also
as the
spirits
Book
Fair
and
December, only
in Prague,
where
in the north
by the
and
in early
for celebration
Protestant
to the Frankfurt
Regensburg
In early
quickly.
his
in exceptionally
finally
went
one was
Tables
from the
entire formerly
all
soil
many
many
yearly salary.
That brought
to twelve
thousand
florins, ten
thousand
florins the
times his
amount of
Measuring
salary.
Kepler
peror's service.
knew he would
As
the
Shadows
it
353
all
if
he
the
left
em-
he had
al-
ready lost his job because of the emperor's edicts in Linz were
groundless. All he needed to
do was convert
to Catholicism. Kepler,
of course, refused.
Kepler had been offered a job in England, and he might at this
point have
made an abrupt
there immediately
had
had
decision to forfeit
all
a long association
fore.
it
Kepler had
in
person be-
who
himself except the date and time of his birth. Kepler, always good at
horoscopes, had produced one that greatly impressed Wallenstein.
fact,
Denmark. He
must
let it
be
coexist peacefully,
in his Silesian
known
there, Kepler
would be
agreement
finally
the
IV of
As the
of a thousand florins a
Kepler
made
year.
him with
moved
his family to
Sagan in
little
He was
Tables.
intellectual stimulation,
and he knew no
and the
local dialect
it
or
and
when
Kepler
abscesses.
difficulty
suffering, as
Most discourag-
TYCHO
354
Kepler's daughter,
& KEPLER
experience to see
it all
happening
done
in a painting
to convert, but
to a nearby
it
town
an
assistant.
bit-
it
finally
type by
ma-
hand
March Susanna,
for printing. In
at
own
Kepler's daughter
was a
and taking
it
terialized, saving
in 1630.
Kepler
own
wife
away
for
would be
him
eight
months pregnant
festivities.
young couple
as a suitor
letter.
On March
and
12, the
his
and glowing
bridegroom
later in the
and
sister
day the
Margarethe,
Measuring
Strasbourg's
streets as
most prominent
they passed.
the
Shadows
citizens,
was meant,
"It
355
to
especially,
honor you,"
month
Anna
youngest child,
later Kepler's
Now he had two grown children by Barbara and four younger ones by
Susanna, although two of those would not
had been
five others
who had
and
live to
adulthood. There
married woman.
Anna
Maria's birth,
enough
of his next
se-
ries
that he
had begun
much
as
an essay
when he was
a student in
Tubingen.
years he
it
story,
allu-
sions that they could appreciate. This was, in fact, the piece that he
trial
long past he
how
it
felt
travels, visits
fiction.
cient Danish.
the
way
is
The
Most of the
widely regarded
notes concerned
much more
trial. It
He
until
on the
and
as the first
many
assistants
he learns
suffi-
to inhabitants there.
and
the heavens
trial,
with some
all
it,
work of science
witch
vindicated in publishing
is
Moon
where
The
printing of
Somnium proceeded
TYCHO
356
& KEPLER
It
from Sagan
and
it
also
1 1
try,
again, Kepler
November
He
October to
in
This time
salary.
out
set
on
there.
Regensburg
at
from
hung
grace,
fallen
in the balance.
when he
8.
needed
It
had
also taken
time and
November 2
after a cold
autumn journey on
mined not
illness as
to neglect anything
no more than
he had
He grew worse,
that.
ium.
At
last a
man
felt
ill
but, deter-
set
a nuisance. For a
than
He
his age,
it
was more
delir-
help.
summoned. Kepler
drifted in
and
out of consciousness for several days and in his few lucid moments
tried to explain to the pastor that
cile
Kepler that
this
was
like
he had done
The
pastor
his
utmost to recon-
his
own
beliefs.
When
"Solely
Christ, in
and
Protestantism,
On November
is
found
all
refuge, solace,
salvation."
whom
Though
to them.
his grave has
been
Measuring
lost,
the
illustrious
men
Shadows
357
in the fu-
had so
cele-
brated but also so poorly supported. That evening there was a meteor
shower. As
it
was reported
from heaven.
that he
Skybound,
my mind.
measure,
Appendix
ANGULAR DISTANCE
A simple way to approach
the definitions of the terms angular distance, angle ofsepof arc is to imagine oneself at the center of a giant clock face,
where the two hands meet. From that point of view, the angle of separation or an-
and
aration,
degree
o'clock,"
and so
and another
360
at
degrees.
imaginary
want
to
forth.
is
let
it
circle has
draw an
sixty degrees
stars directly
drawn
huge
the
If the
two
stars
and
other end, so
way around
look to be
and you
at, let
joins
its
us say, one
and two
That
where the
o'clock, then
thirty degrees.
is
"one o'clock"
is
between two
measure and
is
at
To understand
line
circle
The
"two o'clock"
huge
and an object
of arc. Likewise the angular distance between "one o'clock" and "two
There
are sixty
minutes
of arc in one degree of arc; sixty seconds of arc or arcseconds in one minute of arc.
Two
objects
twelve to one
on the clock
face as
window of my
study,
see
two
is,
let
trees
far apart.
(if you
go out
Appendix
36 o
and measure
it) is
about twelve
feet.
two
stars also
is
up each
tree
with a
stand
star,
is
those
when viewed from my study. However, those two stars are definitely not just twelve
feet apart. Knowing what angle separates two objects does not tell us the distance between them.
Appendix
VOCABULARY OF ASTRONOMY
Much
is
Meridian
circle:
you
meet
celestial pole, to
is
book
this
it all
its tail
way around
the
is
explained in
useful terms:
draw an imaginary
drawn
more
south
understanding
essential to
line to the
around the
celestial
What you
have
on
perpendicular
is
to the horizon.
Altitude
is
A complete circle
No
star
is
360
is
90 degrees.
