Daily Archives: February 3, 2015

Historical Astronomers in Context

2. Galileo Galilei was an extremely important figure in astronomy. He was the first person to use a telescope to observe the sky and publish his results. He discovered the four satellites around Jupiter. The discovery of the moons showed…

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Historical Astronomers in Context: Isaac Newton

(Image from Wikipedia) Isaac Newton (December 25, 1642 – March 20, 1727) was a born a poor Englishman who attended Trinity College in Cambridge in order to try and improve his socioeconomic standing. He gained an interest in the world around him after witnessing an apple drop from a tree to the ground. At that […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

The astronomer I chose was Isaac Newton, who was born on December 25, 1642 and died March 20, 1726. Some important historical events also coincided with my astronomer. In 1649, Charles I was beheaded by Oliver Cromwell and supporters during the English civil war. This precipitated the Interregnum, the period in which England did not have […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

The astronomer I chose to look closer at was Tycho Brahe! He was born on December 14, 1546 and died on October 24, 1601 at the age of 54. During his life, two major events that happened were the Massacre of Novgorod by Ivan the Terrible and the founding of Buenos Aires by Juan de […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543) Copernicus was vital to astronomy because he radically transformed the perception of Earth’s position in the universe so much that the Copernican Revolution helped form the origin of modern science. Based off of Aristarchus’ work, Copernicus’ calculations of each planet’s orbital period around the Sun as well as each planet’s relative distance from […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Isaac Newton – January 4, 1643 – March 31, 1727 In 1692 in France a severe winter and too wet of spring a summer caused a very poor harvest and led to a famine. 2 million people died as a result of the famine. In 1718 the city of New Orleans was founded my the […] Continue reading

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The world orbiting around Kepler

Johannes Kepler was extremely important to astronomy because he first decribed the laws that govern orbital motion, still in use today. It is because of his laws that we are able to predict planetary orbits, fly satellites, and do a host of incredible feats. His work set the stage for later astronomers like Newton and […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler is remembered mostly for his discovery that the orbits of stellar objects are elliptical, as well as for his laws of motion, which he did using the observations gathered by Tycho Brahe. His work helped merge the ideas of physics and astronomy together. Additionally, he was prominent in the field of optics and […] Continue reading

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Kepler in Historical Context

Johannes Kepler Plymouth Landing: 1620 This was the arrival of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock. A very major and early event in American history. John Napier discovers logarithms: 1614 Logarithms are integral to a lot of current scientific theory. Their discovery allows for very complex problems to be solved using fairly simple algorithms. Pope Gregory XIII : […] Continue reading

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Historical Astronomers in Context

Johannes Kepler, 1571-1630 Johannes Kepler devised the three laws of planetary motion. He was the first one to state that planets followed elliptical orbits and not circular orbits. He also discovered that planets move quicker when closer to the Sun and that more distant planets orbit the Sun at slower speeds. Introduction of Gregorian Calendar, […] Continue reading

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