The Sleepwalkers (146 page)

2.
The Inheritor

Altogether
the
association
between
Kepler
and
Tycho
lasted
for
eighteen
months,
until
Tycho's
death.
Fortunately
for
both,
and
for
posterity,
they
were
only
part
of
this
time
in
personal
contact,
for
Kepler
twice
returned
to
Gratz
and
spent
a
total
of
eight
months
there
to
settle
his
affairs
and
get
his
wife's
property
out.

He
left
for
Gratz
the
first
time
shortly
after
his
reconciliation
with
Tycho,
in
June
1600.
Though
peace
had
been
re-established,
nothing
definite
had
been
settled
regarding
their
future
collaboration,
^7a
and
Kepler
was
in
two
minds
whether
he
would
return
to
Tycho
or
not.
He
still
hoped
either
to
save
his
position
and
salary
in
Gratz
by
being
granted
a
long
leave
of
absence,
or
to
obtain
a
chair
in
his
native
Wuerttemberg
–
his
lifelong
ambition.
He
wrote
to
Maestlin
and
Herwart,
his
adoptive
fathers
Nos.
One
and
Two,
hinting
that
No.
Three
was
rather
a
disappointment;
but
nothing
came
of
it.
He
sent
to
the
Archduke
Ferdinand
a
treatise
on
a
solar
eclipse,
also
to
no
avail;
but
in
that
treatise
he
hit
on
something
for
which
he
had
not
looked:
that
there
was
"a
force
in
the
earth"
which
influenced
the
moon's
motion,
a
force
which
diminished
in
proportion
to
distance.
As
he
had
already
attributed
a
physical
force
to
the
sun
as
an
explanation
of
the
motions
of
the
planets,
the
dependence
of
the
moon
on
a
similar
force
in
the
earth
was
the
next
important
step
towards
the
concept
of
universal
gravity.

But
such
trifles
could
not
deter
the
Archduke
from
his
plan
to
stamp
out
heresy
in
his
lands.
On
31
July
and
the
following
days,
all
Lutheran
citizens
of
Gratz,
a
little
over
a
thousand
in
number,
had
to
appear,
one
by
one,
before
an
ecclesiastical
commission,
and
either
to
declare
their
willingness
to
return
to
the
Roman
faith,
or
to
suffer
expulsion.
This
time
no
exemption
was
made,
not
even
for
Kepler
–
though
he
was
let
off
paying
half
of
the
exit
levy
and
granted
other
financial
privileges.
The
day
after
he
appeared
before
the
commission,
a
rumour
was
rife
in
Gratz
that
he
had
changed
his
mind
and
declared
his
readiness
to
become
a
Catholic.
Whether
he
had
really
wavered
or
not,
is
impossible
to
know;
but
in
any
case,
he
overcame
the
temptation
and
accepted
exile
with
all
its
consequences.

He
sent
a
last
S.O.S.
to
Maestlin.
⁸
It
starts
with
a
dissertation
on
the
eclipse
of
the
sun
on
10
July,
which
he
had
observed
through
a
camera
obscura
of
his
own
construction,
erected
in
the
middle
of
the
market
place
in
Gratz
–
with
the
twofold
result
that
a
thief
stole
his
purse
containing
thirty
florins,
while
Kepler
himself
discovered
an
important
new
optical
law.
The
letter
continues
with
the
threat
that
Kepler
plus
his
family
would
travel
down
the
Danube
into
Maestlin's
arms
and
a
professorship
(even
if
only
a
small
one)
which
Maestlin
would
no
doubt
provide;
and
ends
with
the
request
that
Maestlin
should
pray
for
him.
Maestlin
answered
that
he
would
gladly
pray,
but
could
do
nothing
else
for
Kepler,
"the
steadfast
and
valiant
martyr
of
God";
⁹
and
after
that,
answered
none
of
Kepler's
letters
for
four
years.
He
probably
thought
that
he
had
done
his
share,
and
that
it
was
now
Tycho's
turn
to
look
after
the
infant
prodigy.

Tycho
himself
was
delighted
with
the
sad
news.
He
had
doubted
whether
Kepler
would
return
to
him,
and
welcomed
the
prospect
all
the
more
as
his
senior
assistant,
Longomontanus,
had
in
the
meantime
left.
When
Kepler
informed
him
of
his
impending
expulsion,
he
wrote
back
that
Kepler
should
come
at
once;
"do
not
hesitate,
make
haste,
and
have
confidence".
¹⁰
He
added
that
during
a
recent
audience
with
the
Emperor
he
had
requested
that
Kepler
should
be
officially
attached
to
his
observatory,
and
that
the
Emperor
had
nodded
his
consent.
But
in
a
postscript
to
the
long
and
affectionate
letter,
Tycho
could
not
refrain
from
alluding
to
a
subject
which
had
been
one
of
the
main
reasons
for
Kepler's
unhappiness
at
Benatek.
On
his
arrival
there,
Tycho
had
imposed
on
him
the
irksome
chore
of
writing
a
pamphlet
refuting
the
claims
of
Ursus;
and
though
Ursus
had
in
the
meantime
died,
Tycho
still
insisted
on
persecuting
him
beyond
the
grave.
Moreover,
Kepler
was
also
to
write
a
refutation
of
a
pamphlet
by
John
Craig,
physician
to
James
of
Scotland,
in
which
Craig
had
dared
to
doubt
Tycho's
theories
about
comets.
It
was
not
a
joyous
prospect
for
Kepler
to
waste
his
time
on
these
futile
labours
to
serve
Tycho's
vanity;
but
now
he
had
no
other
choice.