Heaven on Earth: How Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo Discovered the Modern World

Before the invention of the telescope, people used nothing more than their naked eye to fathom what took place in the visible sky. So how did four men in the 1500's, though of different nationality, age, religion, and class, collaborate to discover that the Earth revolved around the Sun? With this radical discovery that went against the Catholic Church, they created our contemporary world—and with it, the uneasy conditions of modern life. Heaven on Earth is an intimate examination of a scientific family—that of Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo Galilei. Fauber juxtaposes their work with insight into their personal lives and and political considerations, which in turn shaped their pursuit of knowledge. Uniquely, he shows how their intergenerational collaboration was actually what made the scientific revolution possible. Contrary to the competitive nature of research today, collaboration was key to early discoveries. These men related to one another via intellectual pursuit rather than blood, calling each other "brothers," "fathers," and "sons." Filled with rich characters and sweeping history, Heaven on Earth reveals how the connection between these pillars of intellectual history moved science forward—and helped usherd the world into modernity.