Johannes Kepler, 'Harmonices Mundi' (1619)

Full Title: Johannes Kepler, Harmonices Mundi (Linz, 1619)

Kepler (1571–1630) was a German astronomer and mathematician. In Harmonices Mundi (the harmony of the world) he details the relationship between geometry and the mechanical nature of the universe. Browne owned many of Kepler’s publications. In one, Kepler considers the significance of the number five in relation to the angles between the stars. This may have inspired Browne’s own observations on the geometry of nature, which he saw to be ordered in fives.