In 1588, Tycho Brahe and Nicolaus Raimarus Ursus each published works which advanced alternatives to both the geostatic and geocentric world systems of Aristotle and Ptolemy and to the geokinetic and heliocentric system of Copernicus. A controversy ensued over the authenticity of their systems, since they were remarkably similar.
A young mathematician-astronomer, Johannes Kepler, tried to resolve the conflict with his 1601 Apologia pro Tycho contra Ursum.
Pierre Boulos, a fellow of the Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric, will argue that Kepler’s defence of Brahe is masked as a defence of realism
in a free public lecture on Wednesday, March 28, at 3 p.m. in the seminar room of Parker House, 105 Sunset Avenue.
“I will sketch the context for Kepler’s Apologia, outline Kepler’s Ciceronian style of oration, and sketch Kepler’s argument for his defence of Brahe,” says Dr. Boulos of his talk, entitled “Kepler’s Realist Philosophy of Science.”