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OF THE DISCOVERIES OF

This philosopher was born at "Wiel, in theprovince of Wirtemberg in Germany, on the27th of December, 1571, and was one of the I,most zealous partizans for the Copernican system jthat had hitherto appeared. In 1596 he pub- j'lished a large work upon the proportions 1 1and dimensions of the orbits of the planets, jwhich coming into the hands of Tycho Brahe,he advised him to apply himself to observation, ,before he attempted to discover the laws of na-ture ; and assured him, if he would do this, hewould find more truth in his hypothesis than in :that of Copernicus. He perceived the genius ofKepler, and wished for nothing more earnestlythan to have him for his disciple.

I shall not enter into a detail of the reasonswhich are given by Kepler for arranging the «planets according to the order of the five regular ■bodies, nor of the mysterious harmony which 1he finds between celestial and sublunary things.He was a man of a warm imagination, whichled him into many absurdities; and it was thefolly of that age, to mix sacred things withthose which have not the least connection withthem. He tells us in his Mysterium Cosmogra- 'phicum, that he looked upon three grandthings as deserving his particular attention;the firmament of the fixed stars, the fun, and ;the enormous interval which separates .them; !these appeared to him to be a symbolical re-presentation