Harmonies of the World (Forgotten Books) - Softcover

Johannes Tyler Kepler

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1606201425 ISBN 13: 9781606201428

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2008

Synopsis

Johannes Kepler, who originally studied theology, was introduced to the Copernican world-view while studying for his Master's degree in Philosophy at the University of Tubingen. He wrote a paper attempting to reconcile the Copernican system with the Bible. Although he wanted to enter the ministry, he was offered a chair of astronomy at the Lutheran school of Graz, which he accepted.

He became convinced that there was a relationship between the five regular solids and the structure of the known solar system. His first work on Astronomy, Precursor of Cosmographic Dissertations or the Cosmographic Mystery, published in 1596, brought him to the attention of Tycho Brahe and Galileo. Banished from his homeland by an edict against Protestants in 1598, Kepler eventually ended up in Prague, where he worked under Tycho. On Tycho's death, Kepler took over his post and inherited Tycho's massive archive of observations.

Johannes Kepler published Harmonies of the World in 1619. This was the summation of his theories about celestial correspondences, and ties together the ratios of the planetary orbits, musical theory, and the Platonic solids. Kepler's speculations are long discredited. However, this work stands as a bridge between the Hermetic philosophy of the Renaissance, which sought systems of symbolic correspondences in the fabric of nature, and modern science. And today, we finally have heard the music of the spheres: data from outer system probes have been translated into acoustic form, and we can listen to strange clicks and moans from Jupiter's magnetosphere.

Towards the end of Harmonies Kepler expressed a startling idea,--one which Giordiano Bruno had been persecuted for, two decades before--the plurality of inhabited worlds. He muses on the diversity of life on Earth, and how it was inconceivable that the other plan

About this title

About the Author

Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his laws of planetary motion, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. These works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.

Review

Harmonices Mundi is one of Johannes Kepler's major works and this translation is a superb work of immense scholarship. Johannes Kepler's The Harmony of the World is divided into five books: One regular polygons; on the congruence of figures; on the origin of harmonic proportions; on harmonic configurations in astrology; on the harmony of the motions of the heavens. As translated from Kepler, "Finite things which are circumscribed and shaped can also be grasped by the mind: infinite and unbounded things, insofar as they are such, can be held in by no bonds of knowledge, which is obtained from definitions, by no bonds of constitutions. For shapes are in the archetype prior to their being in the product; in the divine mind prior to being in creatures, differently indeed in respect of their subject, but the same in the form of their essence. " Using the original figures from Kepler's work, the translators include a careful introduction and meticulous notes. The Harmony Of The World is more than just a major milestone in the history of western thought, it is a seminal work that is still rewarding for the reader even as we are entering the 21st century. -- Midwest Book Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1606201425
• ISBN 13: 9781606201428
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 158