Johannes Kepler's Portrayal of Science in Dream

Introduction

In his publication, Dream , Johannes Kepler discusses the perception of an observer on a planet within a solar system based on heliocentric theory. This theory is now proven through mathematical research, astronomical exploration and other scientific methods. However, in Kepler's era, the idea that the sun—not Earth—was the center of the solar system was a radical concept; furthermore, it was a rebellious concept in the opinion of many Christian religions. Yet, Kepler believed his research and theories could not be denied and prepared an academic thesis according to his findings and conclusions; this thesis included planetary elliptical orbits, precession and the moon's synchronous. But, Kepler presented his ideas by writing what today would be considered a science fiction story; only those familiar with heliocentric theory would be aware of the story's allegorical nature. Later, Kepler would expand his story to include explanatory notes and appendices. In this manner, Kepler presents an entertaining but not condemning scientific paper. Such a paper might not be acceptable by today's standards; however, the need for engaging scientific literature is presented by a contemporary instructive writer. Therefore, scientific writers are asked to explore their roots.

Kepler's Biographical Information

To understand the presentation of Dream (or Somnium because the text was written in Latin, the universally accepted language of science at Kepler's time), the reader must know a bit of the author's biography, and the reader must understand the political and religious environment the piece was written in.

Kepler was born in Germany in 1571. Being the most promising of his siblings, his paternal grandfather invested in his education, and eventually Kepler enrolled at Tübingen University, a Lutheran establishment. At the time of Kepler's matriculation, the Ptolemaic theory of the universe was the accepted teaching of the Lutheran, indeed of Christian in general, religion—that theory being that Earth is the center of the universe, the planets revolve around it and the entire system is enclosed in a celestial sphere. Despite the official acceptance, some astronomers secretly advocated the Copernican theory of the universe—that theory being that the sun is the center, not Earth. Advocates of the latter theory often publicly taught Ptolemaic astronomy but discussed Copernican theory with trusted colleagues. One such advocate was Michael Maestlin who became Kepler's mentor. Maestlin himself had taken his mentor's place when: “Philip Apian (1531–89) was dismissed from the faculty of Tübingen University because he felt that in good conscience he could not sign the required oath of religious alliance, on grounds similar to those which later troubled Kepler” (Rosen 1967:99). Heretical ideas could ruin one professionally, and educators had to tread carefully to preserve their role in society while maintaining their “enlightened” studies.

Maestlin introduced Kepler to Copernican astronomy, and Kepler became an astute student of it, along with mathematics, Latin and other disciplines. In 1593, he wrote a scientific thesis—to later become Dream —that was disguised as a mystical science fiction tale to allegorically portray the heliocentric theory. Kepler realized that his professional future could be compromised by defying the Lutheran university's doctrine, so he devised a tale in which the main character was transported to Levania (representing Earth's moon) and a supposition of the heliocentric theory was presented from this hypothetical but not assertive point of view. Thus, Kepler could skirt the rule by claiming his work was only a fanciful tale. He writes: “The purpose of my Dream is to use the example of the moon to build up an argument in favor of the motion of earth, or rather to overcome objections taken from the universal opposition of mankind” (Rosen 1967:36).

Viet Müller, the professor responsible for admitting students' theses, would not accept it, however, because he was strongly opposed to Copernican theory and recognized the thesis as an allegory. So, Dream was set aside for 13 years (with a brief exception when framework was established in 1609) until, between 1620 and 1630, Kepler added 223 explanations—“Kepler's Notes on the Dream” (“Notes)—to the volume. “Notes” (considerably lengthening the original 18 typed pages) expounded the science behind the story. Kepler had decided to finish his university work by blatantly including Copernican astronomy and to publish it, along with his translation of Plutarch's Moon that had inspired his own fictional tale.

