The Supernova of 1604 as a Source of Scientific Debate

1604 年的超新星引发科学争论

• 批准号: 0749138
• 负责人: Lawrence Principe
• 金额: $ 8.4万
• 依托单位: Johns Hopkins University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-03-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0749138&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Supernova; 1604; Source; Scientific; Debate

As a Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, the co-principal investigator (co-PI) will study and teach under the supervision of Professor Lawrence M. Principe (PI), a leading scholar in the history of science internationally recognized for his research contributions and teaching achievements. In addition to providing the co-PI the opportunity to co-teach courses in early modern science, the PI will oversee the studies of the co-PI on the history of astronomy in seventeenth-century Europe. The author of two recently published books celebrated for having stood "the traditional view of science on its head", the PI's investigation of the alchemical origins of modern chemistry strongly resonates with the revisionist objectives of the co-PI: in studying the multi-disciplinary implications of the supernova of 1604, the co-PI will not undermine the standards of modern astronomy, but enrich our understanding of its origins and its broad interdisciplinary influences in art, astrology, chronology, politics, and theology in early modern Europe.Johannes Kepler's De stella nova (1606) will constitute the core text in the co-PI's comprehensive study of interpretations of the supernova of 1604 by scholars across Europe. In preparing the first-ever English translation of the De stella nova, the co-PI will write an interlocking series of articles on the many significances of the work in the light of the contrasting (and often critical) opinions of Kepler's intellectual contemporaries. Beginning with the recently published "Kepler vs. the Epicureans" (2007), this series of articles will culminate in 2010 in the completion of an English translation (with an introduction, notes, and an annotated inventory of published works on the supernova). The co-PI will incorporate these studies into courses co-taught with the PI, who will also provide supervision and support for the organization of an international symposium on the historical and scientific importance of the supernova. As an expression of the wide array of interests involved in such a comprehensive consideration of the De stella nova, articles will be submitted to a selection of journals spanning the history of art, politics, science, and theology, in order to reach and interest the widest possible audience in the multifaceted importance of the topic. In addition to its importance for the history of astronomy specifically and the history of science more generally, the De stella nova casts much light on several other fields of study. As the last supernova observed in our galaxy, Kepler's supernova is still the focus of intense astronomical research, recently renewed by the commemoration of the quatercentenary of its appearance. Although the supernova remains closely connected with Kepler, the De stella nova continues to be misunderstood by humanist and scientific scholars as "quirky and much less modern" than his other works. It attracts the attention of art and political historians, who appreciate it as emblematic of the Mannerist court culture of Kepler's powerful political patron, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II. Biblical and chronological scholars point to the De stella nova as a pioneering study of the birth date of Christ, crediting Kepler with the confirmation of a year "four years after the customary [one]" and precisely 1,600 years before the appearance of the supernova. Finally, Kepler's insightful and sensitive criticism of celestial forecasts stemming from the supernova provides ample ground for studying how astronomical, astrological, and political themes intersected in the early modern period. The products of this project will thus speak to a range of issues in a variety of disciplines.

作为约翰霍普金斯大学的博士后研究员，联合首席研究员（co-PI）将在Lawrence M.普林西比（PI），科学史上的领先学者，因其研究贡献和教学成就而受到国际认可。除了提供合作PI的机会，共同教授早期现代科学课程，PI将监督合作PI在十七世纪欧洲天文学史的研究。最近出版的两本书的作者以“科学的传统观点”而闻名，PI对现代化学的炼金术起源的调查与co-PI的修正主义目标产生了强烈的共鸣：在研究1604年超新星的多学科影响时，联合PI不会破坏现代天文学的标准，而且丰富了我们对它的起源及其在艺术、占星术、年表、政治、约翰尼斯·开普勒的《新星》（De stella nova，1606年）将构成这本书的核心文本，PI对欧洲学者对1604年超新星解释的综合研究。在准备De stella nova的第一个英文翻译时，合作PI将根据开普勒同时代知识分子的对比（通常是批评）意见，就这项工作的许多意义撰写一系列相互关联的文章。从最近出版的“开普勒与伊壁鸠鲁”（2007年）开始，这一系列的文章将在2010年完成英文翻译（包括介绍，注释和已发表的超新星著作的注释清单）。联合研究所将把这些研究纳入与研究所共同教授的课程，研究所还将监督和支持组织一次关于超新星的历史和科学重要性的国际研讨会。作为对De stella nova的全面考虑所涉及的广泛兴趣的表达，文章将提交给一系列涵盖艺术，政治，科学和神学历史的期刊，以达到并吸引尽可能广泛的受众对该主题的多方面重要性。除了它对天文学史和科学史的重要性，De stella nova对其他几个研究领域也有很大的影响。作为我们银河系中观测到的最后一颗超新星，开普勒超新星仍然是天文学研究的焦点，最近又因纪念其出现四百周年而重新焕发活力。虽然这颗超新星仍然与开普勒密切相关，但De stella nova仍然被人文主义者和科学学者误解为比他的其他作品“古怪且不那么现代”。它吸引了艺术和政治历史学家的注意，他们将其视为开普勒强大的政治赞助人神圣罗马帝国皇帝鲁道夫二世的风格主义宫廷文化的象征。圣经和年代学学者指出，De stella nova是对基督诞生日期的开创性研究，认为开普勒确认了一年，“在传统的四年后”，正好是超新星出现的1,600年前。最后，开普勒对来自超新星的天体预测的深刻而敏感的批评为研究近代早期天文学、占星术和政治主题如何相互影响提供了充足的基础。因此，该项目的产品将涉及各种学科的一系列问题。