Johannes Kepler, 1571-1630

Johannes Kepler is now chiefly remembered for discovering the three laws of planetary motion that bear his name; the first two published in 1609, and the third in 1619. A large quantity of Kepler's correspondence survives. Many of his letters are almost the equivalent of scientific papers (There were, in his day, no scientific journals). Correspondents kept the letters because they were interesting. In consequence, we know rather a lot about Kepler's life, and indeed about his character.

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