The astronomer & the witch : Johannes Kepler's fight for his mother

Resource Information

The work The astronomer & the witch : Johannes Kepler's fight for his mother represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in DC Public Library System. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The astronomer & the witch : Johannes Kepler's fight for his mother

Title remainder

Johannes Kepler's fight for his mother

Statement of responsibility

Ulinka Rublack

Title variation

Astronomer and the witch

Creator

• Rublack, Ulinka

Author

• Rublack, Ulinka

Subject

• Astronomers -- Germany -- Biography
• Astronomers -- Germany -- History -- 17th century
• Biographies
• Biographies
• Germany
• History
• Kepler, Johannes, 1571-1630
• Kepler, Johannes, 1571-1630
• Keplerin, Katharina, 1547-1622 -- Trials, litigation, etc
• Trials
• Trials (Witchcraft)
• Trials (Witchcraft) -- Germany -- 17th century
• 1600 - 1699
• Trials, litigation, etc
• Witch hunting
• Witch hunting -- Germany -- History -- 17th century
• Witchcraft
• Witchcraft -- Germany -- History -- 17th century
• Witches
• Witches -- Germany -- History -- 17th century
• Trials -- Germany -- History -- 17th century
• Astronomers

Genre

• History
• Trials, litigation, etc
• Biography
• Biographies

Language

eng

Summary

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was one of the most admired astronomers who ever lived and a key figure in the scientific revolution. A defender of Copernicus's sun-centered universe, he famously discovered that planets move in ellipses, and defined the three laws of planetary motion. Perhaps less well known is that in 1615, when Kepler was at the height of his career, his widowed mother Katharina was accused of witchcraft. The proceedings led to a criminal trial that lasted six years, with Kepler conducting his mother's defense. In 'The Astronomer and the Witch', Ulinka Rublack pieces together the tale of this extraordinary episode in Kepler's life, one which takes us to the heart of his changing world. First and foremost an intense family drama, the story brings to life the world of a small Lutheran community in the centre of Europe at a time of deep religious and political turmoil-- a century after the Reformation, and on the threshold of the Thirty Years' War. Kepler's defense of his mother also offers us a fascinating glimpse into the great astronomer's world view, on the cusp between Reformation and scientific revolution. While advancing rational explanations for the phenomena which his mother's accusers attributed to witchcraft, Kepler nevertheless did not call into question the existence of magic and witches. On the contrary, he clearly believed in them. And, as the story unfolds, it appears that there were moments when even Katharina's children wondered whether their mother really did have nothing to hide ..

Biography type

individual biography

Cataloging source

ERASA

Dewey number

• 133.430903
• 940.2

Illustrations

• illustrations
• maps
• portraits

Index

index present

LC call number

• KK270.7.K46
• D250

LC item number

R82 2015

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography