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By Shawn Whortham, Devin Snelson, and
Greg Shaw
Johannes Kepler was one of the best early astronomers as well
as a very capable mathematician. He was born in 1571 and died
in the year 1630. Kepler declared that he built his astronomy
from 'the hypotheses of Copernicus, the observations of Tycho
Brahe and the magnetical science of William Gilbert'. Several of
his works were published in Latin, such as his 1609 ‘New
Aetiological Astronomy’ and his 1619 ‘The Harmonies of the
World’. ‘Rudolphine Tables’, published in 1627, enables
astromoners to calculate the postions of the planets and some
other predictions which were very beneficial. All of his works and
theories made Kepler the foremost astronomer of his time
(Johannes Kepler – and).

Johannes Kepler had made an immense influence on modern physics.
He is credited the founder of “celestial mechanics” and the first to
explain planetary motion. He is best known for his laws of planetary
motion, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy.
Kepler demonstrated incredible interest and success in the field of
optics, including his enhancement to the refracting telescope. Isaac
Newton's theory of universal gravitation came about because of the
work of Kepler. Kepler’s findings have greatly impacted the world, and

his work has provided a basis for several astromers (Fowler).
Johannes Kepler believed he saw the planetary orbits
as six concentric circles, also known as the Copernican
system. He felt the universe would somehow show
mathematical symmetry. After a disappointing
discovery about his first theory, Kepler hypothesized
the universe was really three-dimensional. ‘Mysterium
Cosmographicum’ was his work which explained the
mysteries of the universe. Kepler’s canalizations and
calculations about the universe have proved vital in our
modern day understanding of astronomy (Fowler).

The illustration to the right
displaysa representation of the
universe; the central part is at
the top right.
Kepler published the seven-volume "Epitome
Astronomiae" in 1621. The findings in “Epitome
Astronomiae” explained heliocentric astronomy in a
systematic way. After this, Kepler completed the
Rudolphine Tables. These tables included multiple
calculations using his self-developed logarithms and
provided continuous tables for calculating planetary
positions for any date. Kepler also used the tables to
predict a pair of transits by Mercury and Venus of the
Sun (Johannes Kepler – Astronomy). Kepler’s works
greatly effected the astronomy field and helped lead
other astronomers to findings.

Aside from astronomy, Kepler was also active in the
field of optics. Inspired by Galileo's discoveries of 1609
and 1610, Kepler developed a theory of lenses to
explain the operation of the telescope. He published this
work in 1611 as a small book titled Dioptrice. In his
book Dioptrice , Kepler was the first to describe real,
virtual, upright, and inverted images and magnification.
Kepler also explains the principle of how a telescope
works. Lastly, Dioptrice discovers and describes the
properties of total internal reflection (Johannes Kepler –

Astronomy).
Not only did Kepler work with astronomy and
optics, he had several others contributions to
physics. His book "Stereometrica Doliorum"
formed the basis of integral calculus. Kepler
was also the first to explain that the tides are
caused by the moon. He tried to use stellar
parallax caused by the Earth's orbit to measure
the distance to the stars. Finally, he was the
earliest to suggest that the Sun rotates about its
axis in his work "Astronomia Nova” (Johannes
Kepler – Astronomy).

Fowler, Michael. "Johannes Kepler." Galileo and
Einstein Home Page. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.
"Johannes Kepler - and His Early Astronomy and
Physics." New-science-theory.com. New Science
Theory. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.
"Johannes Kepler - Astronomy." About.com. Web. 13
Apr. 2011.


Isaac Newton revised Kepler's First Law to
include other types of trajectories than just
ellipses. These are the hyperbola and
parabola. It is now called the Law of Conic
Sections.

Isaac Newton revised Kepler’s second law to
include not just planets orbiting the Sun but
any kind of orbital system, as well as any
system of angular motion. It is used in many
contexts today and is called the Law of the
Conservation of Angular Momentum.

“The Science of Astronomy.” Metropolitain
State College of Denver. N.p., n.d. Web. 7
Apr. 2011.
<http://www.mscd.edu/physics/astro/notes/
notes3.htm>.

Kepler himself was a very religious person. He
saw the scientific work he did as his way of
fulfilling his Godly purpose, this purpose
being better understanding the world God
created.

Due to the growing acceptance of the
heliocentric theory, organized religion was
interested in the studies of Kelper. The
discovery of the Kepler Laws was generally
actually accepted by the church. The believed
that better knowing the universe would bring
about a better knowledge of God himself.

The church may have at first been accepting
of the new discoveries; however, now the
church felt threatened in its authority. Most
prior scientists had avoided this by not
publishing works, but Kepler and a few others
were tired of this added issue.

The church continued to be touchy about new
scientific discoveries. This was evident in the
punishments put on Galileo Galilei, who was
put under house arrest and ordered by the
church to publicly denounce his own
discoveries.


History World International. (n.d.). Impact Of
The Scientific Revolution. Retrieved April 14,
2011, from The European Dream Of Progress
And Enlightenment: http://historyworld.org/science,%20Impact%20of.htm
Field, J. V. “Kepler Biography.” University of St
Andrews. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2011.
<http://www-history.mcs.stand.ac.uk/Biographies/Kepler.html>.

Kepler was a fantastic scientist,
mathematician, and discoverer of all things
universal. Without him, we would not have
made nearly the advancements in science that
we have.

The impacts of science on religion can be a
very negative thing. When the church tries to
regulate science, it almost always ends badly.
However, sometimes all we need to better
understand God is a better understanding of
how the universe He created works
scientifically, or at least that was Kepler’s
belief.