It is a remarkable fact in the history of astronomy (says Sir
David Brewster), that three of its most distinguished professors
were contemporaries. Galileo was the contemporary of Tycho during
thirty-seven years, and of Kepler during the fifty-nine years
of his life. Galileo was born seven years before Kepler, and
survived him nearly the same time. We have not learned that the
intellectual triumvirate of the age enjoyed any opportunity for mutual
congratulation. What a privilege would it have been to have contrasted
the aristocratic dignity of Tycho with the reckless ease of Kepler, and
the manly and impetuous mien of the Italian sage!--_Brewster’s Life of
Newton._