Azimuth
is
Imagine again drawing the meridian hoop. Stand facing north and imagine that
line. If you see a star
ian. Its
azimuth
is
off to the
the
left
measurement of how
where an observer
is
poles.
measurements
An
it is
is
dependent on
like
will
are
standing.
far
astronomer in
Denmark must
do the
celestial
be able to
tell
an astronomer in
celestial
Italy
what
Appendix
362
the position of a star or planet
another
set
is
without using
Denmark as
a reference point.
Hence
of terms:
is
The
is its
equator.
Right ascension
is its
Declination and right ascension are hence independent of the observer's position
on
Earth.
Whether you
are in
to the ecliptic:
The
latitude of a celestial
body
is
how many
degrees
it is
ecliptic.
Longitude
is
It is
useful to
remember
all
Altitude and azimuth are measurements related to the horizon and the meridian.
celestial
equator
ecliptic
Appendix 3
MARS
discover
what
Astronomia Nova
The Martian
line (that
is,
motion was
Earth's
in the position
when Mars
is
on
Earth's apsidal
the line running through the Sun, the center of Earth's orbit, Earth, and
like,
(687 Earth-days
and perihelion
is
one Martian
year), the
Each time, Mars has completed an orbit and returned to Earth's apsiTo put himself and his readers in the place of that Martian observer, Kepler
reversed the direction along which Tycho had observed Mars from Earth, in effect
tion of Earth.
dal line.
Appendix
is
3,
at opposition,
at this
moment
the
same time
belt
and Mars
Figure
shows the Sun and Earth and Mars arranged so that Mars
as the
at
at the
would
find Earth
at
Z-l. At the
tured here, Earth, Sun, Mars, and those points in the zodiac are
straight line; if Earth
is
on
its
Z-2; an observer on the Sun would find Earth and Mars at Z-2; an
observer on Mars
same
It
687 Earth-days
(a
Martian year)
as his
apart,
background
beginning
all
is
moment
located
cap-
on the
Mars.
data, Kepler
found
in-
Earth's
Appendix 3
364
M
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
#Z-1
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
ft
Psun
P
ft
Earth
ft
O Mars
ft
ft
z"2
Appendix
stars
3,
Figure
1:
^
The drawing
its
These
walls.
stars,
whose positions
to early as-
tronomers and astrologers, are the fixed background against which an inhabitant
The
much
Sun
is
ther
away from the Sun and Earth than the dimensions of a room can
in the center,
and Earth
is
near
means
apsidal line.
really
have. Earth
would be
which
is
arrived back
takes only
365 days
line.
on
far-
possi-
from Earth,
end of every
would not
complete an orbit
to
of course,
stars are,
same positions
though they
it.
Appendix
Earth
2
,
3, Figure
2 imagines
triangle;
posi-
Mars,
Sun, and Earth' are points of another triangle; Mars, Sun, and Earth 3 are points of a
third triangle. All the triangles have a side in
of that
line
common,
line)
the
same
in
all
The length
three triangles.
Appendix 3
365
** * * ^
*
*
*
-sir
TV
Earth's apsidal line
-fr
SwIq'
Earth 3 ?
&
*
Earth ?
Earth'?
Q
Mars
sir
Appendix
3, Figure 2:
and made
pleted an orbit
its
way back
**
interval,
each case, Mars, the Sun, and Earth are points of a triangle.
have one
gles
line
From
line in
common,
The
three trian-
this
"Martian astronomer"
and
own
his
Vicarious Hypothesis, Kepler had the information needed to find out where observers
on any of the
against the
background
Knowing
trated in
angle
3,
stars
Earth
Sun-Mars
line.
Earth
two bodies
Earth 2 and
,
the angular distances between the positions where the three lines
Appendix
3, Figure
at
would
Figure 2).
at
which
He made
in turn told
him how
line (line
Comparing
tri-
illus-
Earth
was
of the zodiac,
when Earth
common
the
common
side
366
Appendix 3
** * * *
*
*
*
*
fc
Sun
Line
Earth
::::
A...
Mars
fc
&
Line C,\
Line
^r
it
Appendix
vation,
3,
The
Figure 3:
made from
triangle
* &
&
the Earth-Mars line (line A) ended in the zodiac. Tycho's solar theory (the the-
ory in which the Sun orbits the Earth and the planets orbit the Sun) gave
viewed from the Sun, which means he knew where the Earth-Sun
line (line
told
him how
line (line
in the zodiac
C) ended
the Sun;
made
i.e.,
in the zodiac.
Earth', Earth
2
,
and Earth 3
words, to draw a diagram placing the three Earth positions where they
And
that
its
orbit at
in other
really
do oc-
not just in imaginary places. Using those three points, he could draw a
circle
through them to represent Earth's orbit and find out where the center of the
circle
cur,
him
orbit.
Sun
Drawing
all
those points in turn might seem certain to have described the shape
Appendix 3
of Earth's orbit and to have revealed that
timate the
pitfalls
was an
ellipse.
To think
so
is
to underes-
ellipse
impossible to find
it
367
it
he would
by
this
later discover
is
it
was
culations. For this particular procedure, each piece of data provided an opportunity
for error,
and
in a process that
when
it
circular,
triangles.
To
this
side, that
if
sets
of
he did.
showed
es-
his chagrin,
However,
common
had been
Kepler's results
to
that contrary to
thought, the center of Earth's orbit lay somewhere in the middle between the equant
point and the Sun, and that was where astronomers had traditionally put the center
of the orbit of a. planet. Also, Kepler had found that Earth was moving like a planet,
speeding up
when
it
came
closer to the
as
it
moved
away.
Notes
JKGW refers
Max
to the twentieth-century
Mechanica
refers to
John Lewis
vols.
et al.
translation.
have used the following form for quotations where the original
is
in
Danish and
have taken the translation from an English source: Original source/English translation source. For example: Gassendi 3:20/Thoren
Gassendi, volume
3,
original
is
PROLOGUE
3
1.
