Johannes Kepler, master mathematician and astronomer, developed his theories in 16th century pre-Renaissance Germany. His work laid the foundation on which his successors, notably Isaac Newton, built the modern picture of the universe that held until Einstein.

The author shows us a Rabelaisian world...chaotic, muddled, and dirty. Kepler's famly mirrored this disorder, and he retreated into his own cerebrations for relief.

Kepler took the theories of his time and stood them on their head. He extracted truth from superstition and the story, in Banville's hands, is a triumph, heroic and exuberant." (E.R.S. Reviews)