Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of the foundations for Newton’s theory of universal gravitation.
About Johannes Kepler in brief
Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of the foundations for Newton’s theory of universal gravitation. Kepler was a mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Graz, where he became an associate of Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. He also taught mathematics in Linz, and was an adviser to General Wallenstein. He invented an improved version of the refracting telescope. He was mentioned in the telescopic discoveries of his contemporary Galileo Galilei. Kepler’s first work, Mysterium Cosmographic, was the first published defense of the Copernican system. He claimed to have had an epiphany on July 19, 1595, while teaching at Graz. He believed God had created the world according to an intelligible plan that is accessible through the natural light of reason. He defended helocentrism, maintaining that the Sun was the principal source of power in the universe. Despite his studies, near the end of his studies he was recommended for a position as teacher of mathematics and astronomy at the Protestant church. He accepted the position in April 1594, at the age of 23, and began teaching at the Graz school in 1594. He died in 1630, and is buried in the city of Weil der Stadt, Germany.
His son, Johannes Kepler II, was also an astronomer and mathematician, who died in the same year as his father. Kepler is buried at the University of Tübingen, Germany, in what is now known as the Johannes Kepler Memorial Park. He had a daughter, Katharina Guldenmann, who was a healer and herbalist. Kepler died on November 15, 1631, at age 80, in Berlin. He left behind a wife and three children. He wrote a book on the history of the solar system, which was published in 1638. He later became a Copernicans, a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, and a professor of mathematics at Tübinger Stift. Kepler also wrote a series of works on the zodiac, demonstrating the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in zodiacal conjunction. His last work, The Laws of the Zodiac, was written in 1641. He lived in an era when there was no clear distinction between astronomy and astrology, but there was a strong division between astronomy and physics. He treated astronomy as part of a universal mathematical physics. His work was a supplement to Aristotle’s On the Heavens, transforming the ancient tradition of physical cosmology by treating astronomy as a part of the physics of space and time. Kepler claimed to be a superb mathematician and earned a reputation as a skilful astrologyer, casting horoscopes.
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