"You
will
letter
154.
JKGW,
vol. 14,
LEGACIES
For
much
of the information
of
this
book
am
indebted to
Victor Thoren, whose Lord of Uraniborg (1990) superseded Dreyer's 1890 book
Notes
370
Tycho Brahe:
finitive
his
Picture
Mechanica, 106
youth
of Scientific
Life
and Work
in Cloister
ff;
and
and
13
Thoren 1990,9-10.
13
grounded
On
2.
two years
it
earlier
move
and
to Leipzig
said nothing
27
astronomy.
28
28
28
28
"had no opportunity":
31
Ibid.
TBDOO,
32
(fn)
34
34-35
Tycho's
a
new
biographer:
80-83.
35
37
Ramus,
38
"He
Ibid.,
88-91.
versus lac.
3.
1:135-36.
first
Aristotele ad-
dwells
on
earth":
TBDOO,
Denmark,
Notes
together from
many
371
Den-
in sixteenth-century
life
sometimes scarce
40
it
41-42
43
"Verily, there
was
including
much
Christianson 1964.
Bille, in
see
visited
community
43
"a
woman
46-47
"I
knew
that Kirsten
pastor's daughter.
perfectly well":
1964, 122.
The
full title
6/Christianson
known
as
De Stella
November
47
"I
in the Year
Month of
doubted no longer": De
Stella
TBDOO
Nova,
l:18/Christianson
1964, 123.
47
"Let
49
51
an "oration":
all
philosophers": Ibid.
TBDOO,
54
The oration
De Stella Nova: Ibid.
55
55
Baade concluded:
56
in
is
vol. 1.
E.
Clark,
604,"
H.
"The Location of the Supernova of A.D. 1572," Quarterly
F.
R. Stephenson and D.
4.
One copy
of the invitation
still
survives: see
Thoren 1990,
57, in-
cluding footnote.
myself cannot":
TBDOO,
58
"I
58
61
"there
ture:
is
something
TBDOO,
in
lec-
Notes
372
62
"When
62
67
"the
71
74
"I
172-73/85-86.
motions of the planets":
.
172-73/85.
Ibid.
settle in Basel:
Mechanica, 108.
75
5.
"Hear now":
Ibid.
island of
observatory in Mechanica,
121-40.
am
island
and
his palace-
also indebted to
John
Christianson (2000 and 1961). Christianson 2000 includes biographical information before and after the Uraniborg years and
Uraniborg and
78
"free
who worked
for
Tycho
at
later.
TBDOO, volume
4/Christianson 1961,
120.
79
recounting
tales:
112.
80-81
80
82
law":
TBDOO,
l4:5/Christianson
1961, 119.
84
byThoren 1990,
86
87
ceremony
109.
for putting
it
in place:
in
ibid., 130.
87
89
The horoscope
is
in
TBDOO,
1:183-208.
90
comet
6.
is
star:
in ibid., 4:6.
WORLDS APART
Much
this
Caspar 1948/93.
as
"Heimat"
in
Schmidt.
am also
indebted to
Notes
91
vol.
letter
star
3J3
with a
letter,
tail:
\603,JKGW
1597,
92
about
JKGW,
Kepler
827; in Schmidt,
218.
92
relatives
92
and himself
and
his brothers
sister,
is
to be
found
in Frisch,
in
8:670-72; for
96
98
TBDOO,
comet and
vol. 4.
TBDOO, 4:381-96/Thoren
comet:
1990,
100-101
He
gathered
all
104
which he finished
in 1588,
could
is
in
TBDOO,
vol. 4.
state": "Selbstcharakteristik"; in
Schmidt,
211.
7.
A PALACE OBSERVATORY
108
Christianson
cites
life
in that
110
Beds were portable: The information about the beds was told
me by
110-12
garden
112
"one
is
in Mechanica,
mug
124-32.
TBDOO,
7:327/Christianson 1964,
193.
113
TBDOO,
1
14
"like a
vol. 14.
1 1
"workshop
121
"people
121
who
is-
16-19.
Notes
374
122
on 141-144.
Fig.
8.
7.8a
"only those
JKGW,
129
who were
hostile"
that follow:
a giant globe:
in
is
Mechanica,
102-5.
129
1
rant
132
is
"The
28-31.
134
135
138
Fig. 8.3
9.
in ibid.,
"the
is
in
64-67.
Ibid., 67.
CONTRIVING IMMORTALITY
14042
a detailed description
its
of Mars,
of
series
its
letters
sys-
and
equivalence to
The
lat-
Dreyer.
145
"6:27 P.M.
a meridian altitude":
is
that
147
39-40. Rosen
250-53). Christianson's
148
150
retelling
is
trans-
in Christianson
From Michael
is
2000, 89.
Rosen, 251,252.
"an
evil,
scandalous
life":
history scholar
Notes
10.
37
54
155
and more
dignified":
JKGW,
19:316.
"Although [Kolin] once made friends": Biographical material translated in Schmidt, 221.
155-56
lost
58
"I
58
universe
with the Sun, the sphere of stars, and the area between representing
Father, Son,
his
and Holy
He mentioned
life.
he used
it
in
was
Spirit
it
in chapter 2
book 4 of
of Mysterium, and
all
much later
his
{\6\l-\62\)JKGW,yo\.7.
158
159
160
161
"tougher than
13:4.
Methuen.
Astronomia Nova,
actually":
JKGW,
3:108/Caspar
1993,51.
164-65
Rasmus
The Pedersen
Pedersen:
Christianson
2000, 332-35.
165-68
in his
2000, 151-53.
11.
YEARS OF DISCONTENT
169
a Rix: Correspondence
170
wrote to
his friends:
For Tycho's
Kepler
later
its
in
1,
letters re
TBDOO,
is
on 229.
outcome, and
his
motivation at length.
