Johannes Kepler was born on December 27th, 1571 and died on November 15th, 1630. He is considered to be a pioneer in astronomy because of his three laws of planetary motion. His first law states that orbits are ellipses, so their motion follows conic sections. His second law states that in an orbit, equal areas are swept out in equal times, so that a planet’s orbital speed is faster the closer in distance it is to the Sun. His third law describes the mathematical relationship between distance of the Sun and time to orbit as P2 = ka3. His discoveries changed the way astronomers think about planetary orbits and are still influential today.
Kepler lived in the same time period as many major historical events. In 1611 the King James Version of the Bible was published for the Church of England. In 1620 the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts after traveling from England on the Mayflower. In addition, Kepler lived at the same time as William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was born on April 26, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616. Shakespeare is considered one of the most famous playwrights to ever live and his works are still studied and performed today. Some of his most famous works include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear.
It was really interesting to learn about the timelines of when these people lived because it helped me put their lives into context. Before doing this it was really hard to place these astronomers and their discoveries on a timeline that was relevant to me, but connecting their lives to other historical figures and events helped with that. It was interesting to learn about what else was going on in the world when these astronomers were alive.
Maddy Pollard Blog 