Why he decided to overtly expound on his science with Dream's “Notes” is a matter of supposition. It is possible that after enduring extreme high and low points during his life—ending at a low point—he no longer feared the repercussions of his religious environment. Some of his high and low points are, after his humble beginnings, his intellect impressed: “the Tübingen Senate [that] offered Kepler the position of teacher of mathematics and astronomy in Gratz, the sleepy capital of the Austrian province of Styria” (Christianson 1976) ( ironically drawing him away from a religious career as a Lutheran clergyman). He left this position, “when all Protestants were forced to convert to Catholicism or leave the province, as part of Counter Reformation measures” (Rice University 1996). He became the (untrusted [Fowler 1995a]) assistant to the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in Prague and, after Brahe's death, inherited the valuable data—along with, “Tycho's post as Imperial Mathematician” (Koch 2004). The data would support some of Kepler's most important scientific breakthroughs. However, “in 1612 Lutherans were forced out of Prague” (Koch 2004), so Kepler was forced to give up his respected post. Finally, his mother was tried for witchcraft; ironically, the magical arts that one of Dream's characters practiced was taken as an allusion Kepler's mother (Christianson 1976). Although the book was not published at the time, drafts had been passed around in scientific circles and became nearly damning evidence.

Kepler died in 1630, never having seen Dream published. His son-in-law, Jacob Bartsch, attempted to finish the already begun printing, but he experienced complications and did not complete publication before his death from the bubonic plague. Dream was finally published by Kepler's son, Ludwig (L. Kepler), in an attempt to secure his stepmother's financial situation and restore his father's reputation. The latter had been hurt by his dismissal and his mother's trial. He wrote:

“‘Lo and behold, my stepmother, an impoverished widow with four orphans, comes to me at a turbulent time…. She brings with her the unfinished copies of Dream , and asks for my help…. I could not refuse this request…. ' Through the efforts of a son striving to enhance his deceased father's reputation, Kepler's Dream …was finally published as a complete book in 1634” (Rosen 1967:xxiii).

Thus, Dream is a book that was 41 years in the making.

Scientific Theories Portrayed in Dream

Despite Kepler's humble beginnings, questioned academic life, high honors, and fall from grace, he is remembered for his scientific study, most of all his laws of planetary motion. Some of his studies and findings are featured in Dream , both in their germination (the initial, fictitious tale) and in refinement (in his “Notes”).

One of Kepler's famous laws, presented in Dream , is the law of elliptical orbits: “The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse” (UT, Physics and Astronomy 2004). The importance of understanding the concept of a planet's elliptical orbit is that it explains the mathematical predictability of the solar system. Furthermore, it is based on the Copernican theory—that the sun is the center of the solar system. Kepler includes his elliptical orbit theory in Dream several times. In “Notes,” he refers to the moon being in apogee: “ The point in an orbit most distant from the body being orbited ” (Dictionary.com 2004a). If an orbit were circular (as Brahe believed but could not reconcile with his data), a satellite would always be equidistant from the focus. The definition of apogee is dependent upon the presence of an elliptical orbit to vary the distance, allowing for a time when the Moon is farthest. Also, Kepler writes, “the moon's axis, whose end points are these poles, is assumed to meet the plane of the eccentric orbit at right angles” (Rosen 1967:94). Kepler's “eccentric” is synonymous with elliptical. Kepler's scientific discovery is thus incorporated in his publication.

Another scientific concept that Kepler discusses in Dream is Earth's wobble, that is, the misalignment of Earth's axis with the ecliptic—the apparent path the sun takes through the sky over the course of a year. We read:

The lunar nodes revolve in nineteen years with a retrograde motion opposite the sun's. In the same time, therefore, the limits revolve, and also the poles of the lunar orbit, which serve as celestial poles for the moon-dwellers, in a small circle 5° in diameter. Hence in nineteen sidereal years, among them twenty tropical years are completed. Consequently, in nine and a half sidereal years,…the tenth summer occurs, with the sun in the constellation of the Goat, for those whose first summer occurred with the sun in the constellation of the Crab. A similar thing happens to us also on the earth, but much more slowly. For two thousand years ago our summer came when the sun was in the constellation of the Crab…Today our summer has shifted into the constellation of the Twins…. (Rosen 1967:84).

Here, Kepler offers the idea of precession:

the slow backward motion of the equinoctial points along the ecliptic, at the rate of 50. 2[sec] annually, caused by the action of the sun, moon, and planets, upon the protuberant matter about the earth's equator, in connection with its diurnal rotation; so called because either equinox, owing to its westerly motion, comes to the meridian sooner each day than the point it would have occupied without the motion of precession, and thus precedes that point continually with reference to the time of transit and motion (Dictionary.com 2004b).

