The Sleepwalkers (153 page)

This
was a catastrophe. Ptolemy, and even Copernicus could afford to
neglect a difference of eight minutes, because their observations
were only accurate within a margin of ten minutes, anyway.

"But,"
the
nineteenth
chapter
concludes,
"but
for
us,
who,
by
divine
kindness
were
given
an
accurate
observer
such
as
Tycho
Brahe,
for
us
it
is
fitting
that
we
should
acknowledge
this
divine
gift
and
put
it
to
use...
Henceforth
I
shall
lead
the
way
toward
that
goal
according
to
my
own
ideas.
For,
if
I
had
believed
that
we
could
ignore
these
eight
minutes,
I
would
have
patched
up
my
hypothesis
accordingly.
But
since
it
was
not
permissible
to
ignore
them,
those
eight
minutes
point
the
road
to
a
complete
reformation
of
astronomy:
they
have
become
the
building
material
for
a
large
part
of
this
work..."
¹⁰

It
was
the
final
capitulation
of
an
adventurous
mind
before
the
"irreducible,
obstinate
facts".
Earlier
on,
if
a
minor
detail
did
not
fit
into
a
major
hypothesis,
it
was
cheated
away
or
shrugged
away.
Now
this
time-hallowed
indulgence
had
ceased
to
be
permissible.
A
new
era
had
begun
in
the
history
of
thought:
an
era
of
austerity
and
rigour.
As
Whitehead
has
put
it:

"All
the
world
over
and
at
all
times
there
have
been
practical
men,
absorbed
in
'irreducible
and
stubborn
facts';
all
the
world
over
and
at
all
times
there
have
been
men
of
philosophic
temperament
who
have
been
absorbed
in
the
weaving
of
general
principles.
It
is
this
union
of
passionate
interest
in
the
detailed
facts
with
equal
devotion
to
abstract
generalization
which
forms
the
novelty
in
our
present
society."
¹¹

This
new
departure
determined
the
climate
of
European
thought
in
the
last
three
centuries,
it
set
modern
Europe
apart
from
all
other
civilizations
in
the
past
and
present,
and
enabled
it
to
transform
its
natural
and
social
environment
as
completely
as
if
a
new
species
had
arisen
on
this
planet.

The
turning
point
is
dramatically
expressed
in
Kepler's
work.
In
the
Mysterium
Cosmographicum
the
facts
are
coerced
to
fit
the
theory.
In
the
Astronomia
Nova
,
a
theory,
built
on
years
of
labour
and
torment,
was
instantly
thrown
away
because
of
a
discord
of
eight
miserable
minutes
arc.
Instead
of
cursing
those
eight
minutes
as
a
stumbling
block,
he
transformed
them
into
the
cornerstone
of
a
new
science.

What
caused
this
change
of
heart
in
him?
I
have
already
mentioned
some
of
the
general
causes
which
contributed
to
the
emergence
of
the
new
attitude:
the
need
of
navigators,
and
engineers,
for
greater
precision
in
tools
and
theories;
the
stimulating
effects
on
science
of
expanding
commerce
and
industry.
But
what
turned
Kepler
into
the
first
law-maker
of
nature
was
something
different
and
more
specific.
It
was
his
introduction
of
physical
causality
into
the
formal
geometry
of
the
skies
which
made
it
impossible
for
him
to
ignore
the
eight
minutes
arc.
So
long
as
cosmology
was
guided
by
purely
geometrical
rules
of
the
game,
regardless
of
physical
causes,
discrepancies
between
theory
and
fact
could
be
overcome
by
inserting
another
wheel
into
the
system.
In
a
universe
moved
by
real,
physical
forces,
this
was
no
longer
possible.
The
revolution
which
freed
thought
from
the
stranglehold
of
ancient
dogma,
immediately
created
its
own,
rigorous
discipline.

The
Second
Book
of
the
New
Astronomy
closes
with
the
words:

"And
thus
the
edifice
which
we
erected
on
the
foundation
of
Tycho's
observations,
we
have
now
again
destroyed...
This
was
our
punishment
for
having
followed
some
plausible,
but
in
reality
false,
axioms
of
the
great
men
of
the
past."

5.
The Wrong Law

The
next
act
of
the
drama
opens
with
Book
Three.
As
the
curtain
rises,
we
see
Kepler
preparing
himself
to
throw
out
more
ballast.
The
axiom
of
uniform
motion
has
already
gone
overboard;
Kepler
feels,
and
hints
¹²
that
the
even
more
sacred
one
of
circular
motion
must
follow.
The
impossibility
of
constructing
a
circular
orbit
which
would
satisfy
all
existing
observations,
suggests
to
him
that
the
circle
must
be
replaced
by
some
other
geometrical
curve.