Unveiling the Enigmatic Genius: Johannes Kepler and His Extraordinary Contributions
Johannes Kepler was born in 1571 in Weil, a city in southern Germany. He was still only four years old when he became a victim of smallpox very badly. This made his eyes very weak, and he was almost lulled by his hands.
His father was a soldier and was considered lucky. His mother was the daughter of an inn-keeper.
Father was often intoxicated, mother’s mind was also often out of place. His own eyes had turned red, his hands were limp, and the rest of his body was also weak and useless. Despite all these obstacles, Johannes was a brilliant student since childhood. The governing body of the churches decided his future and he entered the ‘Gurukul’ of the Christians to study theology.
He earned a scholarship to the University of Tubingen. After reaching here, he came in contact with the ideas of Copernicus that how the planets and constellations revolve around the Sun. His fascination for science and mathematics turned into a paranoia. He gave up all his old thoughts of becoming a priest. At the age of 23 he was invited by the University of Graz and he accepted the appointment as professor of astronomy.
Kepler married a girl from a wealthy family, and it seemed that the direction of his life was now decided. But religious movements arose and it became impossible for him (he was a Protestant) to stay in Graz.
It is astonishing to know that this man, in spite of being a priest of science, had some faith in oceanography. Marking the positions of the stars and constellations, he used to record the divine events of his life as they were; However, his own point was that I do not believe in astrology even an iota. But the superstitions of the past undoubtedly had some influence on his thoughts. The ‘subtle’ study of the movement of the constellations based on mathematics, where it was concerned, it made tangible
Even in relation to the perfection of figures-cube, tetrahedron, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron, an introspection-like, a ‘gross’ rule-like, was tried to be presented. It was a step in the wrong direction from a scientific point of view, in that, perhaps unconsciously, he was following the unscientific notion of the ancient Greek philosophers that the universe remained a mass of perfect figures.
Kepler had to leave Gratz. In those days, Denmark’s famous astronomer Tycho Brahe had also settled in Prague after being in exile. It was here that both the scientists met. But Brahe was against Copernicus. His temporary divine laws, and the laws of science would be disrupted if we accept that the center of the universe is the Sun! According to this faith, he tried to scientifically support this misconception which has been going on since ancient times that the center of the constellation is the earth. The count of Brahe’s constellation-related direct and subtle investigations had reached several thousand, and the world of science is still grateful to him for his rendering of the relative position of the stars in the sky, published in 1592 AD. It is possible that he himself felt that he was still in error because he appointed Kepler as his companion and successor, although Kepler’s view was that The center of the universe is not the Earth, but the Sun.
Tycho Brahe died in 1601 AD. Even after that, Kepler’s planetary calculations continued. Microscopic studies of 228 other stars were done under his chairmanship. It was only by analyzing Brahe’s collected studies that Kepler was able to determine some laws about the motion of the planets, which were later explained by Newton in accordance with the fundamental theory of gravitation. Even today those laws of Kepler and Newton have not been refuted in science. These are the rules that govern man-made satellites as well.
Kepler’s new discovery was not only that the orbit of the constellations around the Sun is elliptical, but also that the speed of each constellation changes continuously while orbiting in its own circumference. As the constellations reach closer to the Sun, their speed increases. Kepler also calculated how much time it takes for a constellation to orbit the Sun. The planets and constellations which are near the Sun, they take a little less time in this orbit.
According to the rules of mathematics, Kepler has shown everything about the constellations by counting every moment, what should be the actual position and activity of each constellation. When we read these subtle studies of Kepler, we are surprised how he was able to make such accurate predictions, especially about the Earth, when today we know that the path of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is almost circular. If its circumference is 100 feet in one direction, it will be 99% feet in the other direction. This can give some idea of how the Earth revolves around the Sun in this elliptical ‘circle’. And, this also makes it clear how difficult it was to defeat the centuries-old notion of the circle as the perfect circumference.
Kepler also made discoveries in other related areas of science. The establishments he developed in relation to human vision and vision science are of great importance in the field of ‘diffraction’ of light. Even the foundation stone for preparing a telescope for the study of constellations and planets was laid as rules. His discoveries in the field of mathematics mostly came close to inventing calculus, and he also made correct hypotheses regarding gravity and the tides of the oceans.
Johannes Kepler died in 1630 AD, 12 years before the birth of Isaac Newton. Newton had at least one foot on the shoulders of this giant of science in compiling his great work.
A scientific fact regarding the orbit of planets and satellites was first propounded by Johannes Kepler in these words: “And it is possible that this truth itself may now lie in wait for a scholar for a whole century, just as the creation Its originator has been puzzled for 6,000 years waiting for its discoverer!” He knew that his explanation of the motion of the planets, which he had then published in 1618, would not be popular—and would be considered ‘heretical’. Kepler agreed with Copernicus’ view that the center of the universe is the Sun, and that the Earth revolves around the Sun. This was also the scientific truth, but ‘public perception’ was not in his favor.
And in addition to this, Kepler introduced another theory which was based on his personal observation that these planets and constellations do not revolve around the Sun in perfect circles. How could this theory also get popularity. For centuries, the scientific circle has been the best figure – or
Were following the circumambulation route. The circle was a God-given object and, therefore, no other way of orbiting was possible for celestial objects.
Well, after Johannes Kepler published his theories, at least a century later, someone will be born to agree with him. These laws of Kepler were so complete that two centuries have passed and the possibility of amendment in them could not be found even then.