In other words, Earth's poles seem to revolve around the celestial pole (the North Star); this changes the apparent placement in the zodiac. Such is the reason that astrological time (according to the signs of the zodiac) no longer matches astronomical time (according to the calendar). For instance, Aries is the beginning of the astrological year, but, due to precession, it no longer is the beginning of the calendrical year. Kepler has calculated both Earth's and the Moon's difference in precession—2,000 years and 19 years, respectively. The description of the moon's precession—on a smaller scale—helps the reader to understand Earth's precession while still being presented in a fanciful tale.

Another scientific concept that Kepler proposes is the Moon's synchronous orbit—an orbit that always keeps, “the same side turned toward the Earth and the other side turned away from the Earth (Alexander 2002). Kepler states: “The moon always turns the same spots toward us earth-dwellers. Hence we know that it revolves around the earth just as though it were attached to a cord, and that whereas its upper part never faces the earth, its lower part or hemisphere always does so” (Rosen 1967:78). With this notion, Kepler creates different types of moon-dwellers for his story: “Levania consists of two hemispheres. One of these, the Subvolva, always enjoys its Volva [Earth], which among them takes the place of our moon. The other one, the Privolva, is deprived forever of the sight of Volva” (Rosen 1967:17). And, Kepler goes a step further to calculate time for his created moon-dwellers. For, as Earth's month is based on the time it takes the Moon to go through each phase (we see one of which a night), the Moon's night is based on the time it takes Earth to go through each similar phase (which Kepler's moon-dwellers on the side facing Earth would see continuously). Therefore, Kepler expounds the principle of a synchronous orbit to create and calculate a system of time on the Moon.

Presentation of Scientific Theories in Dream

Interestingly, Kepler presents his scientific research and theory differently than contemporary scientists would; he offers his reality—a solar system based on the laws of physics—as fiction. Because he might have been persecuted or professionally ruined by his adherence to heliocentric theory, he uses several creative writing methods common to storytelling to distance himself from incriminating statements.

One way Kepler distances himself from his story is its framework: a dream within a dream within a dream. With each step, the author takes himself farther and farther away from stating that he believes the ideas suggested in his book are actually what occurs on Earth. Dream begins with Kepler himself reading a book about Bohemian history. After a bit of astronomical observation, he falls asleep and dreams he is a character from Iceland, named Duracotus. His mother, Fiolxhilde, earned a living by selling magic herbal charms to sailors. When a young boy, Duracotus cut one of Fiolxhilde's charms open out of curiosity, which “deprived her of this little income” (Rosen 1967:12). In impetuous anger, she sold her son to the sailor in lieu of the charm, sending him on a sea voyage that ended at Tycho Brahe's home. Brahe discovered Duracotus to be quite clever and set him to work in his laboratory, which fascinated the boy. After several years though, Duracotus longed for home and set out to return to his mother. Fiolxhilde was overjoyed to see him and more so to see his education in the heavens. She confided that she too could teach him about the universe, for she was in contact with celestial spirits. One spirit in particular could transport him to the world of Levania. To do so, on a certain night, one must summon the spirit and sit with one's cloak pulled over the head (another form of removal). Duracotus does so as his mother summons the spirit; he is “transported” to another dream-like state—to Levania. This dream within a dream within a dream framework allows the author to remove himself from the context of what would otherwise be a condemning scientific paper.

“There can be little, if any, doubt that Kepler selected the framework of the Dream to satisfy two major demands: first, fewer objections could be raised among the ranks of those still within the Aristotelian orbit by passing off this Copernican treatise as a figment of an idle slumberer's uncontrollable imagination; and secondly, it enabled Kepler to introduce a mythical agent or power capable of transporting humans to the lunar surface. In fact to the cursory reader, Kepler must have appeared more mythographer than speculative scientist, and this is the very impression the author intended” (Christianson 1976).

Dream discusses synchronous movement, Copernican theory, and suppositions based on planetary rotation and revolution environment. Kepler could not have made these assertions outright for fear of reprisal from Christian churches. However, by devising a series of dreams, no heretical assertion was actually made; although, the scientific statements were. The removal from the story prevents him from incriminating himself.

