author
Johannes Kepler
1571–1630
Best known for showing that planets move in ellipses, he helped turn astronomy into a precise science. His work connected mathematics, observation, and a deep curiosity about how the universe is ordered.
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About the author
Born on December 27, 1571, in Weil der Stadt, Johannes Kepler became one of the central figures of the Scientific Revolution. He worked as a mathematician and astronomer in a period when older ideas about the heavens were being challenged, and he is remembered above all for formulating the three laws of planetary motion.
Kepler drew on the remarkably detailed observations of Tycho Brahe and used them to show that planets do not move in perfect circles, as many had believed, but in ellipses. That insight helped give the Copernican view of the solar system a powerful mathematical foundation and shaped the future of astronomy and physics.
His interests reached beyond planetary motion alone. He also wrote important works on optics, contributed to mathematics, and published influential books including Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. Kepler died on November 15, 1630, in Regensburg, leaving behind ideas that deeply influenced later scientists, including Isaac Newton.