Born in 1571 to a moderately fortunate family, Kepler ignited his passion for astronomy early on in life. In 1577, Kepler witnessed the Great Comet of 1577, and three years later witnessed a lunar eclipse. Very early on, Kepler was adept at arithmetic and often used his ability to impress visitors of his grandfather’s inn. He attended school, learning Latin, theology, and developed his mathematics skills further. He became interested in astrology and during his time at University of Tubingen, learned about both the heliocentric and geocentric models of the solar system. He affirmed himself as an advocate of Copernicus and began defending his stance against other students. Although he desired to be a minister, Kepler was suggested by his superiors that he become a teacher of mathematics at Graz. It was here that he published his first major work, Mysterium Cosmographicum, in which he outlined the movement of the planets described by Platonic solids and defended the Copernican system. It was the first work published to support Copernicus. His work gained significant ground in the academic community at the time, and Kepler sought to continue his work in astronomy. He turned to the relationship between planetary movement and music theory as a way to explain the design of the universe, and fixated on Mars in specific. After refusing to convert to Catholicism, Kepler and his family were banished from Graz in 1600, and he moved to Prague to work under Tycho Brahe, the imperial mathematician at the time. A year later, Brahe died and Kepler succeeded him as the mathematician and astrologer for Emperor Rudolf II. Eight years later, Kepler published the Astronomia Nova in 1609 which contained the culmination of his studies on the movement of Mars, and a landmark argument for the case of the Copernican system. His work also included the theory that planets moved in elliptical orbits, a revolutionary idea that stood alone, even among zealous Copernicans. In 1611, amid political and religious tension in Prague, Kepler’s family fell ill and he sought employment away from the capital. Emperor Rudolf II died the next year, and Kepler was no longer allowed to conduct research. Once the new emperor was appointed, Matthias, Kepler was allowed to move to Linz with his family (his wife and eldest son had died from the sickness), and still remain the imperial mathematician. The following year, Kepler remarried and had six children, three of whom died in childhood. In 1619 Kepler published Harmonices Mundi, a work which sought to rationalize the movement of the heavenly bodies in relation to harmonic scales in music, a subject which he held ardent passion for his entire life. He also presented the third of his planetary laws, a unifying equation that did indeed describe the harmony of planetary orbits. Additional observations in this work included the basis for Newton’s theory of gravity, which would be developed almost seventy years later. In the last decade of his life, Kepler was very restricted, like most people in Germany, by the Thirty Years War, the bloodiest war in European history up to that time. He spent his time traveling between Linz and his home in Regensburg, as well as completing courtly duties and working as a teacher at the Protestant school. In 1630, at the age of 58, Kepler became ill and died. His legacy would be one of an astronomer, astrologer, and theologian who sought to unify the cosmos in harmony.
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