This notion was not altogether new; it had been suggested in the case of Mercury, by Purbach, in his "Theories of the Planets." In the edition of this work published by Reinhold, the pupil of Copernicus, we read the following passage. "Sixthly, it appears from what has been said, that the centre of Mercury's epicycle, by reason of the motions above-mentioned, does not, as is the case with the other planets, describe the circumference of a circular deferent, but rather the periphery of a figure resembling a plane oval." To this is added the following note by Reinhold. "The centre of the Moon's epicycle describes a path of a lenticular shape; Mercury's on the contrary is egg-shaped, the big end lying towards his apogee, and the little end towards his perigee."[191] The excentricity of Mercury's orbit is, in fact, much greater than that of any of the other planets, and the merit of making this first step cannot reasonably be withheld from Purbach and his commentator, although they did not pursue the inquiry so far as Kepler found himself in a condition to do.
Before proceeding to the consideration of the particular oval which Kepler fixed upon in the first instance, it will be necessary, in order to render intelligible the source of many of his doubts and difficulties, to make known something more of his theory of the moving force by which he supposed the planets to be carried round in their orbits. In conformity with the plan hitherto pursued, this shall be done as much as possible in his own words.