Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, in the town of Weil der Stadt, which is now known as Germany. When Johannes was five years old, his father, Heinrich Kepler, was killed in Holland fighting as a mercenary. His mother, Katharina Guldenmann, helped run an inn owned by her father. His hands were crippled and his eyesight permanently impaired by smallpox. Despite these difficulties, he had the ability to solve any math problem that was brought to him by guests at his grandfather inn. His mother made a point of taking him out at night to show him interesting things in the sky, for example a comet and a lunar eclipse. Kepler was schooled in Latin, and then he attended the Protestant Seminary of Maulbronn, because he wanted to become …show more content…
There are three laws to Kepler’s laws of planetary motion. The first law states “The path of the planets about the sun is elliptical in shape, with the center of the sun being located at one focus. (The Law of Ellipses)”. Next, the second law states “An imaginary line drawn from the center of the sun to the center of the planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time. (The Law of Equal Areas)”. Finally, the third law states “The ratio of the squares of the periods of any two planets is equal to the ratio of the cubes of their average distances from the sun. (The Law of Harmonies)”. Kepler was one of the first to incorporate the field of physics and the field of astronomy. This caused some controversy, however his ideas became more widely read and accepted after his …show more content…
A planet moves fastest when it is closest to the sun and slowest when it is furthest from the sun. Kepler's third law compares the orbital period and radius of orbit of a planet to those of other planets. Unlike Kepler's first and second laws that describe the motion characteristics of a single planet, the third law makes a comparison between the motion characteristics of different planets.The comparison being made is that the ratio of the squares of the periods to the cubes of their average distances from the sun is the same for every one of the planets. Kepler's third law provides an accurate description of the period and distance for a planet's orbits about the sun. However, Kepler made many other contributions to science as well. He discovered a new star (a supernova); he analysed how the human eye works; he made improvements to the telescope, and made other contributions in the field of optics (the study of light).. He published accurate data on the positions of stars and planets which were of valuable to navigators.He made various contributions to mathematics, including faster methods of calculation, and investigated the volume of many solid bodies. Kepler also spent time investigating the dating of historical events in the Bible, including the birth of Jesus. In addition, he wrote a story called The Dream which
Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 in Thorn, Poland. He was the youngest son of four children and the son of a prosperous merchant. Following his father's death, his Uncle Lukas Watzelrode, bishop of Ermland, adopted him. Copernicus began his studies in Thorn and then at the University of Cracow where he studied mathematics and became very interested in humanistic studies.1 Copernicus left Cracow for Italy where he went to the Universities of Bologna and later Padua. He studied many different subjects including mathematics, canon law, and astronomy. Copernicus received a degree in medicine at the University of Padua, and went on to receive his doctorate from the University of Ferrara in canon law.
Looking at all that has been mentioned, Kepler found that in fact Pythagoras had a certain approach to what the music scale, in relation to the planets, was. He managed to built melodies of the numbers that he discovered by observing the planets that brought together would create what he believed was the one true Harmony of the World. As it has already been mentioned before, Kepler believed that God’s creation should be able to be discovered by humans and since he also believed in the celestial music created by God himself, that scale should be the “one” scale thought by God. Nonetheless, though the theoretical explanation of this is quite obscure and complex, it can be better understood if we analyze how it applies to musical compositions.
In 1687, Newton published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (also known as Principia). The Principia was the “climax of Newton's professional life” (“Sir Isaac Newton”, 370). This book contains not only information on gravity, but Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. The First Law states that an object in constant motion will remain in motion unless an outside force is applied. The Second Law states that an object accelerates when a force is applied to a mass and greater force is needed to accelerate an object with a larger mass. The Third Law states that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. These laws were fundamental in explaining the elliptical orbits of planets, moons, and comets. They were also used to calculate
The first record of the movement of the planets was produced by Nicolaus Copernicus. He proposed that the earth was the center of everything, which the term is called geocentric. Kepler challenged the theory that the sun was the center of the earth and proposed that the sun was the center of everything; this term is referred to as heliocentric. Kepler’s heliocentric theory was accepted by most people and is accepted in today’s society. One of Kepler’s friends was a famous person named Galileo. Galileo is known for improving the design and the magnification of the telescope. With improvement of the telescope Galileo could describe the craters of the moon and the moons of Jupiter. Galileo also created the number for acceleration of all free falling objects as 9.8 meters per second. Galileo’s and Kepler’s theories were not approved by all people. Their theories contradicted verses in the bible, so the protestant church was extremely skeptical of both Galileo and Kepler’s
As technology advances on Earth, increased standards of living and life expectancy have taken a toll on Earth’s fleeting, finite resources. Kepler potentially provides scientists with information regarding planets that can serve as a future home when resources have diminished and information that can foreshadow inevitabilities about Earth through older, Earth-like planets. Kepler’s primary mission is to discover extrasolar planets within a habitable zone that have sizes relatively similar to that of Earth’s. Previous planetary research detected giant planets that were much more massive than Earth. In addition to detection, Kepler is designed to examine the planets and stars that reside in the Earth-like planet’s system.
