Tycho and Kepler (55 page)

1
a letter from . . . Mästlin: Mästlin to Kepler, July 4, 1598,
JKGW
, vol. 13, letter 101.

2
reply Tycho had written Kepler: Brahe to Kepler, April 1, 1598, ibid., letter 92.

3
Tycho had sent Mästlin
a copy: Tycho’s letter to Mästlin, including the copy of his letter to Kepler, is Brahe to Mästlin, April 21, 1598,
JKGW
, vol. 13, letter 94.

4
“Why does [Ursus]”: Kepler to Brahe, Feb. 19, 1599. This letter was not preserved except in a copy that Kepler had made and sent to Mästlin.

5
Tycho’s response this time: Brahe to Kepler, Dec. 9, 1599,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 145.

6
He
wrote to Edmund Bruce: The letters to Bruce, von Hohenburg, and Mästlin were Kepler to Bruce, July 1599, ibid., letter 128; Kepler to von Hohenburg, Aug. 6, 1599, letter 130; Kepler to Mästlin, Aug. 1599, letter 132.

7
Kepler had begun to look to music: A thorough treatment of Kepler’s first and later efforts to link the planetary orbits with musical harmony is Stephenson 1994.

8
“a
bird under a bucket”: Kepler to Mästlin, Aug. 1599,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 132; and Kepler to von Hohenburg, Aug. 6, 1599, letter 130.

9
“little paper houses” and “My opinion about Tycho”: Kepler to Mästlin, Feb. 1599, ibid., vol. 13, letter 113.

1
“perhaps God has acted” and “a splendid”: Brahe to Rosenkrantz, Aug. 30, 1599,
TBDOO
, 8:163–66/Thoren
1990, 411.

2
“from what I said”: Ibid., 163–66/412.

3
“I saw [the emperor]”: Ibid.

4
Tycho’s odometer: This was the invention of Peter Jachinow. According to Tycho, it signaled the passing of the miles and portions thereof “by striking distinct sounds with two bells.” See Thoren 1990, 205.

5
“the emperor was very favorably”: Brahe to Rosenkrantz, Aug. 30, 1599.
TBDOO
, 8:163–66/Thoren
1990, 413.

6
“leave Bohemia”:
TBDOO
, 6:273/Thoren 1990, 416.

7
“the women were frightened”:
TBDOO
, 8:193, 273/Thoren 1990, 419.

8
“No matter what fate”: Kepler to Mästlin, Aug. 1599,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 132.

9
“I could never torture myself”: Ibid.

10
“for in these matters”: Mästlin to Kepler, Jan. 15, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 153.

11
“being forced” . .
. “desired joint”: Brahe to Kepler, Dec. 9, 1599, ibid., letter 145.

12
“as soon as I arrived”: Preface to Kepler’s “Defense of Tycho against Ursus,” Frisch, 1:236–76/Rosen, 330.

13
“You will come”: Brahe to Kepler, Jan. 26,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 154.

1
“saw immediately”: Kepler to von Hohenburg, July 12, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 168.

2
“a reigning loneliness”: Letter of March 1600; Schmidt, 232.

3
“One day . . . the apogee”: Kepler to von Hohenburg, July 12, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 168; in Schmidt, 234.

4
“lofty topics”: Brahe to Kepler, April 1, 1598,
JKGW
, vol. 13, letter 92.

5
“One of the most important”: Kepler to von Hohenburg, July 12, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 168; in Schmidt, 234.

6
“quite a brilliant speculation”: Brahe to Mästlin, April 21, 1598,
JKGW
, vol. 13, letter 94.

7
“Tycho has the best observations”: Written in
March 1600; Schmidt, 231.

8
“saw that I possess”: Kepler to von Hohenburg, July 12, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 168, in Schmidt, 234.

9
“I thought I would”: Ibid.

10
“well-rounded way”: Brahe to Kepler, April 1, 1598.
JKGW
vol. 13, letter 92.

11
“Tycho was pleased”: Kepler to von Hohenburg, July 12, 1600.
JKGW
vol. 14, letter 168; in Schmidt, 234.

12
“My greatest
worries”: From “Selbstcharakteristik”; in Schmidt, 215.

13
“If I don’t want”: Written in March 1600; Schmidt, 232.

14
“Tycho’s house is very cramped”: Ibid.

15
“opinion of Brahe’s hypotheses”: See Rosen, 289, citing
JKGW
, 14:225.

