| Term Paper Title | Johannes Kepler |
| # of Words | 1307 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 5.23 |
Johannes Kepler
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Introduction
Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571. He was born in Weil der Stadt, Germany. His birth city was in a wine region and near France. Weil der Stadt is in southwest Germany where the houses are small and streets were even smaller. Johannes was the son first son of Henry and Katherine Kepler, and since his birthday fell on St. John’s day, he was given the apostle’s name in baptism. Kepler's grandfather was
supposedly from a noble background, and once Mayor of Weil. However, Kepler's father became a mercenary who narrowly avoided the gallows. Kepler's mother, Katherine, was raised by an aunt who was eventually burned as a witch. In later years, Katherine herself was accused of Devil worship, and barely escaped from being burned at the stake. Kepler had six brothers and sisters, three of which, died in infancy. As a seven-month child, Kepler was sickly from birth, and contracted smallpox when very young. His vision was severely defective, and he had various other illnesses fairly constantly. From this unfavorable start, Johannes Kepler began his fascinating trek as a pioneering astronomer.
Life and times of Kepler
Kepler had dreamed for many years to attend the University of Tubingen, a Protestant school. This school was Germany’s best university at the time. He was accepted and studied mostly philosophy and theology, and some math and astronomy.
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Kepler quickly become renowned for being a diligent and gifted student. His mathematical ability was noticed by his astronomy teacher Michael Maestlin. Officially Maestlin taught geocentric (Ptolemaic) astronomy, but able pupils, among them Kepler, were also introduced to the heliocentric astronomy of Copernicus. In August of 1591, he took his masters exam.
Kepler originally intended to become a priest, but in 1594 was persuaded to take up a post teaching mathematics at Graz, Austria, where he stayed for six years. One of the duties of this authority was to make astrological predictions. Despite his earlier efforts at horoscopes, he wrote "a mind accustomed to mathematical deduction, when confronted with the faulty foundations (of astrology) resists a long, long time, like an obstinate mule, until compelled by beating and curses to put its foot into that dirty puddle". Nevertheless, he predicted a cold winter, and an attack by the Turks. Both predictions turned out to be accurate. He was treated with a new respect, and his salary was magnified.
In December of 1594, Kepler fell in love with Barbara Mueller. 1597, he married the reasonably wealthy two-time widow, daughter of a wealthy mill owner. Her fortune was tied up in land, and was adequate, Kepler estimated, to support him after a few years. Kepler stayed at the University of Graz until 1600, when he was pressured to leave due to his Lutheran faith. Kepler traveled to the observatory of the famed Danish Astronomer and Imperial Mathematician, Tycho Brahe, where he became Brahe's assistant. By all accounts, the relationship between the two was strained. We have previously discussed Kepler's upbringing. In contrast, Brahe was from an aristocratic background who shared Kepler's less than witty personality. As a result, the two
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continuously quarreled, and usually failed to resolve their academic and personal differences. However, the two realized that they needed each other. As a result, both learned from each other's writings. Brahe died in 1601, and Kepler assumed his post as imperial mathematician. In addition, Rudolph II requested his service as court astronomer, which Kepler performed until Rudolph's death in 1612,
During his tenure as court astronomer, Johannes Kepler labored over one of his most impressive works: Astronomia Nova. Johannes Kepler was named the private mathematicus in the newly acquired Duchy of Sagan in 1628. Unfortunately, neither this position nor his previous one was a lucrative profession due to the Thirty Years War. As such, Kepler was left having to borrow money to travel to collect an old debt l...Read entire document
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