Another creative writing method Kepler uses is allegory; in Dream many of the author's creations mean something else—sometimes a comment on society, sometimes a substitution for scientific theory. For example, in the story, we read: “My mother was Fiolxhilde. Her recent death freed me to write, as I had long wished to do. While she lived, she carefully kept me from writing. For, she said the arts are loathed by many vicious people who malign what their dull minds fail to understand, and make laws harmful to mankind” (Rosen 1967:12). Then, in one of the notes associated with this passage, we read:

I wanted to make this further suggestion: untutored experience or, to use medical terminology, empirical practice is the mother who gives birth to Science as her offspring. For him it is not safe, so long as his mother, Ignorance, survives among men, to reveal to the public the deeply hidden causes of things. He must rather forbear to injure the venerable beldam, while waiting for the fullness of hers which will finally bring about the death of Ignorance, decrepit with old age….This ancient Ignorance was then, I thought, already dead enough and erased from the memory of intelligent men. Yet the creature still struggles on in a tangle of so many knots tied tightly together through so many centuries. The aged mother continues to exist in the universities, but such is her existence that seemingly she ought to look upon death as more desirable than life. (Rosen 1967:36)

In this manner, Kepler alludes to the steadfast Ptolemaic doctrine of his Lutheran university—and of other Christian institutions—that, despite evidence, refused to acknowledge a heliocentric universe as the most likely explanation of the heavens. Using allegory again, he discusses his theories using moon-dweller's language to describe natural phenomena. For instance, Earth is called Volva, the moon is called Levania, the hemisphere constantly turned toward earth (due to the moon's synchronous orbit) is called Subvolva ( under Volva) and the moon's dark side is referred to as Privolva. Using this code, he can speak freely of his scientific theory. Also, the continents that the Subvolvans can see on Earth are described as earthlings describe cloud formations: “It looks like the front of a human head cut off at the shoulders [Africa] and leaning forward to kiss a young girl [Europe] in a long dress [Sarmatia, Thrace, the Black Sea Regions], who stretches her hand back [Britain] to attract a leaping cat [Scandinavia]” (Rosen 1967:24). In this manner, the reader is aware that the author is discussing Earth from the moon-dweller's perspective; having established this, the reader can correlate the astronomical observations. Thus, Kepler uses the creative method of allegory to present his scientific findings.

Besides the author's presentation of the work, the editors' presentation of the work must also be considered. Then, as now, the author did not have complete control over how a publication would be offered to a reader. In addition to Kepler's scientific statements, made into a fictional story, clarified by “Notes,” Bartsch, L. Kepler and Rosen affected the presentation. Perhaps Bartsch offered the version most true to Kepler's original, for the author was still alive when the printing had begun; therefore, many of the changes from the manuscripts are Kepler's own in the beginning. Yet, many changes were to be made to enhance Kepler's original.

L. Kepler, four years after his father's death, had other pursuits rather than only the reputation of his father. He was responsible for his stepmother's financial security and his own blossoming reputation as a doctor (which could have been blemished by the suggestion of witchcraft in the family and adherence to Copernican ideas). Therefore, on Dream's title page are the phrases, “published by his son, Ludwig Kepler, M.A., Candidate for the Doctorate in Medicine,” and “Completed at Frankfurt, at the Expense of the Author's Heirs” (Rosen 1967:3). In addition, he writes a letter to the “Most Illustrious and Most Exalted Prince and Lord Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, Count of Katzenwllenbogen, Dietz, Ziegenhain, and Nidda, etc.” (Rosen 1967:5), stating, “I could find no one worthier than you, Most Illustrious Prince, whose patronage this work might enjoy…you favored my father, while he was alive, with your very kind patronage” (Rosen 1967:7–8). In the fashion of the day, L. Kepler suggests the need for funding (apparently as reimbursement) in return for published dedication—the publicity campaign of the Renaissance. L. Kepler attempted to change a purely scientific thesis in the guise of a story into a profitable venture.

Finally, Edward Rosen— Dream's translator and editor—transformed the book into an academic work. Through Rosen's efforts, the publication is not merely the thesis that Kepler anticipated. Rosen's presentation is a resource rather than a book. First, it is translated from Latin into English, which is a more recognized language today, increasing the size of the audience. Second, Rosen included footnotes to explain the antiquated (sometimes erroneous) explanations of Kepler. His footnotes offer annotations on Kepler's science, on the history of the science, on the participants in Kepler's biography and on Kepler's conventions. For example, in the case of the latter we find that the world of Levania is named after the Hebrew word for the moon, Lebhana , meaning white, which Kepler knew from his study of the Hebrew language at the university (Rosen 1967:78). Third, Rosen includes 13 appendices, such as “Kepler's Translation of Plutarch's Moon ” (the original intention of the author), “Kepler's Concept of Inertia,” “Kepler's Concept of Gravity,” and biographical information regarding Bartsch and L. Kepler. These appendices turn the publication from a scientific book to a historical and scientific textbook. Finally, Rosen offers the reader choices in presentation. Although all the information is given in one package, it is divided. This division gives the reader the choice to read the author's original work ( Dream ), the author's ultimate intention ( Dream , “Notes,” and Moon ), or the history and scientific revelations that contributed to the publications creation ( Dream , “Notes,” footnotes and appendices). Rosen's version of the publication may be convoluted; however, it is navigable. Thus, we see the evolution of Kepler's Dream from fictional tale to scientific and social commentary to reference and resource textbook.