175-79
is
their
176
180
Epistolae Astronomicae:
Tycho completed
his chancellor.
to the recently
this
work
in
September
Notes
376
180
now
12.
dam and
"This
paper-mill":
The
Knutstorps Borg.
resides at
GEOMETRY'S UNIVERSE
183
"foolish
little
83
183
God
84
"I inscribed":
84
"The
Fig. 12.1
JKGW, 4:
2.
Introduction to Mysterium,
delight that
Figure 12.1
is
JKGW,
1:11.
JKGW,
1:13.
pondered on
186
"I
187
187
JKGW,
1:11.
188
man
God
logic:
Mastlin (Kepler to
Hohenburg (Kepler
quoted
10, 1599).
Both
are
in
to
Holton, 68,
69.
1
89
"Finally
came
close": Introduction to
190
191
192
"To
193
"polyhedral theory":
see
whether
JKGW, vol.
193
"Just as
Mysterium,
JKGW,
1:11.
The
letter
was Kepler
to Mastlin,
Aug. 1595,
13.
ibid., 40.
195
196
"What wonder
597,
ibid., letter
60.
JKGW,
vol. 3.
196
"a childish
JKGW, vol
198
99
silk fleece":
"My
"It
Duke
ibid., let-
on
is
fire":
1,
1602,
JKGW,
226.
199
Kepler to
43.
45.
fateful":
8, letter
198
and
certain": Ibid.
9,
597,
JKGW, vol.
Notes
13.
377
"see
and
learn":
205
Pratensis,
(fn)
205
"Seldom
205-6
in history":
JKGW,
206
"would
it
ibid., let-
ter 76.
206
206
Limnaus
1598,
206
"specialist": Ibid.
207
"The
little
15, 1595,
207
knowledge
JKGW vol
...
love
May
124/Rosen, 88.
209
212
"I
TBDOO,
8:7.
translation, 1992.
14.
CONVERGING PATHS
214-15
215
215
Duke Ulrich
that Duke Ulrich
.
letter
went
to
TBDOO,
243-45.
agreed to intercede:
sent
Tycho
in
is
The
TBDOO,
14:113, 114.
to Sparre, ibid.,
216
216
when Tycho
Dreyer,
letter.
218
"No doubt
218
"Elegy to Denmark":
TBDOO,
TBDOO,
248-52/ TBDOO,
for
14:
13:101-4.
It
220
It is
it
in
its
entirety.
Notes
378
221-22
"discern double-stars":
From
De Astronomicis
Ursus's
Hypothesibus.
222
"The bright
JKGW vol.
13,
letter 26.
223
224
man
"That
224
225
225
From
"Selbstcharakteristik";
Schmidt, 217.
in
180
11.
his
contempt":
Ibid.
March
\598JKGW, vol.
15,
13,
ff.
lessen":
ibid., letter
99.
227
"He who
15.
CONTACT
231
from
a letter
JKGW,
231
reply Tycho
to Kepler, April
1598,
1,
ibid.,
letter 92.
231
JKGW, vol
233 "Why does
is
9,
made and
sent to
Mastlin.
233
599,
JKGW,
236
He
Edmund
wrote to
Bruce:
1599,
236
letter
letters to
6,
1599,
letter
cal
128; Kepler
ibid., letter
132.
first
harmony
"a bird
599,
240
The
to Bruce, July
and
is
under
with musi-
Stephenson 1994.
thorough treatment of
and Kepler
to
Aug.
599,
6,
JKGW, vol.
1599,
letter
130.
241
"little
"My
13.
Notes
16.
379
God
"perhaps
TBDOO, 8:163-66/Thoren
244
"from what
said": Ibid.,
1990, 411.
163-66/412.
244
"I
245
saw
According to Tycho,
it
and portions
Thoren
1990,205.
245
"the
247
Aug. 30,
1599.
248
1990,
419.
248-49
fate":
599,
JKGW,
vol.
249
"I
249
JKGW, vol.
250
"being forced"
251
"as
soon
145.
ibid., letter
as
251
"You
will
let-
ter 154.
17.
A DYSFUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION
to
arrival
and
first
weeks
at
Benatky
in letters sent
somewhat
Hohenburg, July
253
12, 1600.
JKGW vol
JKGW, vol
254
254
"One day
JKGW, vol.
254
1600,
"lofty topics":
1,
1598, JKGW,
ter 92.
254-55
255
JKGW, vol
3So
Notes
256
256
saw that
possess": Kepler to
JKGW, vol.
257
'I
258
thought
12,
1600,
Schmidt, 234.
would": Ibid.
1,
letter 92.
258
JKGW, vol
259
260
'If I
262
'Tycho's house
262
Schmidt, 234.
JKGW,
14:225.
262
262
'all
264
this
about
JKGW, vol
264
it,
by
"find out
Rosen
264
is
cited below.
an apology to Tycho:
JKGW,
vol.
and
TBDOO,
8:305-7.
'LET
268
"I
Sept. 9,
269
\G00JKGW,vo\.
that
it is
JKGW vol.
14,
letter 173.
270
"little
175.
270-71
one
last
attempt to
bluff:
ibid., let-
ter 177.
271
"God
272
"Here
let
me
be
ibid., letter
180.
272
275
"branded
in infamy":
ibid., letter
178.
TBDOO
8:372/Rosen, 307.
275
278
"still
8,
1601,
JKGW,
vol.
Notes
278
381
1,
1601,
ibid., let-
ter 190.
278
"If only
1601,
8,
ibid., letter
183.
279
279
"Because of this
illness":
l:139/Rosen, 322.
8,
1601,
ibid., let-
ter 183.
279
"rebut even
more
clearly":
JKGW
l4:l48/Rosen, 299.
279
is
in Frisch,
1:236-76, and in
280
From
Frisch,
1:240/
31, 1601,
JKGW
ibid.,
Jardine, 141-42.
