sisted in the cultivation of his garden, and in the company and conversation of his friends. He loved music, drawing, and poetry; and is said to have been so fond of Ariosto, that he knew the whole of the 'Orlando' by heart. He had few books; 'the best book,' he said, 'is nature.' A complete edition of his works, in thirteen volumes, appeared at Milan in 1803, the style of which is natural and fluent, so elegant and pure, that it has been held up by competent judges as a model of classical Italian. 'Altogether,' says Professor Playfair, 'Galileo is one of those to whom human knowledge is under the greatest obligation. His discoveries in the theory of motion, in the laws of the descent of heavy bodies, and in the motion of projectiles, laid the foundation of all the great improvements which have since been made by the application of mathematics to natural philosophy. If to these we add the invention of the telescope, the discoveries made by that instrument, the confirmation of the Copernican system which these discoveries afforded, and lastly, the wit and argument with which he combated and exposed the prejudice and presumption of the schools, we must admit that the history of human knowledge contains few greater names than that of Galileo.'
KEPLER.
Cotemporary with Tycho Brahé and Galileo, and to some extent the associate
and successor of the former, was John Kepler, one of the most eminent
astronomers who have appeared in any age, and to whom the science
is indebted for much of its present perfection. He was born December
27, 1571, at Wiel in Wurtemberg, and was descended of a noble but reduced
family. His father, originally an officer of distinction in the army
of Wurtemberg, was, at the time of young Kepler's birth, in the humble
capacity of a small inn-keeper; and thus, as is too often the case with
genius, our philosopher had to struggle into fame through poverty and the
vicissitudes of his father's fortune. Poor, unbefriended, of a weakly constitution,
and one of the most diminutive of children, Kepler received the
rudiments of knowledge at the Monastic school of Maulbrunn, where he
gave early indications of talent, and of that irrepressible spirit which, amid
the severest obsrtuctions, was never diverted from the main object of its
pursuit. After his father's death, which took place in his eighteenth year,
he left Maulbrunn, and succeeded in entering the college of Tubingen.
Here he completed the course of study then prescribed—first philosophy
and mathematics, and then theology; taking the degree of Bachelor in the
year 1588, and that of Master of Philosophy in the year 1591. Of apt
inquiring powers as a divine, and of more than average eloquence as a
preacher, Kepler could now have readily succeeded in the church; but
mathematics and the exact sciences were his favorite themes; and it may
be fairly questioned if ever he turned a single thought to the clerical profession,
beyond what the curriculum of the university compelled. In 1593-4,
his reputation as a geometrician had so increased, that he was invited to
fill the mathematical chair in the university of Gratz, in Styria. Here he
pursued his astronomical studies with the most commendable zeal, devoting
himself especially to the investigation of the physical causes of the motion
of the celestial bodies.
Shortly after his installment, he married a lady descended from a noble