Although Rosen portrayed Dream as an academic, scientific textbook, many in the sciences would not consider Kepler's work to be in a proper scientific format. For example, George Mason University's Biology Department states:

A well-written scientific paper explains the scientist's motivation for doing an experiment, the experimental design and execution, and the meaning of the results. Scientific papers are written in a style that is exceedingly clear and concise. Their purpose is to inform an audience of other scientists about an important issue and to document the particular approach they used to investigate that issue. (2004)

Dream is anything but what a scientist adhering to the above expectations would expect to read. Published in this fictional format in the contemporary market, Kepler's work might not be accredited. For instance, it is not until “Notes” that Kepler states the purpose of his publication—to discuss the movement of the components of the solar system. In a contemporary paper, this must be stated at the beginning. Furthermore, a fictional tale is open to interpretation, which counters the idea that a paper be “exceedingly clear and concise.” Also, science writers attempt to present a subject objectively—presenting the data in such a way that the reader is allowed to judge the situation or experiment without bias, promoting credibility. Kepler is far from objective:

But so far as that more secret purpose of this tale is concerned, a delightful retort is created for us. Everybody screams that the motion of the heavenly bodies around the earth and the motionlessness of the earth are manifest to the eyes. To the eyes of the lunarians, I reply, it is manifest that our earth, their Volva, rotates, but their moon is motionless. If it be argued that the lunatic senses of my lunarian people are deceived, with equal right I answer that the terrestrial senses of the earth-dwellers are devoid of reason. (Rosen 1967:108)

Kepler goes beyond objective scientific commentary to social commentary, alluding to those “lunatics” who do not consider his evidence.

But, science does not necessarily have to be presented in a dry, unentertaining manner, according to Scott L. Montgomery's book, The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science . Montgomery claims that, to rebel against the dramatic writing styles of the Renaissance (Kepler's era) scientists began to offer plain, logical observations. For example, he states: “Bacon was thus the first to claim revolt against Elizabethan styles of writing…these, he said, pulled a veil between the intellect and the world. To advance knowledge, especially ‘the new experimental philosophy,' there was needed a simple, direct, and unadorned form of speech” (Montgomery 2003:12). However, Montgomery believes that modern science has taken that practice too far. It is true that Kepler's original manuscript is hard to grasp; however, it is entertaining. The entertaining diversion encourages the reader to continue. If science is dependent on discoveries and theories being effectively communicated, the failure to entice the reader to finish is, an enemy of science. Montgomery believes that scientific writing is a form of rhetoric; true to rhetoric's basic goal, the scientific writer must persuade the reader that the publication is valuable and rational. “The tales we tell are, by nature, still based on narrative techniques whose goal it is to gain agreement and cooperation.” Kepler attempted to achieve Montgomery's “agreement and cooperation.” He wrote Dream to discuss the heliocentric theory; he wrote it in the form of a mystical tale to garner the cooperation of his peers at the university. By writing it as fiction, his professors as well as he could publish a heretical work without fear of incrimination. Therefore, Kepler writes science as fiction to encourage the reading of it, which Montgomery exhorts contemporary writers of science to consider.

References

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George Mason University, Department of Biology (GMU, Biology). 2004. The scientific paper. A guide to writing in the biological sciences . Fairfax, VA: George Mason University. http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/ScientificPaper.htm

Montgomery, Scott L. 2003. The Chicago guide to communicating science . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Rice University. 1996. Johaness Kepler. The Galileo project . http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/People/kepler.html.

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University of Tennessee, Department of Physics and Astronomy (UT, Physics and Astronomy). 2004. Johannes Kepler: The laws of planetary motion. Online journey through astronomy . http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/kepler.html. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee.