Kepler's Tübingen: Stimulus to a Theological Mathematics(St Andrews Studies in Reformation History)

This interdisciplinary study considers theology and the beginnings of modern science at the University of Tubingen in the time of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). The author casts light upon the origins of modern scientific method by examining the relationship between theology, astronomy and dialectics at the university in the work of Kepler's teachers. Studies of Kepler generally treat him as a precursor of the modern scientist - the influences upon him are identified as Platonist or Pythagorean and his theological interests have often been ignored, or considered as a mystical aberration unworthy of in-depth treatment. This text attempts to place Kepler's work in the wider tradition of mainstream 16th-century thought. It portrays and analyzes the influences and ideas which permeated the life of the university in Tubingen in the second half of the 16th century and places them in relationship to the theology of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon. The study pays particular attention to the use of theological concepts, astronomical observations, logical demonstrations and the categories of physics, and to the interplay between them.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface; Setting the scene: theology and science, history and the Reformation; The University of Tübingen and the educational system in Württemberg; Mathematics and astronomy in the theology of Philip Melanchthon; The theological understanding of the natural world; Astronomy, physics and the authority of observation; ’Sacerdos libri naturae’: Kepler’s call to astronomy; Appendix I: Holders of university posts at Tübingen, 1550-1600; Appendix II: Maps; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Charlotte Methuen, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany

Review :
Prize: Nominated for the Prize for Outstanding Books in Theology and the Natural Sciences awarded by the Center for Theology and Natural Sciences, Berkeley, California ' ...highlights the importance of attempting to understand on their own terms the issues which affected thinkers in their own period as opposed to judging them by the standards of the present day.' BSHM (British Society for the History of Mathematics) Newsletter, No. 38 '...a welcome enrichment of the literature by studying carefully a particular segment of intellectual history...we need studies like these...' ESSSAT News '...this is a fine contribution to scholarship...Of particular value is the care Methuen takes to emphasize the variety of intellectual trends available to Kepler in his early years.' Journal of the History of Astronomy '...this is a fine contribution to scholarship, and will be especially useful to English-speaking Kepler scholars. Of particular value is the care Methuen takes to emphasize the variety of intellectual trends available to Kepler in his early years. ' Journal of the History of Astronomy, Vol. 30, Part 3 '..a solid and important study that addresses one of the central questions in the history of early modern science. Scholars interested in 'Science and Religion', Aristotelian philosophy and the history of universities, as well as specialist Kepler scholars, will all find this book helpful.' British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 33 '...an excellent book, based on a great deal of work which will be appreciated by historians of science...' Ecclesiastical History '... the best, most coherent account of Kepler's education I have seen... Methuen has provided an invaluable account of Kepler's education and a resource for tracing the sources of some of his most fundamental beliefs.' Early Science and Medicine, 4, 3 'Methuen's investigations turn up some valuable insights... Methuen adds depth to our understanding of some fo the ways religious and scientific thinking overlapped before the two disciplines were irreparably devided.' Neo-Latin News 'Dr. Methuen is to be congratulated on a book which develops its themes with elegance and clarity, and which demonstrates its thesis with conviction. She makes an important contribution to the history of universities in the sixteenth century, as well as to the history of science and the intellectual biography of Kepler... a fine book.' 'International Journal of the Classical Tradition Vol. 7/2