280
vives.
The
This
reason for
its
is
May
survival
is
deciphered,
280
"benefactor
letter
ibid.,
letter to Kepler.
282
283
"Holding
his urine"
TBDOO,
The handwriting
285
"The
casket":
From
of observations;
19.
284
Kepler's account
TBDOO,
JKGW, 3:89.
appended
to Tycho's collection
l4:233/Thoren 1990,469,470.
"a gathering
JKGW, vol.
288
288
Schmidt, 232.
it,
see ibid.,
288
289
"weak, annoying":
289
"There was
much
JKGW,
19:455.
175-76.
Notes
382
much
289
"not
290
29 1
"to think
293
295
A Book Full:
296
"if a
love": Ibid.
of a
lot":
From
Nova
Kepleriana, 1:18-19.
212.
is
in JKGW, vol. 2.
pewter dish":
Ibid., 1:285.
296
298
"I
301
consider
a divine decree":
it
could
Astronomia Nova,
state":
From
JKGW, 3: 109.
"Selbstcharakteristik"; in
Schmidt, 211.
302
20.
"armed with
JKGW, 3:141.
ASTRONOMIA NOVA
For a
clear,
306
307
309
"The Sun
310
"If
JKGW,
JKGW, 3: 1 56.
15:358.
31
317
JKGW 14:410.
21
we have
317
"Heretofore
318
"I
318
319
Schmidt, 211.
321
323
324
"I
325
Jupiter's
to Kepler,
moons: Narratio de
was published
Aug.
3.
in 1610.
\G\QJKGW,
16:327.
It
was soon
JKGW, vol.
325
"I offer
326
you": Dioptrice,
JKGW, vol
4.
Notes
The
326
Strena:
327
"wounded
letter
383
mJKGW, vol.
is
4.
who was
13,
1612.
a councillor at the
23-24.
330
"It
330
Letter to an
332
332
makes me
Nova
333ff
tables":
9:
anonymous noble669.
"a little
JKGW, vol
to
22.
JKGW,
328
is
trial,
trial
trial
and
documents.
AN UNLIKELY HARMONY
337
339
"sacred frenzy":
340
34143
JKGW,
Harmonice Mundi,
The
light":
prayer
end of book
5,
chap-
was
"the novelty of
JKGW,
a
of his library in a
filled
who
346
7:290.
at the
344
34546
is
9 of Harmonice Mundi.
343
345
17:254.
ibid.,
my
work
It
was
Owen
Gingerich
10:42-43.
Mirifici
Logarithmorum Canonis
Descriptio,
1614.
347
350
positions
Tables
23.
were
much more
8,
1627.
transit:
353
Nov.
6,
1629.
"It
22, 1629.
to Kepler,
March
22, 1630.
letters
dated
Notes
3 84
355
Somnium: InJKGW,
356
from
a letter
1:2.
burg, dated January 1631. Several letters about Kepler's death are
reprinted in Baumgardt, 194-97.
356
"Solely
on the
357
"I
merit": Lansius to
1146.
anonymous,
Jan. 24,
\63l,JKGW,
Bibliography
New
Letters.
York: Philosophical
Library, 1951.
Scientific
Elis
Munksgaard, 1946.
Caspar, Max. Kepler. Translated and edited by C. Doris Hellman. Original book, in
in
Germany
in 1948; reissue,
with references by
Owen
New
Caspar,
Bialas, eds.
Johannes
"The
Celestial
Palace of
Tycho Brahe."
Scientific
Ph.D.
.
Cloister
diss.,
On
and
and
Assistants,
1570-1601. Cambridge:
Cambridge University
Press,
2000.
Doebel, Giinter. Johannes Kepler: Er veranderte das Weltbild. Graz: Verlag Styria,
1983.
Dreyer, John Louis Emil. Tycho Brahe:
Sixteenth Century. Edinburgh:
1890;
386
Bibliography
Tychonis Brahe
ed.
Copenhagen: Libraria
vols.
Gyldendaliana, 1913-29.
Ferguson, Kitty. Measuring the Universe:
and
Space
Time.
New York:
many
details
of Kepler's
& Company,
Walker
1999.
is
vols. Frankfurt-
trial
documents, and
life.
Gassendi, Pierre. Tychonis Brahei Vita, Accessit Nicolai Copernici, Georgii Puerbachii
et
Joannis Regiomontani
Mannen
Vita.
Paris,
to the
byway
is
extremely
rare.
Norlind.
List.
Gingerich,
History.
Copernicus Chase,
Coulston
Gingerich,
Gillispie, 7:
289-312.
New York:
in Astronomical
1992.
Scientific Biography,
ed.
Charles
Copemican Campaign."
Press,
its
1988.
Kepler's "A Defense
of
lation
Press,
1984.
New
Press,
.
the
1992.
World by Eric
J.
Aiton, A.
M. Duncan, and J.
as Five
German by
Cannstatt:
Esther
TK
Hammer;
translated into
Seek.
Stuttgart-Bad
F.
1596
M. Duncan. New
al,
1937-.
Owen
Gingerich and
60-73.
Bibliography
Somnium. Translated
Koestler, Arthur.
Universe.
New York:
387
Press,
1967.
Penguin/Arkana, 1959.
The
section about
Johannes Kepler, "The Watershed," has been printed separately under that
in the
Simon
& Schuster,
Methuen, Charlotte.
title.
Development
York:
1994.
VT: Ashgate
Press,
1968.
Nova
Kepleriana. This
a series
is
Academy of Sciences.
Physicist's View.
Unpublished paper.
Institute
Rosen, Edward. Three Imperial Mathematicians: Kepler Trapped between Tycho Brahe
and
Ursus.
New York:
sein
Material that
this
writings,
under the
Kepler's "Selbsttitle
"Heimat."
Kepler's
New York:
N.J.:
Cambridge University
.
1990.
