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Johannes Kepler
hideJohannes Kepler (pronounced /ˈkɛplər/) (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution. He is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astrononomy. They also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation.
During his career, Kepler was a mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Graz, Austria, an assistant to astronomer Tycho Brahe, the court mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II, a mathematics teacher in Linz, Austria, and an adviser to General Wallenstein. He also did fundamental work in the field of optics, invented an improved version of the refracting telescope (the Keplerian Telescope), and helped to legitimize the telescopic discoveries of his contemporary Galileo Galilei.
Kepler lived in an era when there was no clear distinction between astronomy and astrology, but there was a strong division between astronomy (a branch of mathematics within the liberal arts) and physics (a branch of natural philosophy). Kepler also incorporated religious arguments and reasoning into his work, motivated by the religious conviction that God had created the world according to an intelligible plan that is accessible through the natural light of reason. Kepler described his new astronomy as "celestial physics", as "an excursion into Aristotle's Metaphysics", and as "a supplement to Aristotle's On the Heavens", transforming the ancient tradition of physical cosmology by treating astronomy as part of a universal mathematical physics.
For more information about Johannes Kepler, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with kepler
Kepler Mission Manager Update
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Kepler experienced a safe mode event on Nov. 18, 2009.
Kepler Mission Update
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Kepler completed another science data download over October 18-19. In this download, a month's worth of science data was transmitted through the NASA Deep Space Network and into the Science ...
Kepler Mission Update
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Kepler is approximately 18 million kilometers (11 million miles) from Earth, and continuing its drift-away orbit. All systems are operating normally. Last week, the Kepler project team completed ...
Kepler and the Search for Life in Our Galaxy
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- There are so many stars in our galaxy that even if planets with complex life (animals and plants) are rare - say one for every billion stars - there could still be dozens here in the Milky ...
Will Kepler find habitable moons?
Sep 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the launch of the NASA Kepler Mission earlier this year, astronomers have been keenly awaiting the first detection of an Earth-like planet around another star. Now, in an echo of science ...
Kepler Detects Atmosphere of Hot World
Aug 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's new exoplanet-hunting Kepler space telescope has detected the atmosphere of a known giant gas planet, demonstrating the telescope's extraordinary scientific capabilities. The discovery ...
Nanoscale zipper cavity responds to single photons of light
Jun 04, 2009 |
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Physicists at the California Institute of Technology have developed a nanoscale device that can be used for force detection, optical communication, and more. The device exploits the mechanical properties of ...
Scientists Develop New Method to Find Alien Oceans, Earth-like Planets (w/Videos)
May 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the early 1990s astronomers have discovered more than 300 planets orbiting stars other than our sun, nearly all of them gas giants like Jupiter. Powerful space telescopes, such as the ...
Let the Planet Hunt Begin
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
May 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Kepler spacecraft has begun its search for other Earth-like worlds. The mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on March 6, will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring ...
Kepler Captures First Views of Planet-Hunting Territory
Apr 16, 2009 |
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NASA's Kepler mission has taken its first images of the star-rich sky where it will soon begin hunting for planets like Earth.
Scientist to 'refine' size of Universe with Kepler
Apr 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An astronomer at the University of St Andrews will use a powerful planet-hunting telescope to find out the true size of the Universe.
Dust Cover Jettisoned From NASA's Kepler Telescope
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Apr 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers have successfully ejected the dust cover from NASA's Kepler telescope, a spaceborne mission soon to begin searching for worlds like Earth.
Adventures in the 'Goldilocks zone'
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 12, 2009 |
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When NASA's Kepler telescope rocketed into the night sky last week, two Berkeley astronomers watching its fading contrail were hoping that the telescope will reveal Earth's — and humanity's — place in the ...
Innovative avionics enable search for habitable planets
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 09, 2009 |
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The search for habitable planets continues with the March 6 launch of the Kepler spacecraft, the latest in NASA's series of low cost, highly focused Discovery missions. Kepler, built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., ...
Kepler Set to Launch Tonight on Planet Finding Mission
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Mar 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Kepler spacecraft and its Delta II rocket are "go" for a launch tonight that is expected to light up the sky along Florida's Space Coast at 10:49 p.m. EST as the rocket lifts off from ...
