"The Pythagorean dream of musical harmony governing the motion of the stars never lost its mysterious impact, its power to call forth responses from the depth of the unconscious mind. ...But, one might ask, was the "Harmony of the Spheres" a poetic conceit or a scientific concept. A working hypothesis or a dream dreamt through a mystic's ear? ...Even Aristotle laughed "harmony, heavenly harmony" out of the courts of earnest, exact science. Yet... Johannes Kepler became enamoured with the Pythagorean dream, and on this foundation of fantasy, by methods of reasoning equally unsound, built the solid edifice of modern astronomy. It is one of the most astonishing episodes in the history of thought, and an antidote to the pious belief that the Progress of Science is governed by logic."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe (1959, 1963)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Temporis filia veritas; cui me obstetricari non pudet."
"I used to measure the heavens, now I measure the shadows of Earth. Although my mind was heaven-bound, the shadow of m…"
"I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses."
"My goal is to show that the heavenly machine is not a kind of divine living being but similar to a clockwork insofar …"
"Nature uses as little as possible of anything."
"The die is cast; I have written my book; it will be read either in the present age or by posterity, it matters not wh…"
"We do not ask for what useful purpose the birds do sing, for song is their pleasure since they were created for singi…"
"In Terra inest virtus, quae Lunam del."
"There is a force in the earth which causes the moon to move."
"Truth is the daughter of time, and I feel no shame in being her midwife."