Central Europe around 1600 was the arena for multiple competing influences. The religious, political, and economic structures of the middle ages were changing. The Christian Church was no longer catholic; it was split between Catholics and Protestants. In turn, Protestants were divided into confessional sects. Monarchs had to choose a side for themselves and their subjects. Diplomacy and trade became more important; military conflict and economic stagnation were the cost of failure. Trust was in short supply. Johannes Kepler was born and raised in the heart of this world. Despite his family’s modest social standing, he somehow managed to acquire the essential skills of a courtier and an applied mathematician, which he used to create an innovative conceptual model of the motion of the sun and planets. His model and methods influenced many researchers the following years. How did his family and community influence his work?

Prof. Rublack attempts to provide a glimpse of this long-lost world. We are fortunate that the archival material she uses still exists. We are fortunate that a professional historian, a German native no less, has been able to assemble as full a picture of this time and place as she has. As Rublack notes, the material she uses probably was preserved due to its association with Kepler the mathematician-scientist. But there is a problem: the archival material is about a witchcraft trial, which seems an unpromising place to look for insights into science, mathematics, or innovate ways to analyze astronomical data. Rublack provides some historical, social, and cultural context from other sources to help us understand the society that Kepler lived in. I wish she had provided more.

Rublack followed the writer’s adage of ‘show, don’t tell.’ This makes for an engaging narrative, but places substantial demands on the reader to understand the significance of the events in the narration. The reviewers fill in some of that missing context in their reviews. The most plausible interpretation of Rublack’s narrative is that Kepler did whatever he did despite his family, community, and culture not because of it. Perhaps Lutheran pietism led to Kepler’s vitalism, but Rublack doesn’t make that connection explicit. Perhaps Kepler’s family played a role, but if so Rublack isn’t explicit. Perhaps Kepler’s legal brief is evidence of scientific thinking, but Rublack doesn’t compare his brief with other legal briefs nor make any claim other than that his training allowed him to think like a lawyer. Perhaps the connection lies somehow in widespread belief in witches, or the panopticon of village life, or the German Renaissance, or …, but Rublack isn’t specific. The Kepler of this book is Kepler the son and famous courtier, not the scientist. Is this a clue? Is Rublack suggesting that Kepler-courtier was responsible for Kepler-scientist? An intriguing possibility, but, again, Rublack isn’t specific.

It’s a great microhistory and sourcebook for witchcraft, gender, class, social, religious, or judicial studies. As for science, it seems to show a society that is virtually anti-reason, a society invested in performative affirmation of customary opinion. Hence, my difficulty connecting it to Kepler the scientist and the history of science in general.