Press,
(1973): 25-45.
Voelkel, James R. Johannes Kepler
New York/Oxford:
Oxford
Wilson, Curtis.
"How Did
First
Two
Laws?"
Scientific American
Art Credits
The images on
Castle: iv
and 329.
II),
and
63 and 324.
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Kassel: 69.
Landesbildstelle Wiirttemberg, Stuttgart: 94, 127,
Per
and 156.
Gavno
Owen
Castle, Naestved,
Denmark: 173.
Gingerich: 185.
it
was
in turn reprinted
The Royal
Library,
Copenhagen: 257.
Yale Ferguson: 212, 267, 276, 284, color plate (Chapel of the Magi), and color plate
(Benatky Castle).
Pramonstratenserkloster in Strahov, Prague: 343, color plate (Great Globe), and color
plate (Portrait
ofTycho Brahe
1598).
(Science, Industry,
and Business
Library): 354.
Art Credits
390
plate (Knutstorps
Borg
modern and
sixteenth century).
Astronomiae Instaumtae Mechanica, Wandesburgi, 1598: color plate (the great mural
quadrant), color plate (elevation drawing for Uraniborg), color plate (Uraniborg
Museum
St.
Museum, Wien:
Index
/ ^AzV index,
TB
is
Adelberg, 126-28
246
51-53,60,61
14,61,89,91,99
Astrology,
TB, 28,
conjunctions
in,
124/131, 138
Angular distance, 359-60
nova
Approximating
line,
in,
295, 296
Apollonius, 317
Astronomy,
ellipse,
317, 318,
297, 298,
298/ 299
320/
1,
academy
for,
70
models
rule,
vocabulary
Aristarchus of Samos, 66
see also
47^8,49, 186-87
Aristotle, 15, 22, 64, 97,
301
of,
16-20, 361-62
Copernican astronomy/system;
Kepler, Johannes, astronomy;
186-87, 295
135,
of,
108
Area
273
28
350
Alidade,
Apsidal
133/
Observations (TB)
Index
392
Baade, Walter, 55
Bar, Nicolaus
Reimers (Ursus),
5,
147-48,
book
by,
abduction,
by,
campaign
to destroy, 223,
229-30,
248
228
263
10
98-99, 182,
267, 273
JK writing
against,
279
Prague, 235
279
259
books:
Benatky Castle,
gift copies,
brothers,
245-46, 247,
303
266-67
campaign
to restore
in,
17274
castle-observatory,
105-25
76
change
in
352
Brahe, Axel, 8, 204, 266
Brahe, Beate
Bille, 7, 8, 9, 10,
30, 38,
44
88
202
175-80,280-81
290
Brahe, Georg, 151, 163, 290, 330
common-law marriage
39-40
200,210,235,281,291
10,30,32
37-38
1,
229
to Kirsten
of,
position,
76, 153
honor and
214-20
career,
to destroy
moving instruments
180,218-19,278
10,24-25,38
campaign
3, 4, 33,
death
63
at,
8, 9,
232-33, 255,
JK
73/91-92,
left
14,
109,155,159, 196,303,355
book
TB
200, 202
10,
1 1
1,
217,233
death and funeral, 282-85, 290, 344
decision to stay in Denmark, 76
disappointment
in his science,
170-72,
214,235
education,
false nose, 2,
31-32, 221-22
Index
202,217-18,253,272
Great Conjunction of
heirs of, 346,
140-41
563, 184
349
worldview, 21, 23
Hven, 77-90
writings by, 52
320
see also
206-7, 227-28,
6, 129, 162,
work
200, 330
of,
286, 303
JK
left
322
290-91
conflict with,
reputation
178-80
of,
Copenhagen, 209-1
library, 2,
move
330
into exile,
218,220,228-30
Calvin, John, 71
moving instruments
to Benatky,
266-67
330, 336
name, 14-15
Cassini,
163-64
personal characteristics,
physical appearance,
Catholicism/Catholics,
8,
181,274,356
72
forced conversions
to,
180
225-26
portrait, 132, 21
Celestial equator,
116,117,117/119,
119/120, 132
Celestial events
influence on
life
273
60
relationships,
162-68
275
JK
150-51, 163,
(son), 3, 4,
219,244,245,251,266
JK
Observations (TB)
Brahe.Tycho
inheritance, 38, 58
and JK,
393
350
16,
184
positions of circles on, 132
rotation of, 48, 141
14
277
76
200
219,228,230,233-34,246
self-image, 135-38,218
201-2,352,353
system
plagiarized
180,222,229,279
tomb, 284/
TB
212/
by
Bar,
148-49,
appeal
marriage,
Christian
area of,
243
214-15, 216-18
234
III,
Circles, 17,
to,
King,
8,
1,
18,21,37,316,318
313-14
Index
394
Comet(s), 47, 49, 53, 121,326
TB
156-57,262
141,
Compasses, pair
Conjunction(s), 27-28
Jupiter
Moon
106
to,
religious conflict,
71-72
16, 52, 62,
JK
237
acceptance
planetary
of,
movement
planetary orbits
rejection of,
leaving, 217,
in,
wars, 29,
Descartes, Rene,
205
Distance, inverse
of,
rule,
192-93, 239
axis
of rotation,
280,308,321,324,326
16,
like planet,
controversy
307-8, 320
18/21,27,51,65
regarding movement of, 65
decaying nature
27-28, 65, 66
of,
21, 22
influence of planetary
movements on,
183
Prutenic Tables
5, 15,
14
310,311
behaves
Copernicus,
Earth
see also
310, 31 1/
308, 316
194-95
in,
170
tables,
71-72
30
support
Copernican
214
57
for,
243
221
Distance
literal
20/21,40
Denmark, 8-9,
religious conflict,
Ptolemaic, 140-47
Deferent(s), 20,
Copernican astronomy/system,
259,310,348
compromise with
Dante, 22
TB
TB
275
TB move
124/ 131
34-35
