Brahe was important to astronomy because he developed astronomical instruments and was uniquely accurate in determining and charting the locations of celestial bodies before the advent of the telescope. He also brought artistry to his work, creating a unique observatory and even a novel way to bind his manuscripts. His astronomical contributions include charting accurate positions of more than 777 stars and creating a model of the solar system.
In the year 1590, the concluded the Warring States period between feudal lords and established a unified nation. The unification was led by general Hideyoshi who wrestled power from the ruling shogun.
In the year 1572, the Spanish completed their conquest of the Inca empire. Even though the Incas were ravaged by European diseases and civil war, the conquest took 40 years to complete, much longer than the conquest of the Aztecs.
In 1558, Queen Elizabeth II took the throne of England. While she stated that she expected every Englishman to join the Anglican church, though she was famous for not persecuting Catholics. Elizabeth was famous for starting the Age of Exploration in English, including sponsoring Magellan who was the first man to circumnavigate the globe.
Finding out that we had such a thorough understanding of stars through Brahe’s work before the unification of one of the great industrialized empires is a mind-boggling fact. It is impressive to think that man was able to learn so much about space before the foundation of nations that we today consider to have such rich histories. Queen Elizabeth’s reign was considered impressive in the exploration she supported, but the developments in astronomy during Brahe’s lifetime are much older than the development of the New World.
Johannes Kepler and his discoveries were integral to understanding planetary motion in our solar system. Other than his three laws, Kepler was actually the first person to publish work defending Copernicus’ heliocentric model of the solar system. Copernicus did propose a heliocentric theory through his work; however, he used the older geocentric model to explain some of the varying speeds of planetary motion in orbits. Through his work Mysterium, Kepler was able to fully support Copernicus’ heliocentric theory without support from a geocentric model. In addition to his published work, are Kepler’s 3 Laws of planetary motion. His first law explained how planets must orbit around the sun in elliptical orbits where the Sun is at one of the foci of the ellipse, the Law of Orbits. His second law relates to the first as it explains planetary motion and the varying speeds throughout the orbit. Kepler discovered that the closer the planets were to the Sun in orbit, the faster they would travel. Graphically, this would be shown as the area swept out throughout any two points in a planet’s orbit and the Sun would be equal if the time interval was kept constant. This became known as the Law of Equal Areas. Lastly, Kepler’s third law explained that the amount of time it takes a planet to orbit around the sun (period, P) is proportional to the semi-major axis of the planet’s orbit (A). In other words, P^2 is proportional to A^3. As shown it’s clear Kepler made vital advancements in human knowledge of astronomy that would help future astronomers develop their own theories.
Historical Event #1:
Depiction of the Mayflower sailing across the Atlantic
While Kepler was alive, in 1620, the Mayflower had arrived in North America bringing over the group that would become known as the Pilgrims, who fled persecution. They ultimately landed in Cape Cod and established the second-ever colony known as the Plymouth colony.
In addition to the Pilgrims, earlier in 1603, the crowns of both England and Scotland united for the first-ever time. With no child from Queen Elizabeth I, England decided to take King James VI from Scotland and make him the first-ever King of Great Britain ruling until his death in 1625.
An important historical figure who also lived while Kepler was alive was Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616). Ieyasu essentially established the Tokugawa Shogunate which became the final period of traditional Japan. He ruled under a shogunate, which is a military dictatorship and sought to vastly expand the Japanese economy.
Reflection:
I think this activity as a whole put in perspective how close in time so many advancements in astronomy and the world were made. For example, when the name Copernicus came to mind, I expected something much farther in the past than only about 100 years until Kepler and Galilei made their discoveries. Something else I found extremely fascinating was learning about the other historical events that occurred around the same time. Although we only wrote about two, my research brought me to so many more events such as the fall of the Ming Dynasty or Europe’s 30-year war. Even the historical people prompt shocked me because I didn’t expect Shakespeare to also be alive at the same time as Kepler and Galilei. It was overall an eye-opening experience to learn about these people and events.
2. Galileo Galilei has been called the father of observational astronomy, modern physics, the scientific method, and modern science itself. He was influential in the field of astronomy due to his contributions which included telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, observation of satellites around Jupiter, observation of Saturn’s rings, and analysis of lunar craters and sunspots. This is all in addition to his inventions including the thermoscope and a variety of compasses. Controversially he was a proponent of heliocentrism.
3. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was one of the longest and deadliest wars in history between Catholic and Protestant forces across Europe. 8 million casualties were the result of combat as well as famine and disease that resulted from the war. The conclusion of the war set one of the earliest foundations for the separation of religion and state.
The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island (1587-1590). Some English colonists founded and then disappeared from their colony, leaving only the word “Croatoan” behind carved into a gatepost. It is still not completely known exactly what happened to the colonists.
William Shakespeare lived from 1564 to 1616. Shakespeare is considered “the seminal writer of the English language.” He is by far the best known playwright and poet throughout history. His works are continuously being taught in schools, and derived into new mediums.
4. Learning the environment surrounding these famous astronomers, specifically Galileo Galilei, shows me the context in which decisions and scientific opinions were presented. For example, the Catholic Church had issue with Galileo’s opinion on heliocentrism, and considering that the Catholic Church became involved in a major deadly conflict towards the later end of Galileo’s career, it shows the bravery and certainty that Galileo possessed when presenting his thesis about heliocentrism. I am not sure if Galileo was a recreational man, but if he was, it is interesting to imagine him attending one of Shakespeare’s plays.
A.) Nicholas Copernicus was born on February 19, 1473 and died May 24, 1543. Galileo Galilei was born on February 15, 1564 and died January 8, 1642. Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571 and died November 15, 1630. Isaac Newton has two recorded birthdates, one December 25, 1642 and the other being January 4, 1643. Newton died on March 31, 1727. Tycho Brahe was born on December 14, 1546 and died October 24, 1601.
B.) Galileo Galiei and Johannes Kepler were living during the same time.
Tycho Brahe was important to astronomy because he first used the telescope to make observations about the stars and planets. These astronomical observations were accurate and he was able to determine that the planets orbit the sun elliptically.
A.) From 1558 to 1603 the Elizabethan era (which was when Queen Elizabeth the first was reigning) is considered the height of the English Renaissance. Secondly, from 1566 to 1648, the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the Netherlands occured. The Dutch won the war and achieved their goal of stopping the Spanish invasion into their territory.
B.) William Shakespear lived during the same time period. He was born in April of 1564 and died on April 23, 1616. He was an American playwright and extremely influential during his time and after it. He was famous for writing Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet along with many more plays.
I personally look back on history during a time like this and try to clump all of these people together in the same time period. However, many of these influential people lived during very different times and experienced different ways of life. On the other hand, I also find it interesting to think that William Shakespeare lived during the same time as a famous astronomer because I have always believed that Shakespeare was alive a long time ago. I have also had the impression that famous astronomers were alive more recently.
Work Cited
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/.
1519: Magellan started to sail around the world and proved that Earth was a circle. He travelled west across Atlantic, and he made the first expedition from Europe to cross Pacific Ocean and circumnavigate the world.
Columbus was important because he was the first European contacted with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. He started the European exploration and colonization of the Americas.
Brief Reflection
From the late fifteenth century to the early sixteenth century (the time when Copernicus lived), Europe was experiencing a huge transition from a feudal society to a capitalist society. In this turbulent period, the church dominated the society, and any theory country to the Bible would be treated as heresy, including infinite significant astronomical work. For example, Cecco d’Ascoli, an astrologer who claimed that Earth is a sphere, was burned at Florence by the inquisition. Recognizing such context, I can understand the abominate research environment during Copernicus’s lifetime. Therefore, I appreciate the courage and determination of Copernicus to challenge the predominant geocentric model, acknowledged by Catholics. Learning the contemporary events facilitated me not only to know what was happening around the world but also to gain deeper insights into astronomical theories.
Another historical event that happened in the time period that Newton was alive was the Thirty Years war. Well the war was a couple years from ending at about the time Newton was born. The Thirty Years War lasted from 1618-1648 (Newton would have been about 5 years old) and it was a battle among the catholic and protestant states that formed the Holy Roman Empire.
Another very famous historical figure that lived at the same time period as Newton was Peter the Great. He lived from 1682-1725 and in his time he was best known for bringing Russia into the modern age, from his time as a czar. He did lots of reforms and projects involving the church, calendars and even the alphabet in order to westernize Russia.
