The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
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1550-1631
German astronomer whose observations of the nova of 1572 demonstrated it was a new star, indicating the heavens were changeable, not fixed as many had previously thought. Mästlin also failed to detect parallax for the comets of 1577 and 1580, suggesting they were supralunar bodies. These celestial events led him to reject Aristotelian cosmology. After attending Mästlin's lectures on the superiority of Nicolaus Copernicus's cosmology, Johannes Kepler embraced Copernicanism. Mästlin published the first correct explanation of earthshine—pale illumination next to the lunar disk crescent due to reflection from the sunlit Earth.