of,
TB'sbookon, 146-47,
326-27
Crystallography,
63/
255,297,307,321,348
TB
heir to,
163
rotation of,
mathematical theories
of,
195
Cosmology, 65, 66
Aristotelian, 21, 22,
47-48
1,
262
125
Eccentric/eccentricity,
20-21,
20/320/
298/
305/
Eclipse of
353
Craig, John,
68/
48
Planetary eccentricities
Moon, 31,52-53, 58
Eclipses, 269,
lunar, 90,
solar,
292
172,235
269, 275
Index
Ecliptic,
Ellipse,
Geometry,
Mars, 316-20
Globe, 37-38,
Ephemeris, 14
20/
Epicycle, 20,
192-93, 317
318
Elliptical orbit,
395
318
10,
Euclid, 15
geometric logic
292
logic
reasoning
Fabricius, David,
Ferdinand
II,
317
offered
Graz, Styria,
337
355
1,
181-83
151
86, 105,
JK
201,202, 217
Book
Frederick,
King (Frederick
Fair,
260
in,
Frankfurt
267-70
required to leave,
Kepler family
113
transfer of,
192-93
of,
Gravity, 310,
of,
70, 352
II), 9,
threat to
13, 30,
JK
in,
274
225-27
248-49
185/187, 189-90
152, 163
TB
finding experts
for,
86
TB
relations with,
214
TB's report on comet
death
of,
marriage,
offered
and
to,
98-99
Half-sextant,
42
Hapsburg
family, 181,
Harmonic
law, 339,
Harmonic
ratios, 84,
45-46
Harmonic
theory,
fiefs
to
religious conflict,
273
323
340/
151
Friis,
85
238-41, 300
280
Ptolemy's model
of,
21
204
Hemmingsen,
170
236, 300,
Hoffmann, Johann
63
discovery of planets,
17,209
324/
telescope,
205-6, 215,
323-26
Friedrich, 1-2, 3, 4,
250,261,263,264,271,275,290,
321
89
Index
396
Holy Roman Emperor,
4, 95,
250
95, 219,
Horoscopes, 14, 61
status,
201,210,218,219,279,284,319
Brahe children could not
inherit,
268,280-81,287,294,337
202-3
174
322, 327
at,
new
charter
for,
map
of,
294-95
moons of, 323-24, 326
Kepler, Barbara Miiller, 197-99, 224, 260,
at,
189,240
50
instruments
150,277
Jupiter, 88,
byJK, 155,225,265,290,353
Hven, 76, 77-90, 100, 105-15, 146, 165,
Christian
120, 130
changes,
113-14
death
of,
328-29
inheritance, 248,
280
271,272
married JK, 204-5
leftGraz, 270,
8 If
217
visitors to, 112,
138
225
302, 311,326
101-2, 225
224-25
at
174,201,241,244,253,290,
Benatky, 246
observatory,
responsibility for,
209
more
book
precise
moving
to Benatky,
moving
to
moving
to Prague,
26667
Copenhagen, 204
for,
Uraniborg,
276-77, 278
337,339-41,355-56
andTB, 6, 71, 100, 163,206-7,
227-28, 229-30, 231-33, 235-36,
276, 278-79
209, 21
on TB, 278
1 1
332
career,
311/
square law of light, 292-93
Inverse
TB, 222-24
291
at Stjerneborg,
by, sent to
payment
286
metal, 58
at
279-80
298, 330
Copenhagen
JK
352
345, 355
Index
TB,
260-65,269-71,280
death
of,
356-57
211,217
district
397
1,
Knutstorps Borg
(castle), 7, 10,
29-30, 43,
86
182-83, 194,
life,
198-99, 271-72,
financial situation,
and
Galileo,
274,281
Laubenwolf, George, 86, 108
Liddell,
324-26
Light,
Duncan, 279
310
329, 344
Linz,
letter praising
263
library,
292-93
347
Logarithms, 346
344
261,262,350
288, 289
marriage to
trial,
341-43
301
provincial mathematician,
work on Mars
observations,
eclipses, 90,
258
256-58
172,235
328
302-3, 308
230
Lutheranism/Lutherans, 11-12, 13-14, 33,
267-70
status,
TB, 276
work on lunar
Lunar
329/
ished
left
portrait,
257/
226
225-26
248-49
worldview, 21, 23
Kepler, Katharina, 5, 93-94, 102, 154
accused of witchcraft,
5,
33336,
341-43,355
334, 335, 342, 354-55
212,304-6
354/
294-96
Moon, 78
Kepler's Star,
Magnetism, 311
orbit,
316-20
orbit:
JK work
305-7
Index
398
Mars (continued)
179,
see also
Napier, John,
parallax, 140,
180,212,214,219,305
harmonic
Mars"
Sir Isaac, 5,
North
celestial pole,
North
theory, 3 1 9-20
119
141,294-96
parallax shift,
96
199,225,227,231,
Observations (TB),
JK
115,
TB
345, 363-67
and mathematical
116, 130
271,272
optics problem,
300, 307
astronomical tables based on, 282
269
5, 13,
302
in
of Copernicus, 64-65, 67
different
JK
Mathematical/geometric
observations and,
logic,
299-300
319-20
12, 13, 14, 22, 61,
65, 233
Mars observations
Odometer, 245
Opposition, 18
187
Milky Way, 56
Moon,
Melanchthon, Philipp,
access to,
orbit, 141,
28-29, 33-34,
Mathematics,
4, 5,
336
visited,
304-6
310
269,291-93,325
Optics,
motion
of,
21,
16
141,279
Oval,
316-17
parallax shift,
48
Ovid, 52,218
and
326
Oxe, Peder,
tides,
61,
Oxe
331
of,
family,
336, 355
213
death
JK surrendered
JK use of/work
293
in,
309
85
harmony
pattern, logic,
Newton,
346
Nature
143-44,211
84
49
comet, 96-97
Musical
ratios, 85,
237, 337-38
180,212,214,219,305
Index
Parsberg,
Manderup, 31-32, 34
Peace of Augsburg,
71,95,181,225
TB work on,
190-92,222
Perfect solids,
399
302
61-62, 154-55,
205,260,300,310,312,317
237
for eccentricities,
for,
search
