The Sleepwalkers (179 page)

In
spite
of
this,
the
German
envoy
in
Venice,
Georg
Fugger,
wrote
with
relish
that
Kepler
had
"torn
the
mask
off
Galileo's
face",
²⁴
and
Francis
Stelluti
(a
member
of
the
Lincean
Academy)
wrote
to
his
brother:
"According
to
Kepler,
Galileo
makes
himself
out
to
be
the
inventor
of
the
instrument,
but
more
than
thirty
years
ago
Della
Porta
described
it
in
his
Natural
Magic
...
And
so
poor
Galileo
will
look
foolish."
²⁵
Horky
also
quoted
Kepler
in
his
much
read
pamphlet
against
Galileo,
whereupon
Kepler
immediately
informed
Horky
that
"since
the
demands
of
honesty
have
become
incompatible
with
my
friendship
for
you,
I
hereby
terminate
the
latter",
²⁶
and
offered
Galileo
to
publish
the
rebuke;
but
when
the
youngster
relented,
he
forgave
him.

These
reactions
indicate
the
extent
of
dislike
for
Galileo
in
his
native
Italy.
But
whatever
hidden
irony
the
scholars
had
imputed
to
Kepler
Dissertatio
,
the
undeniable
fact
was
that
the
Imperial
Mathematicus
had
expressly
endorsed
Galileo's
claims.
This
persuaded
some
of
Galileo's
opponents,
who
had
previously
refused
to
take
him
seriously,
to
look
for
themselves
through
improved
telescopes
which
were
now
becoming
available.
The
first
among
the
converts
was
the
leading
astronomer
in
Rome,
the
Jesuit
Father
Clavius.
In
the
sequel,
the
Jesuit
scholars
in
Rome
not
only
confirmed
Galileo's
observations,
but
considerably
improved
on
them.

8.
The Parting of the Orbits

Galileo's
reaction
to
the
service
Kepler
had
rendered
him
was,
as
we
saw,
complete
silence.
The
Tuscan
Ambassador
at
the
Imperial
Court
urgently
advised
him
to
send
Kepler
a
telescope
to
enable
him
to
verify,
at
least
post
factum
,
Galileo's
discoveries
which
he
had
accepted
on
trust.
Galileo
did
nothing
of
the
sort.
The
telescopes
which
his
workshop
turned
out
he
donated
to
various
aristocratic
patrons.

Four
months
thus
went
by,
Horky's
pamphlet
was
published,
the
controversy
had
reached
its
peak,
and
so
far
not
a
single
astronomer
of
repute
had
publicly
confirmed
having
seen
the
moons
of
Jupiter.
Kepler's
friends
began
to
reproach
him
for
having
testified
to
what
he
himself
had
not
seen;
it
was
an
impossible
situation.
^26a
On
9
August,
he
again
wrote
to
Galileo:

"...
You
have
aroused
in
me
a
great
desire
to
see
your
instrument
so
that
at
last
I
too
can
enjoy,
like
yourself,
the
spectacle
of
the
skies.
For
among
the
instruments
at
our
disposal
here
the
best
magnifies
only
ten
times,
the
others
hardly
thrice..."
²⁷

He
talked about his own observations of Mars and the moon, expressed his
indignation at Horky's knavery; and then continued:

"The
law
demands
that
everybody
should
be
trusted
unless
the
contrary
is
proven.
And
how
much
more
is
this
the
case
when
the
circumstances
warrant
trustworthiness.
In
fact,
we
are
dealing
not
with
a
philosophical
but
with
a
legal
problem:
did
Galileo
deliberately
mislead
the
world
by
a
hoax?
...

I do not wish to hide from you
that letters have reached Prague from several Italians who deny that
those planets can be seen through your telescope.

I
am
asking
myself
how
it
is
possible
that
so
many
deny
[their
existence],
including
those
who
possess
a
telescope...
Therefore
I
ask
you,
my
Galileo,
nominate
witnesses
for
me
as
soon
as
possible.
From
various
letters
written
by
you
to
third
persons
I
have
learnt
that
you
do
not
lack
such
witnesses.
But
I
am
unable
to
name
any
testimony
except
your
own..."
^27a

This
time
Galileo
hurried
to
answer,
evidently
scared
by
the
prospect
of
losing
his
most
powerful
ally:

" Padua, August 19, 1610.

I
have
received
both
your
letters,
my
most
learned
Kepler.
The
first,
which
you
have
already
published,
I
shall
answer
in
the
second
edition
of
my
observations.
In
the
meantime,
I
wish
to
thank
you
for
being
the
first,
and
almost
the
only,
person
who
completely
accepted
my
assertions,
though
you
had
no
proof,
thanks
to
your
frank
and
noble
mind."
²⁸

Galileo
went
on
to
tell
Kepler
that
he
could
not
lend
him
his
telescope,
which
magnified
a
thousandfold,
because
he
had
given
it
to
the
Grand
Duke
who
wished
"to
exhibit
it
in
his
gallery
as
an
eternal
souvenir
among
his
most
precious
treasures".
He
made
various
excuses
about
the
difficulty
of
constructing
instruments
of
equal
excellence,
ending
with
the
vague
promise
that
he
would,
as
soon
as
possible,
make
new
ones
"and
send
them
to
my
friends".
Kepler
never
received
one.