It not
unfrequently happens that when a man has attained considerable
proficiency in two branches of knowledge he is not able to see very
clearly in which of the two pursuits his true vocation lies. His
friends and onlookers are often able to judge more wisely than he
himself can do as to which Of the two lines it would be better for
him to pursue. This incapacity for perceiving the path in which
greatness awaited him, existed in the case of Kepler. Personally, he
inclined to enter the ministry, in which a promising career seemed
open to him. He yielded, however, to friends, who evidently knew him
better than he knew himself, and accepted in 1594, the important
Professorship of astronomy which had been offered to him in the
University of Gratz.
It is difficult for us in these modern days to realise the somewhat
extraordinary duties which were expected from an astronomical
professor in the sixteenth century. He was, of course, required to
employ his knowledge of the heavens in the prediction of eclipses,
and of the movements of the heavenly bodies generally. This seems
reasonable enough; but what we are not prepared to accept is the
obligation which lay on the astronomers to predict the fates of
nations and the destinies of individuals.
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