November 15, 1630
Johannes Kepler, the renowned German mathematician and astronomer best known for his laws of planetary motion, passed away in Regensburg.
Regensburg, Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany)
On November 15, 1630, the influential German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler passed away in Regensburg, part of present-day Germany. Kepler’s contributions to astronomy were monumental, most notably his formulation of the three laws of planetary motion, which became pivotal in the advancement of the scientific revolution.
Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, in Weil der Stadt, in Swabia, within the Holy Roman Empire. His early fascination with mathematics and astronomy was kindled by observing the Great Comet of 1577 and a lunar eclipse in 1580. Orphaned at a young age and coming from a humble background, he overcame significant hardships to pursue his education, eventually studying at the University of Tübingen.
Kepler’s work fundamentally altered the understanding of celestial mechanics. His three laws of planetary motion corrected the long-standing Ptolemaic model that had dominated astronomical thought:
The Law of Ellipses: Kepler discovered that planets orbit the sun in an elliptical path rather than a perfect circle.
The Law of Equal Areas: This law describes the speed at which planets travel, positing that a line segment joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.
The Harmonic Law: Kepler established that the square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.
These laws contributed substantially to Isaac Newton’s development of the law of universal gravitation.
Kepler spent his life navigating various political and religious turmoil, which often influenced his professional endeavors. He worked most notably in Prague as an assistant to the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe and later held positions in Linz and Sagan.
Johannes Kepler passed away in Regensburg, likely due to fever. Though his grave was lost during the upheavals of the Thirty Years’ War, Kepler’s legacy endured through his revolutionary work in astronomy, which paved the way for modern celestial science. His meticulous recordings and innovative approaches remain a touchstone in the history of astronomy, signaling a significant shift toward a heliocentric understanding of the universe.
Source: en.wikipedia.org