快猫短视频

Star wars of the 17th century

The Sky's Dark Labyrinth by Stuart Clark is the opening volume of an historical-fiction trilogy charting the tussle over different models of the universe

IN THE first of a trilogy of novels based around the history of astronomy, Stuart Clark charts the struggle between helio and geocentric models of the solar system, through the life stories of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei. The story鈥檚 backdrop is the great Christian schism and widespread fears surrounding the Jesuits, witchcraft and the Inquisition.

He preserves the important facts while skillfully immersing the reader in the turbulent events of 17th-century Europe. We follow Kepler鈥檚 almost interminable compilation of a set of star and planet data of unprecedented accuracy called the Rudolphine Tables, which led on from his work for astronomer Tycho Brahe.

Clark paints a less favourable picture of Galileo and his politically naive clashes with the Catholic Church, which led to his difficulties with the Inquisition.

If Kepler wasn鈥檛 already your favourite historical astronomer, he will be after reading this book.

The Sky鈥檚 Dark Labyrinth

Stuart Clark

Polygon

Topics: Books and art

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