Why is Kepler so famous?

Johannes Kepler is famous for creating a theory that the planets move around the Sun at varying speeds in elliptical orbits.

What did Johannes Kepler believe in?

Johannes Kepler believed that the universe was created by God but that it reflected his ability in mathematics and order. This meant that humanity could understand the workings of the universe using mathematics and geometry.

What was Kepler's role in the Scientific Revolution?

Johannes Kepler's contribution to the Scientific Revolution was to demonstrate that the planets do indeed move around the Sun as Copernicus had suggested and that they move in elliptical orbits, increasing in speed as they get closer to the Sun.

Johannes Kepler Timeline

Definition

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a German astronomer and mathematician most famous for creating what was up to that point the most accurate model of planetary astronomy with his three laws of planetary motion. Kepler was the first to present a coherent theory that the planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits, that the speed of each planet varies, and that the Sun is responsible for that variation.

More about: Johannes Kepler

Timeline

1571 - 1630
Life of the German astronomer Johannes Kepler.
27 Dec 1571
Johannes Kepler is born in Weil der Stadt, Germany.
1594
Johannes Kepler is appointed the official instructor in astronomy and mathematics at the University of Graz, Austria.
1597
Johannes Kepler marries a rich widow, Barbara Müller.
1597
Johannes Kepler publishes his Mysterium Cosmographicum (The Cosmographical Mystery), which endorses the heliocentric model of Copernicus.
1598
Johannes Kepler moves to Prague to work at the court of Rudolph II.
1604
Johannes Kepler presents his theory of light being focused by the lens onto the retina in his Supplement to Witelo.
1609
Johannes Kepler publishes his Astronomia Nova (The New Astronomy).
1609
Johannes Kepler discovers that Mars has an eliptical orbit around the Sun.
1611
Johannes Kepler writes the treatise Dioptrics on the best optics for an astronomical telescope.
1619
Johanees Kepler publishes his De Harmonices Mundi (Harmonies of the World).
1627
Johannes Kepler publishes his Rudolphine Tables.
15 Nov 1630
Johannes Kepler dies of illness in Regensburg.