Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) discovered his laws of planetary
motion and is widely acknowledged as the "Father of Modern
Physics" for his use of observational data (mostly Brahe's)
and the application of mathematical modeling to astronomical
data.
Johannes Kepler: His Life, His Laws and Times
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler#toc
http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/kepler.html
Episode 21: Kepler's Three Laws - The Mechanical Universe 28:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvOGp1wzTI
Cosmos: "Harmony of the Worlds" Start at 24:30 (32min)
https://vimeo.com/287179518
Harmonies of the World
by Johannes Kelper and Stephen Hawking
Running Press, January 2005
ISBN-10: 0762420189
https://www.amazon.es/Shoulders-Giants-Harmonies-World/dp/0762420189
Book Five of Johannes Kepler's great masterpiece on
planetary motion is presented with an introduction by the
ultimate authority on this topic, noted physicist and
bestselling author Stephen Hawking. Modifying Copernicus's
sun-centered model of the universe, Kepler's 1619 work went
on to establish laws of planetary motion, forming the basis
for Newton's discoveries some 60 years later. As part of our
On the Shoulders of Giants series, this translation of the
original edition of Kepler's monumental essay includes an
insightful biography and a highly accessible summary putting
into context the significance of Harmony of the World.
Tycho & Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership That Forever
Changed Our Understanding of the Heavens
by Kitty Ferguson
Walker Books, March 2002
ISBN-10: 0802713904
https://www.amazon.com/Tycho-Kepler-Kitty-Ferguson/dp/0802713904
For more than thirty years-- mostly in his native Denmark
and then in Prague under the patronage of the Holy Roman
Emperor, Rudolph II-- Tycho had meticulously observed the
movements of the planets and the positions of the stars.
From these observations he developed his Tychonic system of
the universe-- a highly original, if incorrect, scheme that
attempted to reconcile the ancient belief that the Earth
stood still with Nicolaus Copernicus's revolutionary
rearrangement of the solar system some fifty years earlier.
Tycho knew that Kepler, the brilliant young mathematician he
had engaged to interpret his findings, believed in
Copernicus's arrangement, in which all the planets circled
the Sun; and he was afraid his system-- the product of a
lifetime of effort to explain how the universe worked--
would be abandoned.
In point of fact, it was. From his study of Tycho's
observations came Kepler's stunning three Laws of Planetary
Motion-- ever since the cornerstone of cosmology and our
understanding of the heavens. Yet, as Kitty Ferguson
reveals, neither of these giant figures would have his
reputation today without the other. The story of how their
lives and talents were fatefully intertwined is one of the
more memorable sagas in the long history of science.
Set in a singularly turbulent and colorful era in European
history, at the turning point when medieval gave way to
modern, Tycho & Kepler is both a highly original dual
biography and a masterful recreation of how science
advances. From Tycho's fabulous Uraniborg Observatory on an
island off the Danish coast to the court of the Holy Roman
Emperor, Rudolph II; from the religious conflict of the
Thirty Years' War that rocked all of Europe to Kepler's
extraordinary leaps of understanding, Ferguson recounts a
fascinating interplay of science and religion, politics and
personality. Her insights recolor the established characters
of Tycho and Kepler, and her book opens a rich window onto
our place in the universe.
sam.wormley@gmail.com