JOHANNES KEPLER

The logic of all my works has arisen from this one little book. And why should I not boast magnificently of myself? For I recall that once the motions of all the planets had been demonstrated, I finally applied my mind to finishing the tapestry begun in this little book—namely, the Harmonic work—in that very year when Archduke Ferdinand was accepted as King of Bohemia. In the following year, 1618, when Ferdinand received the crown of the Kingdom of Hungary, I completed the fifth book of the Harmonics. Finally, in the year 1619, when the supreme Imperial dignity came to Ferdinand, I published my Harmony in the same place and month as his coronation. May God grant that, once the dissonances of civil strife are extinguished throughout the empire of this Monarch, and in Upper Austria (my modern home), the sweetest Harmony of peace—which consists of equity in rule and readiness in obedience—be restored from this very time, as I now publish this little book of mine once again, corrected and completed with notes. For in this way, it might be possible that, as the scars over the devastation of the provinces heal, as the waters of the horrendous flood dry up, and as the suns return to make the horn of plenty bloom again, the funds destined for me by Emperor Rudolph (which were hindered by the turbulence of past times) may finally be poured out for the publication of the work of the Astronomical Tables original: "tabularum Astronomicorum"; these are the Rudolphine Tables, Kepler's massive star catalog and planetary ephemeris completed much later..

(2) More than two thousand years ago.] Because the doctrine of the five geometric figures The five Platonic solids: the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. distributed among the bodies of the world is traced back to Pythagoras, from whom Plato borrowed this philosophy. See Harmonics, Book I, pages 3 and 4; likewise Book II, pages 58 and 59. For indeed, the same five figures were proposed both to them and to me, and the world was the same for them and for me; yet the parts of the world were not the same on both sides, if you look only at the literal text, nor was the method of application the same.

(3) Something different from man.] Let the reader forgive a young student for a less-than-perfect expression. Philosophy indeed recognizes the body as being, in a way, something different from the man, because the body is subject to continuous change, while the man remains always the same. However, it holds that the Soul is that by which a man becomes a man; thus, the soul is not "something different" from the man. But the conclusion remains the same: that the soul has its own food, separate from the food of the body, and its own separate delights.

(4) But it would have in this world.] I had not yet read Seneca, who adorned almost the same sentiment with the little flowers of Roman eloquence thus:

The world is a puny thing, unless every man finds in it that which he may seek.

(5) Another Charles will arise.] I had not actually thought then that I would be called to the court of Emperor Rudolph. For I discovered this Monarch to be truly a second Charles Kepler likely refers to Emperor Charles V, who was famous for his interest in science and eventual abdication for a life of quiet reflection.—not by abdication, certainly, but surely by his loathing of the most wicked actions occurring at home and abroad, by the withdrawal of his mind from them, and by the blessed exercise of recreations (as far as natural contemplations are concerned). It would have been fairer for his subjects to be angry at their own importunities rather than at their King’s withdrawal.

(6) Copernican-Pythagorean.] I alluded here to a sphere of the planetary system constructed from the planetary orbits and the five regular Pythagorean solids. It was distinguished from others by its own colors: the orbits were blue, but the rims—in which it was indicated the planets ran—were white. Everything was transparent, so that the Sun could be seen hanging in the center. Saturn’s orbit was represented by six circles which, by their mutual meeting in groups of three, marked the location of the corners of a Cube. Two circles stood over the center of the cubic face. The outermost of Jupiter’s orbits was marked by three circles and the innermost by six; the outermost of Mars again by six, while the innermost—no less than both of the Earth’s and the outermost of Venus—were each sketched by ten circles, of which five met twelve times, three met twenty times, and two met thirty times. The innermost orbit of Venus was equal to the outermost of Jupiter, and the orbit of Mercury to the innermost of Jupiter: a spectacle not unpleasing, the rough draft of which (though not entirely genuine) can be seen in the third copperplate figure that follows.

(7) Accustom yourselves among the promoters of Astronomy.] My exhortation found its place, to my no small benefit; a memory I attribute to the honor of the Nobles out of the law of gratitude. The Illustrious Lord Captain immediately gave from his own funds; others, as they were in the assembly of the Provincials, waited for their meeting in the year 1600. Even though the treasury was exhausted by continuous border wars, they obtained for me a magnificent decree while I was then absent in Bohemia. Thus the Creator of the Heavens provided for me, the herald of His works, providing travel money at that time as I was about to move my family to Bohemia.