By examining the pressing questions the supernova of 1604 prompted, Kepler's New Star traces the enduring impact of Kepler and his star on the course of modern science.
The Copernican question Westman, Robert S
2011., 20110702, 2011, c2011., 2011-07-28, 20110101
eBook
In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus publicly defended his hypothesis that the earth is a planet and the sun a body resting near the center of a finite universe. But why did Copernicus make this bold ...proposal? And why did it matter? The Copernican Question reframes this pivotal moment in the history of science, centering the story on a conflict over the credibility of astrology that erupted in Italy just as Copernicus arrived in 1496. Copernicus engendered enormous resistance when he sought to protect astrology by reconstituting its astronomical foundations. Robert S. Westman shows that efforts to answer the astrological skeptics became a crucial unifying theme of the early modern scientific movement. His interpretation of this "long sixteenth century," from the 1490s to the 1610s, offers a new framework for understanding the great transformations in natural philosophy in the century that followed.
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In Measuring Shadows , Raz Chen-Morris demonstrates that a close study of Kepler’s Optics is essential to understanding his astronomical work and his scientific epistemology. He explores ...Kepler’s radical break from scientific and epistemological traditions and shows how the seventeenth-century astronomer posited new ways to view scientific truth and knowledge. Chen-Morris reveals how Kepler’s ideas about the formation of images on the retina and the geometrics of the camera obscura, as well as his astronomical observations, advanced the argument that physical reality could only be described through artificially produced shadows, reflections, and refractions.
Breaking from medieval and Renaissance traditions that insisted upon direct sensory perception, Kepler advocated for instruments as mediators between the eye and physical reality, and for mathematical language to describe motion. It was only through this kind of knowledge, he argued, that observation could produce certainty about the heavens. Not only was this conception of visibility crucial to advancing the early modern understanding of vision and the retina, but it affected how people during that period approached and understood the world around them.
Spanning the course of his career, this book brings new light to Kepler's vitalistic views and their central place in his world picture. It challenges our view of Kepler as a nascent mechanical ...philosopher who fell back on an older form of physics.
In Measuring Shadows , Raz Chen-Morris demonstrates that
a close study of Kepler's Optics is essential to
understanding his astronomical work and his scientific
epistemology. He explores Kepler's ...radical break from scientific
and epistemological traditions and shows how the
seventeenth-century astronomer posited new ways to view scientific
truth and knowledge. Chen-Morris reveals how Kepler's ideas about
the formation of images on the retina and the geometrics of the
camera obscura, as well as his astronomical observations, advanced
the argument that physical reality could only be described through
artificially produced shadows, reflections, and refractions.
Breaking from medieval and Renaissance traditions that insisted
upon direct sensory perception, Kepler advocated for instruments as
mediators between the eye and physical reality, and for
mathematical language to describe motion. It was only through this
kind of knowledge, he argued, that observation could produce
certainty about the heavens. Not only was this conception of
visibility crucial to advancing the early modern understanding of
vision and the retina, but it affected how people during that
period approached and understood the world around them.
Kepler is a key figure in the development of modern astronomy. His work is also important in the history of philosophy and methodology of science as a whole. The present study is concerned with one ...of Kepler's major preoccupations, namely his search for the geometrical plan according to which God created the Universe. The author discusses how Kepler's cosmological theories, which embrace music and astrology as well as astronomy, are related to his other work. The subject will be of great interest to historians of science, mathematicians and astronomers as well as to historians of the late Renaissance.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) is remembered, along with Copernicus and Galileo, as one of the greatest Renaissance astronomers. A gifted analytical thinker, he made major contributions to physics, ...astronomy, and mathematics. Kepler was trained as a theologian, yet did not hesitate to challenge church doctrine and prevailing scientific beliefs by supporting the theory of a Sun-centered solar system. As Imperial Mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor, he analyzed the precise observations of the heavens that his predecessor, the great astronomer Tycho Brahe, had recorded. The book follows the ingenious scientist along the difficult pathway from raw data to his monumental discovery--the three Laws of Planetary Motion. Kepler also made fundamental contributions to optical theory, including a correct description of the function of the eye and a new and improved telescope design. His unique Rudolfine Tables, universal calculations of planetary motion, were unprecedented in their accuracy. James Voelkel vividly describes these scientific achievements, providing enough background in astronomy and geometry so even beginners can follow Kepler's thinking and enjoy this book. Equally captivating is his account of Kepler's tumultuous life, plagued by misery, disease, war, and fervent religious persecution. Oxford Portraits in Science is an ongoing series of scientific biographies for young adults. Written by top scholars and writers, each biography examines the personality of its subject as well as the thought process leading to his or her discoveries. These illustrated biographies combine accessible technical information with compelling personal stories to portray the scientists whose work has shaped our understanding of the natural world.
