The Sleepwalkers (165 page)

It
had
always
been
his
avowed
intention
to
get
possession
of
Tycho's
treasure,
and
he
had
succeeded.

The
Tychonides were understandably furious; Kepler, the introspective
grave-robber, quite saw their point:

"The
cause
of
this
quarrel
lies
in
the
suspicious
nature
and
bad
manners
of
the
Brahe
family,
but
on
the
other
hand
also
in
my
own
passionate
and
mocking
character.
It
must
be
admitted
that
Tengnagel
had
important
reasons
for
suspecting
me.
I
was
in
possession
of
the
observations
and
refused
to
hand
them
over
to
the
heirs..."
²

The
negotiations
dragged
on
for
several
years.
The
Junker,
ambitious,
stupid
and
vain,
proposed
a
dirty
deal:
he
would
keep
his
peace
if
all
Kepler's
future
works
were
published
under
their
joint
names.
Surprisingly,
Kepler
agreed:
he
was
always
strangely
indifferent
to
the
fate
of
his
published
works.
But
he
asked
that
the
Junker
should,
in
exchange,
hand
over
a
quarter
of
the
annual
thousand
Thalers
which
he
drew
from
the
treasury.
This
Tengnagel
refused,
considering
two
hundred
and
fifty
a
year
to
be
too
high
a
price
for
immortality.
He
thus
deprived
future
scholars
of
a
delightful
subject
of
controversy
on
the
question
by
which
of
the
two
partners
the
Tengnagel-Kepler
Laws
were
discovered.

In
the
meantime,
the
Junker
had
embraced
the
Catholic
faith
and
been
made
an
Appellate
Counsellor
at
court.
This
enabled
him
to
impose
his
conditions
on
Kepler,
which
made
it
impossible
for
him
to
publish
his
book
without
Tengnagel's
consent.
Thus
Kepler
found
himself
"tied
hands
and
feet",
while
the
Junker
"sits
like
a
dog
in
the
manger,
unable
to
put
the
treasure
to
use,
and
preventing
others
from
doing
so".
^2a
A
compromise
was
reached
at
last:
Tengnagel
gave
his
gracious
consent
to
the
printing
of
the
New
Astronomy
on
condition
that
it
should
carry
a
preface
from
his
own
pen.
Its
text
is
printed
in
Note
3.
If
Osiander's
preface
to
the
Book
of
the
Revolutions
displayed
the
wisdom
of
a
gentle
snake,
in
Tengnagel's
preface
to
the
New
Astronomy
,
we
hear
the
braying
of
a
pompous
ass
echoing
down
the
centuries.

At
last,
in
1608,
the
printing
of
the
book
could
begin;
it
was
finished
in
the
summer
of
1609,
in
Heidelberg,
under
Kepler's
supervision.
It
was
a
beautifully
printed
volume
in
folio,
of
which
only
a
few
copies
survive.
The
Emperor
claimed
the
whole
edition
as
his
property
and
forbade
Kepler
to
sell
or
give
away
any
copy
of
it
"without
our
foreknowledge
and
consent".
But
since
his
salary
was
in
arrears,
Kepler
felt
at
liberty
to
do
as
he
liked,
and
sold
the
whole
edition
to
the
printers.
Thus
the
story
of
the
New
Astronomy
begins
and
ends
with
acts
of
larceny,
committed
ad
majorem
Dei
gloriam
.

2.
Reception of the Astronomia Nova

How
far
ahead
of
his
time
Kepler
was
–
not
merely
by
his
discoveries,
but
in
his
whole
manner
of
thought
–
one
can
gather
from
the
negative
reactions
of
his
friends
and
correspondents.
He
received
no
help,
no
encouragement;
he
had
patrons
and
wellwishers,
but
no
congenial
spirit.

Old
Maestlin
had
been
silent
for
the
last
five
years,
in
spite
of
a
persistent
stream
of
letters
from
Kepler,
who
kept
his
old
teacher
informed
of
every
important
event
in
his
life
and
researches.
Just
before
the
completion
of
the
New
Astronomy
,
Maestlin
broke
his
silence
with
a
very
moving
letter
which,
however,
was
a
complete
let-down
insofar
as
Kepler's
hopes
for
guidance,
or
at
least
of
shared
interests
were
concerned:

" Tuebingen, January 28,
1605.

Although
I
have
for
several
years
neglected
writing
to
you,
your
steadfast
attachment,
gratitude
and
sincere
affection
have
not
weakened
but
become
rather
stronger,
albeit
you
have
reached
such
a
high
step
and
distinguished
position
that
you
could,
if
you
wished,
look
down
on
me...
I
do
not
wish
to
apologise
further,
and
say
only
this:
I
have
nothing
of
the
same
value
to
offer
in
writing
to
such
an
outstanding
mathematician...
I
must
further
confess
that
your
questions
were
sometimes
too
subtle
for
my
knowledge
and
gifts,
which
are
not
of
the
same
stature.
Hence
I
could
only
keep
silent...
You
will
wait
in
vain
for
my
criticism
of
your
book
on
optics,
which
you
request
so
urgently;
it
contains
matters
too
lofty
for
me
to
permit
myself
to
judge
it...
I
congratulate
you.
The
frequent
and
most
flattering
mention
of
my
name
[in
that
book]
is
a
special
proof
of
your
attachment.
But
I
fear
that
you
credit
me
with
too
much.
If
only
I
were
such
as
your
praise
makes
me
appear.
But
I
understand
only
my
modest
craft."
⁴