QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

defended Copernican theory and presented an early version of his own model of the solar system.
He believed that Copernicus had grasped something of greater significance than the theory
represented at that time. Cleansed of its remaining Ptolemaic characteristics, he believed it could
open the way to a new scientific understanding of the cosmos as an astonishingly organised and
harmonious entity which was a direct reflection of the glory of God. Impressed by Kepler’s
work, the well-known Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe invited him to become his assistant in
Prague, where he worked in his later years as mathematician and astrologer to the court of
Rudolf II. 178
During the 20 years he spent at Uraniborg, his observatory on the island of Hveen, with the
benefit of new or improved instruments and an unparalleled talent for observation, Tycho Brahe
was able to raise observational astronomy to a level unprecedented before his time, and one
which was not to be reached again before the invention of the telescope. Brahe’s observations
enabled Kepler to achieve the complete reform of astronomy by taking into account the
eccentricities of the orbits of the planets.Cooperation between these two talented individuals was
not, however, without human complications. While Kepler was a convinced Copernican, Brahe
had a system of his own. He (Brahe) had recognised the considerable simplification that adoption
of the heliocentric viewpoint would provide in the world-view, but he was still too much
confined by the Aristotlean way of thinking to break away from the influence of arguments
against the possibility that the earth was actually moving. Also, he, like the vast majority of his
contemporaries, thought that the Copernican system was in conflict with the Christian faith. In
his own theory, Brahe attempted to replace the Ptolemaic system with that of Copernicus while
maintaining the central position of the earth. 179
Kepler strongly objected to the minor position assigned to the sun in Tychonics. To Kepler, the
sun was not only the source of light for the world, it was also the world’s source of power. Using
mystical language, he compared the sun to the Father in the Trinity and conceived the idea that it
caused the motion of the planets. Alchemistic and astrological ideas are also not without
importance in understanding Brahe’s achievements as an astronomer. He presumed an essential
relationship between the study of the properties of sublunary matter and that of the stars. At
Uraniborg, he had both an astronomical observatory and a chemical laboratory. He was
convinced of an essential affinity between celestial phenomena and terrestrial events, and he had
a deeply-rooted cosmological belief in the intrinsic relationship of everything that exists. Brahe’s
178 White 1998, 75. Tarnas 1998, 255-256
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