Plato,
309
192/222
related to planetary chord,
322
Pluto,
347
Planet-moving force
Polygons,
324
TB
239/ 240
240/
309-10
67,68/116, 119-20,
cause of, 64, 308-9
on Earth,
of,
for,
121, 194-95
of,
309, 345-46
models demonstrating, 34
physical explanation of, 300, 308-9,
310,312,317-318
prediction
second law
of,
of,
63
315/316, 320
TB
339-iO, 340/
195,311-12,318,326,333,337
distances between, 189, 190, 191,
192-93,192/239
using Platonic solids, 222
Planetary periods, 193-94, 237-38, 239
327
in,
83
31
laws
231,255
237-38
339
explanations
on,
failures of,
241,255,339
in
190,338-39
311-12,318
law
239-40
119-20
first
159,236
effects
339
Earth,
movement, 18-19
retrograde
302
for,
323-26
distances
188,208,209
need
132
discovery of new,
JK
in,
death
of,
Precision,
87
TB standard of,
352,353,356
227
action against,
225-26
103-4
revolution in Bohemia,
TB
adjustments
to,
274
344
58
350
Index
400
Ptolemaic astronomy, 15, 17, 20, 52, 62,
JKand,
64,65, 157,305,306
breakaway from, 255
20/21,302
devices of,
in Graz, 181,
67-68, 158,301
planetary
225-27, 248-49
difference
330
movement
in,
214
Roskilde Cathedral, 33, 100, 105, 164,
194-95, 309
15, 17,
348
TB
331,332,333,336,337,345-47
Earth-centered model, 27
eccentric planetary orbits,
356
237
frontispiece,
equant, 299
Hapsburg),
298
1, 2, 5, 6,
abdication,
death
Quadrans maximus
(great quadrant),
35-37, 36/
Quadrans mediocris
121, 122,
copy
of,
329
TB
37
St. Ibb's
dedicated book
1,
60, 160
218-19
208, 209
Sascerides, Gellius,
291-92
343
to,
Catholicism, 274
Mural quadrant
Reformation,
290
138-39
135, 139
Petrus,
Ramus,
287
322-23
275
steel,
327
35-37, 36/
see also
of,
287, 322
JK
329
329
azimuth, 144-45
brass
320
end of reign
orichalcicus azimuthalis,
great,
of,
failure to
123/125, 131
240
294-95
orbit,
189
Religion
TB, 60-61
300-303, 320
Index
method, 188, 279-80
Scientific
171-72
339
dimensions
of,
304
310-11
rotation of,
and seasons, 61
model
role of,
275
Solar eclipse,
401
241
of,
302
195-96
12,
150, 152
South
celestial pole,
South
116, 130
323, 324
119
JK
234
121-22
catalog of,
66
conflict with
life,
61-62
Steenwinkel,
162,203
212
Triangulation, 307,
274
158
193-94,232,237,239,310,
194, 195,
180,207,231,241,276,
correctness of,
of,
21, 116
plagiarized,
14849
229, 279
18
partial eclipse,
269
255
280
148^9,
planetary motion
Sun orbiting
143
189
279
justification of,
of,
parallax,
of,
JK and, 241,281
orbit, 141,
orbiting Earth,
13-14, 211
inventor
280,299,308,321,348
breaking code
312-13,337,339
force in, moving planets,
motion
(village),
187,
295
249, 270
Tuna
163
316
Styria, 2, 181,
124/ 125
313-14, 315/
Trigonometry, 15
Trigons,
of,
351
symbolism
254
Transits,
archaeological
works,
67
TB
over
Hans von,
JK
290-91
on weather, 6
influence but
cataloging, 131
effect
3, 4,
distance of,
325
of,
251,262
Stars,
defense
Tengnagel, Franz,
in,
in,
309-10
309-10
Index
402
Tychonides, 136, 149
Type
Uniform motion,
37
18, 21,
219
visitors to,
10-1
1,
246
Ursus
see Bar,
design
84
of,
harmony
of,
188
66
phases
size of,
26/
transit,
189
326
of,
351
307,316,318
26-27
271,341,342-43
323, 326-27
Wandsburg
213,214,218,244,253,355
castle/observatory, 112,
closing, 203,
12, 21
166
101, 154
destroyed/restored,
fountain,
at,
159
floor plan,
211-12
Wilhelm
108-13, 109/
instrument shop,
of,
Worldview, 15-16,21-23,159
Ptolemaic, 63
253, 327-28
150
Wurttemberg, duke
of,
271,341,342
163
Sophie Brahe
Zodiac, 120,
at,
169-70
236-37,
garden, 112-13,211
harmony in design
338-39
IV,
69/72,
108,211
Logomontanus
and, 5
Weather
Moon
132
211
communication system,
design
356
216-17, 217/218,
140
Castle,
172, 173
121/184,295
& Kepler
is
both
a highly
Uraniborg
Roman
Emperor, Rudolph
rocked
all
II;
from
War
that
understanding, Ferguson recounts a fascinating interplay of science and religion, politics and personality.
Her insights
a rich
window onto
first
became
cosmology
as a child
and
of science. She
is
the author of
in the Equations,
Theory ofEverything.
and assistants
Walker
Denmark. Colored
The Granger
& Company
435 Hudson
Street
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IN
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The
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to
measure
St.
offers] lucid
"[Ferguson]
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the
little details
that delight."
Discover
is
as interested in
She manages
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Forbes
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