I'm not sure whether Isaac Newton would thank me for writing a book about him that, while it does place great emphasis on his life and work, places equal emphasis on his undesirable character traits and even calls him an “asshole.” He most probably wouldn't—I, however, am only too pleased to express my thanks to him, whom I consider to be one of the greatest geniuses of all time and whose work forms the basis of my own work and career as an astronomer. Without Newton, I couldn't have become an astronomer and couldn't have written this book, so thanks a lot, Isaac Newton!

I'd also like to thank my editor, Christian Koth, who was of great assistance in ensuring that I didn't get lost in the vast quantity of material and stories about Isaac Newton, and without whom this book would not have ended up as it is.

I am also grateful to all of my colleagues at the Science Busters; over the course of many discussions and appearances, they have helped me to understand how to present complex specialist topics as entertainingly as possible.

Thanks to Thomas Posch from the Vienna University Observatory for the wonderful guided tour of the museum there, for answering my questions on the history of astronomy, and giving me the chance to browse through books that Kepler once browsed through.

And finally, I'd like to thank the test readers, who reliably informed me when things were not clear enough: many thanks to Dagmar Fuchs, Nina Wallerstorfer, André Lampe, Florian Rodler, Matthias Kittel, and Franziska Hufsky.

Thank you!