Read Online Sky's Dark Labyrinth by Stuart Clark - Free Book Online

hope for after what I have seen. I know that the heavens vary their appearance, the very realm that Aristotle claimed to be immutable – I’ve seen it change. The new star of 1572; I watched it for two years, blazing brightly at me yet as fixed in its position as any of the stars. It had to be located on that final sphere – the very furthest from Earth – yet who will back me? No one. The philosophers still talk of it as being an atmospheric phenomenon of the Earth.’
    â€˜I will back you. Together we can remake astronomy.’
    â€˜But we differ on whether the Earth or Sun lies at the centre of creation,’ said Tycho, as if discussing a triviality, but Kepler could hear the suspicion.
    â€˜We can find common ground.’
    The two men regarded each other; the only sound between them was Tycho’s laboured breathing. Eventually he broke the silence. ‘Tell me of your background, Johannes. Is your father a learned man?’
    â€˜My origins are not as noble as yours, Lord Brahe.’
    Tycho’s eyes flickered in a curious manner and he spoke brusquely. ‘Nevertheless, I am interested.’
    Kepler scrutinised the globe, shuffling so that its great bulk was between him and Tycho. ‘I was born in Weil de Staadt. My mother is a herbalist. My father, well, my father was a soldier.’
    Kepler’s insides squirmed at that word – soldier. It meant only one thing: mercenary.
    â€˜Do they live?’
    â€˜My mother, yes. My father, no.’ The sentence was only half correct. Aged seventeen, Kepler had watched from the shadow of a magnoliabush as the man swaggered down the street, swigging from a flagon, letting the townsfolk know that he was off to war. It was soon afterwards that Kepler discovered his father had once fought a Protestant uprising in Holland, despite his own Lutheran roots. The realisation was sufficiently painful even now to flush Kepler with shame.
    That departure was Kepler’s last memory of his father. When the months turned into years, the family gave up waiting. Yet it was only recently that Kepler had stopped snatching a second look at any grizzled face that passed, just in case there was a resemblance.
    His thoughts were drawn back by the sound of Tycho taking a deep breath. ‘I have to decide what to do with you.’
    â€˜Sir?’
    â€˜What task of calculation do I set you?’
    Kepler turned at once. The Master was watching him carefully. ‘Mars perhaps? Longomontanus has done more than any man alive, yet he is mired. What if I were to ask you to work with him on it? I think that might suit you, would I be right?’
    A shiver passed through Kepler. Did Tycho know of his conversation with Longomontanus? He spoke carefully. ‘I will not disappoint you. I will have its orbit in eight days.’
    Tycho cocked his head. ‘Will you now?’
    â€˜Eight days, sir, or I am not the greatest mathematical astronomer alive.’
    â€˜I once thought that I was the greatest mathematician, too. You know what I got for it?’
    Kepler shook his head.
    â€˜This.’ Tycho raised a finger and pointed at the metal nugget in his nose. ‘I fought a duel because a classmate dared to claim superiority with numbers over me. I knew he was more gifted but I couldn’t admit it. And that sliver of truth allowed his blade to slip through. The constant ache of this wretched thing is my reminder of the cost of misplaced pride.’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜We are a family here, Johannes. We work together.’
    â€˜I understand.’ But as he hurried away, Kepler’s thoughts were full only of the discoveries he was soon to make.

6
Rome, Papal States
    By the time Bellarmine reached the steps leading to one of the giant doors of the Roman College, the building filled his entire field of view. He smiled inwardly; the Jesuits knew how to impress, and how to intimidate at the same time, if he were being