Honestly I never knew that Copernicus was that old, or that Tycho, Kepler or Galileo all lived at the same time. Also I was very shocked to find out how old Galileo lived to be, because that age is considered old even now. The thing that this assignment helped me realize about the past is that it’s all connected (that sounds cheesy), but I mean that some of these amazing well known astronomers could never have done what they did without the influence or information of another. It was really interesting in how that this HUGE advancement in astronomy happened in a little over a century when the world had been believing something entirely different just years before Copernicus/ during his time.
Question 1: Nicholas Copernicus: 1473–1543 (Bennett 311) Johannes Kepler: 1571–1630 (Bennett 315) Tycho Brahe: 1546–1601 (Bennett 313) Galileo Galilei: 1564–1642 (Bennett 326) Isaac Newton: 1642-1726 (Thony) Copernicus and Newton didn’t live the same time with others. Copernicus died before everyone (in 1543) and Newton was born after Galileo’s death. Tycho and Kepler lived the same time from 1571 (Kepler’s birth) to 1601 (Tycho’s death). Galileo and Tycho lived the same time from 1564 (Galileo’s birth) to 1601 (Tycho’s death). Kepler lived his whole life the same time with Galileo from 1571 (Kepler’s birth) to 1630 (Kepler’s death).
Timeline of Historical Astronomers by Me
Question 2: My chosen astronomer is Kepler. (1571–1630)
(Click on Kepler to check his Wikipedia page) Kepler was important to astronomy because he was a second-generation Copernicus whose worship of data and numbers surpassed the ideas of geometric models of previous philosophers like Aristotle. Kepler succeeded in formulating a finely balanced and finely constructed 3D model centered on the sun. He worked tirelessly to match his geometry to measurements (Weintraub 6) and derived three beautiful, concise, and precise laws. His three laws showed the beauty of the motion of celestial bodies and predicts reality accurately, laying a milestone for astronomy.
Question 3:
Kepler’s lifetime was 1571–1630. In 1603 Queen Elizabeth died after a reign of 456 years. During her reign, Elizabeth I established Protestantism in England and strived for peace in her previously divided country. In 1616, MacBeth by William Shakespeare was first performed. William Shakespeare was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist (Chambers). (Click on Chamber to check the website page for Queen Elizabeth)
William Shakespeare (Click on his name to check his Wikipedia page), a contemporary of Kepler, lived during 1564-1616. Shakespeare is a very important figure in world literature whose plays have been translated to other languages and are performed more than any other play. He also has significant influence on succeeding artists. Salvador Dalí and Sir John Everett Millais had artwork depicting Shakespeare’s works such as Hamlet.
Question 4:
It is astonishing how scientists (or to say natural philosophers) managed to deduce equations, models, and laws that were able to marbly represent reality almost five hundred years ago. To me previously, the names of Copernicus, Ptolemy, Kepler, and Galileo were just names. They found these “truths” because they were remarkable scientists, and revealing the scientific truth was what they should do. I didn’t have much appreciation for their scientific accomplishment. Nonetheless, after learning about their process of discovering the truth, I suddenly realized that all these marvelous scientific ideas didn’t just appear in their brilliant minds out of nowhere. These ideas were all reasoned out by breathtakingly remarkable logical thinking abilities. It is mind-blowing to know that human intelligence could do this 500 years ago.
However, even though Copernicus and Kepler attained accurate predictions of heavenly movement, their models weren’t correct in today’s view (In their models, the center of the Universe is near the sun, and all the celestial spheres encircle the sun). These ancient models show correct results but do not present reality. So what about modern models? Could current models which successfully predict reality be wrong? Is it possible that DNA molecules, quantum physics, and dark matter are not real at all? Could dark matter be another Ether? There is a line in my favorite science fiction novel, The Three-Body Problem, which claims that: “Backwardness is not the biggest obstacle to the development of civilization, but arrogance is.” Even though human beings have accomplished magnificent scientific results and understood the Universe just from a tiny plant in Milky Way, we have to stay humble. Science will continue to progress and improve, and what is true today may be false tomorrow. Henceforth, as long as we never cease our never-ending exploration and curiosity about the truth, our quest will gain us eternal brilliance.
Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer who lived from February 15, 1564, to January 8, 1642. He made significant contributions to the field through his telescopic observations. Galileo learned of telescopes, a newly invented device at the time, and built his own that were powerful enough to see details previously unobservable with the naked eye. […]
