Kepler

Your servant, sir, Joh: Kepler

Aedes Cramerianis

Prague

April 1608

Dr Michael Mästlin: at Tübingen

Greetings. That swine Tengnagel. I can hardly hold this pen, I am so angry. You will not credit the depths of that man's perfidy. Of course, he is no worse than the rest of the accursed Tychonic gang-only louder. A braying ass the fellow is, vain, pompous amp; irredeemably stupid. I will kill him, God forgive me. The only bright spot in all the horrid darkness of this business is that he still has not been paid, nor is he ever likely to be, the 20,000 florins (or 30 pieces of silver!) for which he sold Tycho Brahe's priceless instruments to the Emperor while the Dane was not yet cold in his grave. (He receives 1,000 florins a

The cause of this quarrel lies in the suspicious nature amp; bad ma

Luckily Tengnagel was vain enough to promise the Emperor that he would complete the work in four years: during which time he has sat upon the material like the dog in the manger, unable to put the treasure to use, and preventing others from doing so. His four years are now gone, and he has done nothing. Therefore I am pressing ahead with my Astrono-mia noua, the printing of which has at last begun at Vogelin's in Heidelberg. Good enough. But now the dolt insists that the book shall carry a preface written amp; signed by him! I dare not think what twaddle he will produce. He claims he fears I have used Tycho's observations only in order to disprove the Dane's theory of the world, but I know all he cares for is the clinking of coins. Ach, a base amp; poisonous fool.

K

Gutenbergplatz Heidelberg Midsummer Eve 1609

Helisaeus Röslin, physician-in-ordinary to Hanau-Lichtenberg: at Buchsweiler in Alsace

Av. I have your interesting amp; instructive Diseurs von heutiger Zeit Beschaffenheir, which provokes in me, along with much speculation, many pleasant amp; wistful memories of those fraternal debates which engaged us in our student days together at Tübingen. I intend presently to reply with a public Antwort on those of my points on the Nova of 1604 which you challenge with such passion amp; skill, but first I wish to say a few words to you in private, not only in honour of our long friendship, but also in order to clarify certain matters which I may not air in print. For my position here in Prague grows more precarious daily. The royal personage no longer trusts anyone, and is particularly watchful concerning that science which you so energetically defend, and by which he puts much store. I would prefer to say pseudo-science. Please destroy this letter immediately you have read it.

I would grant in you, my dear Röslin, the presence of an instinctus divinus, a special illumination in the interpretation of celestial phenomena, which, however, has nothing to do with astrological rules. After all, it is true that God sometimes allows even pure simpletons to a

The essence of my position is simply stated: that the heavens do something in people one sees clearly enough, but what specifically they do, remains a mystery. I believe that the aspects, that is the configurations which the planets form with one another, are of special significance in the lives of men. However, I hold that to speak of good amp; bad aspects is nonsensical. In the heavens it is not a question of good or bad: here only the categories harmonic, rhythmic, lovely, strong, weak amp; unarranged, are valid. The stars do not compel, they do not do away with free will, they do not decide the particular fate of an individual; but they impress on the soul a particular character. The person in the first igniting of his life receives a character amp; pattern of all the constellations in the heavens, or of the form of the rays flowing on to the earth, which he retains to the grave. This character creates noticeable traces in the form of the flesh, as well as in ma

But upon what are based these categories, lovely amp; unlovely, strong amp; weak, et cetera? Why, upon the division of circles made by the knowable, that is constructable, regular polygons, as for instance is set out in my Mysterium cosmographicum; that is, the harmonic primordial relationships foreshadowed in the divine being. Thus all animated things, human amp; otherwise, as well as all the vegetable world, are influenced from heaven by the appropriate geometric instinct pertaining to them. All their activities are affected, individually shaped amp; guided by the light rays present here below and sensed by all these objects, as well as by the geometry amp; harmony which occurs between them by virtue of their motion, in the same way as the flock is affected by the voice of the shepherd, the horses on a wagon by the driver's shout, and the dance of the peasant by the skirl of the bagpipes. This is what I believe, and none of your monkey-shine will convince me otherwise.