The Supernova of 1604 as a Source of Scientific Debate

作为约翰·霍普金斯大学的博士后研究员，联合首席研究员(共同-PI)将在劳伦斯·M·普林西比(PI)教授的指导下学习和教学，他是国际公认的科学史上的领先学者，以其研究贡献和教学成就而闻名。除了为联合国际提供机会共同教授早期现代科学课程外，该国际还将监督联合国际关于17世纪欧洲天文学史的研究。作为最近出版的两本书的作者，国际天文学协会对现代化学的炼金术起源的研究与联合国际天文学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，联合国际天文学不会破坏现代天文学的标准，但会丰富我们对其起源及其在艺术、占星学、年代学、政治学等领域的广泛交叉影响的理解。约翰尼斯·开普勒的《德斯特拉新星》(1606)将构成共同派对欧洲各地学者对1604年超新星解释的全面研究的核心文本。在准备《德斯特拉新星》的第一个英译本的过程中，联合PI将根据开普勒同时代知识分子的不同(往往是批判性的)观点，就这部作品的许多意义撰写一系列相互关联的文章。从最近出版的《开普勒与伊壁鸠鲁学派》(2007)开始，这一系列文章将在2010年完成英译本(包括导言、注释和关于超新星的已发表作品的注释清单)。国际和平研究所将把这些研究纳入与国际和平研究所共同教授的课程，后者还将为组织一次关于超新星的历史和科学重要性的国际研讨会提供监督和支持。作为对De Stella nova进行如此全面的考虑所涉及的广泛利益的表达，文章将被提交给跨越艺术史、政治史、科学史和神学的精选期刊，以便接触到尽可能广泛的受众，并使他们对该主题的多方面重要性感兴趣。除了对具体的天文学史和更广泛的科学史的重要性外，德斯特拉新星还揭示了其他几个研究领域。作为银河系中观察到的最后一颗超新星，开普勒的超新星仍然是密集的天文学研究的焦点，最近它的出现四百周年的纪念活动再次更新了它。尽管超新星仍然与开普勒保持着密切的联系，但人文主义者和科学学者继续误解德斯特拉新星，认为它比开普勒的其他作品更古怪，也更不现代。它引起了艺术和政治历史学家的注意，他们认为它象征着开普勒强大的政治赞助人、神圣罗马皇帝鲁道夫二世的曼纳主义宫廷文化。圣经和年代学学者指出，德斯特拉新星是对基督出生日期的开创性研究，认为开普勒确认了一年，即超新星出现的四年后，正好1600年前。最后，开普勒对来自超新星的天体预报的深刻而敏感的批评为研究天文、占星学和政治主题在早期现代时期是如何交叉的提供了充足的基础。因此，该项目的产品将涉及各种学科的一系列问题。

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.