16
“was eager to know”: See Rosen, 289. Rosen cites Frisch, 1:284.

17
“all this is compactly”: See Rosen, 290. Rosen cites Frisch, 1:281.

18
a blistering, insulting letter: This was not preserved, only Tycho’s letter about it, cited below.

19
“find out by a third or fourth”: Brahe to Jesensky, Aug. 4, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 161.

20
an apology to Tycho:
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 162; and
TBDOO
, 8:305–7.

1
“I would not have thought that it is so sweet”:
Kepler to Mästlin, Sept. 9, 1600
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 175/Rosen, 281.

2
“with confidence”: Brahe to Kepler, Aug. 28, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 173.

3
“little professorship”: Kepler to Mästlin, Sept. 9, 1600, ibid., letter 175.

4
one last attempt to bluff: Kepler to Brahe, Oct. 17, 1600, ibid., letter 177.

5
“God let me be bound with Tycho”:
JKGW
, 14:203.

6
“Here
in Prague”: Kepler to Mästlin, Dec. 16, 1600, ibid., letter 180.

7
“pray for you”: Mästlin to Kepler, Oct. 9, 1600, ibid., letter 178.

8
“branded in infamy”: Brahe to Rollenhagen, Sept. 26, 1600,
TBDOO
8:372/Rosen, 307.

9
“destroying his person”: Ibid., 371/307.

10
“still good-natured”: Kepler to Mästlin, Feb. 8, 1601,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 183.

11
“choicest” observations:
Kepler to Magini, June 1, 1601, ibid., letter 190.

12
“If only I could copy”: Kepler to Mästlin, Feb. 8, 1601, ibid., letter 183.

13
“A fever gripped me”:
JKGW
, 11:139/Rosen, 322.

14
“Because of this illness”: Kepler to Mästlin, Feb. 8, 1601, ibid., letter 183.

15
“rebut even more clearly”: Brahe to Kepler, Aug. 28, 1600,
JKGW
, 14:148/Rosen, 299.

16
“Defense of Tycho
against Ursus”: is in Frisch, 1:236–76, and in English translation in Jardine, 134–207.

17
“If in their geometrical conclusions”: From ibid., Frisch, 1:240/Jardine, 141–42.

18
Barbara wrote: Barbara Kepler to Kepler, May 31, 1601,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 188. This is the only one of Barbara’s letters that survives. The reason for its survival is that Kepler used the blank parts of the
page for astronomical drawings and mathematical calculations. The code Barbara and Johannes Kepler used was deciphered, for Frisch, in the nineteenth century by Otto Struve, director of the Pulkovo Observatory in Russia.

19
“benefactor . . . have more”: Eriksen to Kepler, June 13, 1601, ibid., letter 191. Tycho assigned his student Johannes Eriksen to write this letter to Kepler.

20
“so trivial an offense”: See Thoren 1990, 469.

21
“Holding his urine” and other quotations about Tycho’s death:
TBDOO
, 10:3/Rosen, 312, 313. This account appears at the end of Tycho’s collection of observations without indication of who wrote it. The handwriting has been recognized as Kepler’s.

22
“although he knew”:
Astronomia Nova, JKGW
, 3:89.

23
“The casket”: From Kepler’s
account appended to Tycho’s collection of observations;
TBDOO
, l4:233/Thoren 1990, 469, 470.

1
“a gathering of nations”: Kepler to von Hohenburg, July 12, 1600,
JKGW
, vol. 14, letter 168; in Schmidt, 232.

2
“simply run”: Quoted in Caspar 1993, 173.

3
their marriage was not happy: For Johannes and Barbara’s married life and the documents that describe
it, see ibid., 175–76.

4
“the heart nor the means”: See ibid., 176.

5
“weak, annoying”:
JKGW
, 19:455.

6
“There was much biting”: Ibid., 454.

7
“not much love”: Ibid.

8
“unpleasant” and “begrimed” work:
Nova Kepleriana
, 1:18–19.

9
“to think of a lot”: From Kepler’s “Selbstcharakteristik”; in Schmidt, 212.

10
Astronomiae Pars Optica:
is in
JKGW
, vol. 2.

11
A Book Full
: Subtitle of
De Stella Nova
, ibid., vol. 1.

12
“if a pewter dish”: Ibid., 1:285.

13
“For what a business”: Kepler to von Hohenburg, Dec. 10, 1604.

14
“I consider it a divine decree”:
Astronomia Nova, JKGW
, 3:109.

