Summary of Kepler
John Banville’s “Kepler” is a historical novel that recounts various episodes from the life of Johannes Kepler, the renowned 17th-century German astronomer and mathematician. It explores Kepler’s personal life — including his marriage, poor health, and the deaths of his children — as well as his discoveries concerning the mathematical principles governing planetary orbits.
Reasons to read KeplerÂ
“Kepler” is an intriguing historical novel about Johannes Kepler and the times in which he lived, marked by superstition and religious persecution. The author of the novel, John Banville, is a leading Irish writer who won many literary prices, including the Booker Prize in 2005 for “The Sea”, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1976 for “Doctor Copernicus”, and the Prince of Asturias Award in 2014. His novel “Kepler” won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1981. Banville wrote three historical novels about Enlightenment scientists: “Doctor Copernicus”, “Kepler”, and “The Newton Letter”.
Setting: Prague (Czech Republic) & Graz, Linz (Austria)
Original title: Kepler
Year of publication: 1981
Nr of pages: 208
