SPACE — Astronomer Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century established the basic laws governing planetary motion. His work became the basis of modern scientists’ understanding of planetary orbits.
Kepler, without any knowledge of gravitational forces, managed to explain the motion of the planets around the sun through his three laws of planetary motion. His work was key in providing support for Nicolaus Copernicus’ theory that the sun was at the center of the solar system, not the Earth.
Here are some interesting facts about Johannes Kepler:
1. Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, in the Free Imperial City of Weil der Stadt, which is now near Stuttgart, Germany.
2. Kepler’s father, a soldier, abandoned him at a young age. He was raised as a Lutheran by his mother and grandparents.
3. Kepler showed talent in mathematics and his interest in the cosmos was sparked by two astronomical events, namely the Great Comet in 1577 and a total lunar eclipse in 1580. However, smallpox left his hands paralyzed and his eyesight damaged.
4. As a teenager, Kepler studied at the Cistercian monastery at Adelberg. There he studied Latin, which prepared him for his academic studies. Kepler then went to the University of Tübingen in Germany, where he studied philosophy.
5. In Tübingen, Kepler was introduced to Copernicanism by his mathematics professor, Michael Maestlin, who explained the heliocentric model of the solar system. Kepler immediately rejected the geocentric theory and tended towards the heliocentric model.
The heliocentric theory calls the Sun the center of the Solar System while the Geocentric theory calls the Earth the center of the Solar System.
6. At the end of the 16th century, heliocentrism was still an unpopular theory. However, in Tübingen, Kepler explored both theories.
After reading the works of Copernicus, Kepler rejected the geocentric theory and leaned more towards the heliocentric model.
7. Although heliocentrism made logical sense, observational evidence was lacking in the late 16th century. Kepler decided to provide such evidence.
8. In 1594, Kepler took a position teaching mathematics and astronomy in Graz, Austria. There, while playing with geometric shapes, Kepler developed the concept that planetary orbits could be described through mathematical shapes.
9. Kepler believed that the ratio of the sizes of the circles corresponded to the ratio of the orbits of the planets, and he interpreted that between each planet’s orbit there was a Platonic “mathematical body.” In 1596, his ideas were published in the book “Mysterium Cosmographicum.”
10. Kepler also developed strange ideas, such as in his 1619 book “Harmonices Mundi,” where he claimed that the motion of six planets could be explained through musical notes and that their orbits produced harmonies.
2024-03-17 04:19:00
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