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SUMMARY:Kepler as chronologer - Anthony Grafton (Princeton University)
DTSTART:20070503T153000Z
DTEND:20070503T170000Z
UID:TALK7120@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Stephen John
DESCRIPTION:Historical chronology was one of Kepler's favourite subjects\,
  after astronomy\, optics and music. He devoted considerable effort to mas
 tering its materials and methods\, corresponded about its central problems
  with Protestant and Catholic scholars\, and wrote about it at some length
 . In many ways\, his mastery of astronomy and considerable prowess as a hu
 manist made him an ideal chronologer\, and he arrived at some findings of 
 great interest. But he also found chronology a particularly contentious fi
 eld\, one that tested scholarly civility to its limit and sometimes beyond
 . In this paper I will locate Kepler's work in the interlocking\, but not 
 identical\, fields that were referred to\, in his time\, by the single nam
 e of chronology. Then I will examine some of the striking ways in which th
 e larger ethical and methodological ideas often associated with the Republ
 ic of Letters played out in what seems\, from the outside\, a very abstrac
 t and austere study.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, History and Philosophy of Science\, Department o
 f
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