Forerunner of the Cosmographic Dissertations

GREETINGS, FRIENDLY READER.

What the world is, what cause moved God, and the logic of creation,
Whence came God’s numbers, what rule governs so great a mass,
What produces the six circuits The six known planetary orbits: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn., and within which sphere
The various intervals fall; why Jupiter and Mars—
Though not the first of the orbits—are separated by so vast a gap:
Here, Pythagoras The ancient Greek philosopher who first proposed that the universe was governed by mathematical ratios and "the music of the spheres." teaches you all these things through the five figures The five Platonic solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron). Kepler’s central theory was that these shapes, nested within one another, determined the distances between the planets..
Truly, by his own example, he taught that we can be born again A reference to the Pythagorean doctrine of metempsychosis (reincarnation).,
After wandering for two thousand years, until he became Copernicus—
A better observer of the world original: "Mundi speculator." Kepler is playfully suggesting that the soul of Pythagoras has returned in the form of Nicolaus Copernicus to finally solve the mystery of the heavens. by that name. But you:
Do not prefer the acorns of the past to the fruits now discovered A classical metaphor: Kepler urges the reader not to cling to primitive, outdated theories (the "acorns" of ancient astronomy) now that the "harvest" of Copernican truth is available..