The
prologue to this volume attempts to give a picture of that night, and
to elucidate my own purpose.
The first tale in this volume plunges into the middle of things, with
the revolution brought about by Copernicus; but, within the tale,
partly by means of an incidental lyric, there is an attempt to give a
bird's-eye view of what had gone before. The torch then passes to
Tycho Brahe, who, driven into exile with his tables of the stars, at
the very point of death hands them over to a young man named Kepler.
Kepler, with their help, arrives at his own great laws, and
corresponds with Galileo--the intensely human drama of whose life I
have endeavoured to depict with more historical accuracy than can be
attributed to much of the poetic literature that has gathered around
his name. Too many writers have succumbed to the temptation of the
cry, "e pur si muove!" It is, of course, rejected by every reliable
historian, and was first attributed to Galileo a hundred years after
his death. M. Ponsard, in his play on the subject, succumbed to the
extent of making his final scene end with Galileo "frappant du pied la
terre," and crying, "pourtant elle tourne.
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