Kepler's \textit{Epitome of Copernican astronomy} in context (Q6604577)

Kepler's \textit{Epitome of Copernican astronomy} comprised three volumes, published in 1618, 1620, and 1621, respectively. The present article argues that Kepler consciously altered his target audience midstream, from a student readership for the first volume to an expert readership for the latter two. Rothman proposes that a significant factor behind this change was the 1619 placement of the first volume on the Index. He also presents the Thirty Years' War as a secondary influence on Kepler's reorientation of the \textit{Epitome}.