Sir Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, England on January 4, 1643. He was underdeveloped and very small as a baby, being born a couple months premature to his mother, Hannah Newton. From the time he was a toddler, Newton lived with his grandmother (his father died three months prior to his birth and his mother moved away to get remarried to prosperous minister). Newton would fill his need for parents with God. As a boy, he studied the Bible for days on end, finding inspiration and developing his spiritual character. In fact, his grandmother decided she would enroll him in a school for the mentoring of future ministers. These events would cause Newton to develop a relentless work ethic.
orbit is the most circular of any planet, with an eccentricy of less than 1%.
Stars are luminous spheres that have been around longer than humans. In fact, it has been said that, “We are a way for the universe to know itself. Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can, because the cosmos is also within us. We're made of star stuff.” [1] Just like any other animate object, stars also go through a life cycle. They grow up, live their life, and slowly but surely die out. Stars can live for billions and even trillions of years. The life span of a star depends on how fast or how slow they use up and burn their nuclear fuel. The size of the star also determines the longevity.
In his book, Repcheck recounts how a Catholic Church cleric invented a highly complicated theory of the heavens’ architecture. Copernicus made a breakthrough by solving a significant astronomical problem. Everybody except the astronomers had earlier accepted Aristotle’s concept that heavenly objects revolved around the earth in perfectly circular orbits. The astronomers were opposed to this notion since their calculations could not work according to it. Repcheck introduces Ptolemy who described a cosmos in which the earth positioned itself somewhat off-center and other heavenly bodies revolved in one circular orbit inside a second ideal circle at changeable speeds. Even though Ptolemy’s model was rather complicated, astronomers found it to be reasonable in their calculations. Astronomers were still using this new concept even 1500 years later. In this regard, the author starts to bring Copernicus into the picture.
However, if the path’s center is displaced from the Earth, the body will sweep out equal angles in unequal times (again, from a terrestrial perspective), moving slowest when farthest from the Earth (apogee) and fastest when nearest the Earth (perigee). With this simple eccentric model Ptolemy explained the Sun’s varying motion through the zodiac. Another version of the model, suitable for the Moon, had the direction of the line from apogee to perigee gradually shifted. In order to explain the motion of the planets, Ptolemy combined eccentricity with an epicyclic model.
Ever since the beginning of time there have been stars. Not only stars in the sky, but moons, planets, and even galaxies! Astronomy is defined as the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole. In other words it is the study of space, planets, and stars. Throughout the ages, many people have used astronomy to help them learn about the universe, our own planet, and even make predictions about life itself. Understanding astronomy means understanding where it originated, the different groups/cultures that used it, and modern purposes of the science of the stars.
Over the years there have been many more important figures in astronomy. One extraordinary astronomer was Galileo Galilei who invented the first refractor telescope in which light is bent to enlarge an image of the sky (“Galileo Project”). The next great astronomer to follow him was Isaac Newton. Newton had made a great amount of contributions to astronomy during his life. He further proved that the Earth was not the center of the universe and he also invented the Newtonian reflector telescope which is still used today in observatories. Also, he discovered that light could be split into a visible spectrum of colors. Spectral colors from stars would later be used to determine their size, temperature, chemical composition, and even the direction the star is moving.
There are eight planets in our solar system. The first planet closest to the sun is Mercury. Therefore, Mercury is the hottest planet. Mercury’s surface is cold. However, in the daytime Mercury can get as hot as 840 degrees fahrenheit, which is 450 degrees celsius. During night time the temperature can decrease to 275 degrees fahrenheit, or -170 degrees celsius. Mercury is the smallest planet. Mercury is the quickest planet to move around the sun. Its speed is approximately 112,000 mph along its elliptical orbit. Mercury can move around the sun in 88 days. There are craters in mercury, and scientist believe ice is in the craters.
Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy on February 15th, 1564. His father, Vincenzo was a music teacher and musician. After his family moved to Florence, Galilei was sent to a monastery to be educated. He was so happy there that he decided to become a monk, but his father wanted him to be a medical doctor and brought him home to Florence. He was never really interested in medicine and studied mathematics at the University of Pisa. He was especially interested in famous mathematicians like Euclid (geometry) and Archimedes. In fact in 1586 he wrote his first book about one of Archimedes theories. He eventually became head of mathematics at the University of Pisa where he first wrote about a very important idea that he developed. It was about using experiments to test theories. He wrote about falling bodies in motion using inclined planes to test his theories.
Nicholaus Copernicus is one of the most well known astronomers of all time. He is even labeled as the founder of modern astronomy for the proposition of his heliocentric theory (“Nicolaus Copernicus”, Scientists: Their Lives and Works). The heliocentric theory was revolutionary for Copernicus’ time. Copernicus lived during the Renaissance. “The era of the Renaissance (roughly 1400-1600) is usually known for the “rebirth” of an appreciation of ancient Greek and Roman art forms, along with other aspects of classical teachings that tended to diminish the virtually exclusive concentration on religious teachings during the preceding centuries of the “Dark Ages.” New thinking in science was also evident in this time…” This time period became known as the scientific revolution (“Copernicus: On The Revolutions Of Heavenly Bodies). In other words, old ideas were revived in the arts and other means and less emphasis was placed o...