The Sleepwalkers (4 page)

Thus,
in
taking
down
Copernicus
or
Galileo
from
the
pedestal
on
which
science-mythography
has
placed
them,
my
motive
was
not
to
"debunk",
but
to
inquire
into
the
obscure
workings
of
the
creative
mind.
Yet
I
shall
not
be
sorry
if,
as
an
accidental
by-product,
the
inquiry
helps
to
counteract
the
legend
that
Science
is
a
purely
rational
pursuit,
that
the
Scientist
is
a
more
"level-headed"
and
"dispassionate"
type
than
others
(and
should
therefore
be
given
a
leading
part
in
world
affairs);
or
that
he
is
able
to
provide
for
himself
and
his
contemporaries,
a
rational
substitute
for
ethical
insights
derived
from
other
sources.

It
was
my
ambition
to
make
a
difficult
subject
accessible
to
the
general
reader,
but
students
familiar
with
it
will,
I
hope,
nevertheless
find
some
new
information
in
these
pages.
This
refers
mainly
to
Johannes
Kepler,
whose
works,
diaries
and
correspondence
have
so
far
not
been
accessible
to
the
English
reader;
nor
does
a
serious
English
biography
exist.
Yet
Kepler
is
one
of
the
few
geniuses
who
enables
one
to
follow,
step
by
step,
the
tortuous
path
that
led
him
to
his
discoveries,
and
to
get
a
really
intimate
glimpse,
as
in
a
slow-motion
film,
of
the
creative
act.
He
accordingly
occupies
a
key-position
in
the
narrative.

Copernicus'
magnum
opus
,
On
the
Revolutions
of
the
Heavenly
Spheres,
also
had
to
wait
until
1952
for
a
first
English
translation
–
which
perhaps
explains
certain
curious
misunderstandings
about
his
work,
shared
by
practically
all
authorities
who
have
written
on
the
subject,
and
which
I
have
tried
to
rectify.

The
general
reader
is
advised
not
to
bother
about
the
Notes
at
the
end
of
the
book;
on
the
other
hand,
the
reader
with
a
scientific
education
is
asked
to
forbear
with
explanations
which
might
seem
an
insult
to
his
intelligence.
So
long
as
in
our
educational
system
a
state
of
cold
war
is
maintained
between
the
Sciences
and
the
Humanities,
this
predicament
cannot
be
avoided.

One
significant
step
towards
ending
this
cold
war
was
Professor
Herbert
Butterfield
Origins
of
Modern
Science
,
first
published
in
1949.
Apart
from
the
work's
profundity
and
excellence
per
se
,
I
was
much
impressed
by
the
fact
that
the
Professor
of
Modern
History
in
the
University
of
Cambridge
should
venture
into
mediaeval
Science
and
undertake
such
a
gulf-bridging
task.
Perhaps
this
age
of
specialists
is
in
need
of
creative
trespassers.
It
was
this
shared
conviction
which
made
me
ask
Professor
Butterfield
for
the
favour
of
a
short
Introduction
to
another
trespassing
venture.

*
* * * *

My
sincere
thanks
are
due
to
Professor
Max
Caspar,
Munich,
and
to
Bibliotheksrat
Dr.
Franz
Hammer,
Stuttgart,
for
help
and
advice
on
Johannes
Kepler;
to
Dr.
Marjorie
Grene
for
her
help
on
mediaeval
Latin
sources
and
various
other
problems;
to
Professor
Zdenek
Kopal,
University
of
Manchester,
for
his
critical
reading
of
the
text;
to
Professor
Alexandre
Koyré,
École
des
Hautes
Études,
Sorbonne,
and
Professor
Ernst
Zinner,
Bamberg,
for
information
quoted
in
the
Notes;
to
Professor
Michael
Polanyi
for
his
sympathetic
interest
and
encouragement;
lastly
to
Miss
Cynthia
Jefferies
for
her
unending
patient
labours
on
the
typescript
and
galleys.

PART
ONE
THE
HEROIC
AGE

I DAWN

1.
Awakening

WE
can
add
to
our
knowledge,
but
we
cannot
subtract
from
it.
When
I
try
to
see
the
Universe
as
a
Babylonian
saw
it
around
3000
B.C.,
I
must
grope
my
way
back
to
my
own
childhood.
At
the
age
of
about
four
I
had
what
I
felt
to
be
a
satisfactory
understanding
of
God
and
the
world.
I
remember
an
occasion
when
my
father
pointed
his
finger
at
the
white
ceiling,
which
was
decorated
with
a
frieze
of
dancing
figures,
and
explained
that
God
was
up
there,
watching
me.
I
immediately
became
convinced
that
the
dancers
were
God
and
henceforth
addressed
my
prayers
to
them,
asking
for
their
protection
against
the
terrors
of
day
and
night.
Much
in
the
same
manner,
I
like
to
imagine,
did
the
luminous
figures
on
the
dark
ceiling
of
the
world
appear
as
living
divinities
to
Babylonians
and
Egyptians.
The
Twins,
the
Bear,
the
Serpent
were
as
familiar
to
them
as
my
fluted
dancers
to
me;
they
were
thought
to
be
not
very
far
away,
and
they
held
power
of
life
and
death,
harvest
and
rain.