Johannes+Kepler

Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, in southwest Germany. As a young child Kepler contracted Smallpox and his vision became severely defective. Kepler's early education was in a local school and then at a nearby seminary, Kepler went on to receive a scholarship at the University of Tuebingen which was a Protestant institution. Kepler and his family were devout Protestants and he planned to study mainly theology and philosophy, however, he went on to study mathematics and astronomy as well. Kepler was married twice in his life and he died on November, 16, 1630. Much of Kepler’s work in astronomy and math has to do with his belief in a living God and the fact that God made the universe as a work of geometrical art. One of Kepler’s accomplishments is that he explained the close packing of equal spheres which explained how honeycombs were formed. Kepler also came up with a method of finding the volumes of solids know as indivisibles which is where you “slice” a solid into infinitely many thin layers and summing up there volumes which contributed to the world of calculus. His mathematic skills determined the birth date of Jesus Christ that is most commonly accepted amongst Christians. One of Kepler’s most well known accomplishments are his laws of planetary motion. Kepler’s discoveries still live on in today’s society and have has a profound effect on the world of mathematics including logarithms, calculus, and indivisibles. Because of Kepler we no longer believe that the earth is the center of the universe or that planets revolve in perfect circles around the sun. The laws of planetary motion went on to become the foundation to Sir Isaac Newton’s work. Kepler’s work also provided a commonly taught method of testing all around the world… the scientific method.

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