The childhood of this lad,
destined for such fame, was still further embittered by the
circumstance that when he was four years old he had a severe attack
of small-pox. Not only was his eyesight permanently injured, but
even his constitution appears to have been much weakened by this
terrible malady.
It seems, however, that the bodily infirmities of young John Kepler
were the immediate cause of his attention being directed to the
pursuit of knowledge. Had the boy been fitted like other boys for
ordinary manual work, there can be hardly any doubt that to manual
work his life must have been devoted. But, though his body was
feeble, he soon gave indications of the possession of considerable
mental power. It was accordingly thought that a suitable sphere for
his talents might be found in the Church which, in those days, was
almost the only profession that afforded an opening for an
intellectual career. We thus find that by the time John Kepler was
seventeen years old he had attained a sufficient standard of
knowledge to entitle him to admission on the foundation of the
University at Tubingen.
In the course of his studies at this institution he seems to have
divided his attention equally between astronomy and divinity.
Pages:
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115