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Kepler 's Laws Of Planetary Motion

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Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician and astronomer. Best known for his laws of planetary motion, Kepler was a key figure in the scientific revolution in the 17th century. His laws illustrate the fundamental properties of the orbits of the planets and were also a precursor to the formulation of Newton’s law of gravitation. Biography: Kepler was introduced to astronomy in his early years and developed a passion for it, which would span his entire life. At age six, he observed the Great Comet of 1577. At age nine, he observed another astronomical event, a lunar eclipse in 1580. While in school, Kepler had proven to be an excellent mathematician and earned a reputation as a skillful astrologer, being able to cast horoscopes for fellow students. He also learnt both the Ptolemaic system and the Copernican system of planetary motion and, similar to Copernicus, believed that the sun was the centre of the solar system. He became a mathematics and astronomy teacher at a school in Graz, despite his desire to become a minister, but soon left to Prague and met Tycho Brahe. Tycho Brahe: Brahe, from a rich Danish noble family, was fascinated by the vast solar system and the universe. Disappointed with the accuracy of the data for the motions of the planets at the time, he decided to dedicate his life and resources to recording planetary positions, which proved to be far more accurate than the best previous work. After some early successes, and

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