15
“There was nothing I could state”: From “Selbstcharakteristik”; in Schmidt, 211.

16
“armed with incredulity”:
Astronomia Nova, JKGW
, 3:141.

1
“If you are wearied”:
Astronomia Nova, JKGW
, 3:156.

2
“After divine goodness”: Ibid., 178.

3
“The Sun will melt”: Ibid., 240.

4
“If one would place a stone”: Kepler to Fabricius,
Oct. 11, 1605,
JKGW
, 15:358.

5
“see his eyes”:
Astronomia Nova
, 243.

6
wrote to his friend David Fabricius: Kepler to Fabricius, July 1603,
JKGW
, 14:410.

7
“Heretofore we have not”:
Astronomia Nova
, 310/Stephenson, 103.

8
“I was almost driven to madness”:
Astronomia Nova
, 310.

9
“There was nothing”: From “Selbstcharakteristik”; in Schmidt, 211.

10
“no longer
stand together”: Caspar 1993, 135.

1
“not be swayed”: Preface to
Astronomia Nova, JKGW
, vol. 3.

2
Galileo’s book:
Sidereus Nuncius
, was published in 1610.

3
“I thank you”: Galileo to Kepler, Aug. 1610,
JKGW
, 16:327.

4
they viewed Jupiter: Kepler published a report about this study of Jupiter’s moons:
Narratio de Jovis Satellitibus
(1611). It was soon reprinted in Florence, where Galileo was living.

5
“I offer you”:
Dioptrice, JKGW
vol. 4.

6
“pulled out Galileo’s feathers”: Mästlin to Kepler, Sept. 7–17, 1610,
JKGW
, vol. 16, letter 592.

7
Strena
: The letter is in
JKGW
, vol. 4.

8
“wounded to the depths”: Kepler to Scultetus, April 13, 1612. Tobias Scultetus was a friend of Kepler’s who was a councillor
at the court of Emperor Matthias.

9
“complete the astronomical tables”:
JKGW
, 19:123–24.

10
“It makes me heartsick”:
Glaubenbekenntnis
, ibid., 12:27.

11
no fewer than eleven candidates: Letter to an anonymous nobleman, dated Oct. 23, 1613.
JKGW
, vol. 17, letter 669.

12
Nova Stereometria Doliorum Vinariorum: JKGW
, vol. 9.

13
“a little more honorable”: Kepler to von
Wackhenfels, winter 1618,
JKGW
, vol. 17, letter 783.

14
accused of witchcraft: Caspar 1993, 241–56, gives a detailed account of the witchcraft trial, based on the acts of the trial and Kepler’s letters. Frisch is the source for the trial documents.

1
“Since the
Tables
require peace”:
JKGW
, 17:254.

2
“sacred frenzy”:
Harmonice Mundi
, ibid., 7:290.

3
“O you who by the light”: The prayer is at the end of book 5, chapter 9 of
Harmonice Mundi
.

4
See note for page 333.

5
“She announced”: Frisch, 8:549–50.

6
his library was sealed: Kepler described the sealing of his library in a letter to Paul Gulden, Feb. 7, 1626.

7
filled hundreds of sheets with calculations: It was Owen Gingerich who identified these as preparatory
work for the
Tables
.

8
“the novelty of my discoveries”: Preface to the
Rudolfine Tables, JKGW
, 10:42–43.

9
a book by John Napier:
Mirifici Logarithmorum Canonis Descriptio
, 1614.

10
“on a wagon”: Kepler to Matthias Bernegger, Feb. 8, 1627.

11
positions . . . were much more accurate: Accuracy of the
Rudolfine Tables
and 1631 Mercury transit: Gingerich 1973, 305.

1
to take a presentation copy: Kepler recalled his visit to the court in a letter to Bartsch, Nov. 6, 1629.

2
Kepler was unhappy in Sagan: Kepler to Bernegger, letters dated March 2 and July 22, 1629.

3
“It was meant”: Bernegger to Kepler, March 22, 1630.

4
Somnium:
In
JKGW
, 11:2.

5
lapsed into delirium: The account of Kepler’s death comes
in part from a letter from an unknown scholar named Fischer, in Regensburg, dated January 1631. Several letters about Kepler’s death are reprinted in Baumgardt, 194–97.

6
“Solely on the merit”: Lansius to anonymous, Jan. 24, 1631,
JKGW
, vol. 18, letter 1146.

7
“I measured”:
JKGW
, 19:393.