This largely untold story of the "Protestant Galileo," Johannes Kepler, vividly brings to life the tidal forces of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, revealing Kepler's neglected role as a hero of conscience. The doorway into Kepler's life and times begins with the sensational witchcraft trial of his elderly mother, Katharina, an eccentric woman who, like Kepler, was too smart for the world she lived in. The story is filled with crooked judges, sadistic bailiffs, and nasty neighbors bent on the destruction of this single, half-mad old woman. In the seventeenth century, witches were the terrorists of their day, and thousands--mostly women--had gone to the stake by the time of Katharina Kepler's trial. Thus Kepler was concerned with more than scientific discoveries and achievement--he fought for religious peace and reconciliation, even when it nearly cost him his life.--From publisher description.