Hiking in the Smoky Mountains
My name is Dan and I’m excited to learn about the Solar System. I was born in Bucharest, Romania but have been living in sunny Florida since 2006. I love the outdoors, traveling, and immersing myself in nature’s wonders.
Galileo made many contributions to astronomical discovery. Though he was not the original inventor of the telescope, he was able to build his own for observation purposes. After experimenting a bit, Galileo was able to create a telescope that was more powerful than others at the time. Using his invention, he was able to make observations about the moon and its phases. He discovered the moon’s surface to be rough and uneven. He also discovered the four moons of Jupiter.
During Galileo’s lifetime, the first English colonial settlement in the Americas, Jamestown, was established. Additionally, in England, the King James Version of The Bible was published in 1611. It was created because many believed at the time the current translations were corrupted.
William Shakespeare was born the same year as Galilei. He was an English playwright and poet and arguably the most influential writer of all time as his poems and plays are still performed and studied to this day.
I think something that is very interesting is how little I knew about these astronomers, yet how much I already knew about the historical events and figures that also existed at the time. Though I knew the name Galileo, I knew nothing about what he really did. However, I already knew plenty about Jamestown, Shakespeare, King James Bible, etc. Though I am not entirely sure why this is, I wonder if the fact that many astronomical studies and discoveries at the time were shunned by the Church caused them to be less documented and therefore not studied in nearly as much depth as other topics of the time period.
Works cited:
Van Helden, Albert. “Galileo Galilei Italian Philosopher, Astronomer and Mathematician.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica, 17 Jan. 2018. Web. 5 Feb. 2018.
Price, David. “Jamestown Colony: English Colony, North America.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2018
“King James Version: Sacred Text.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica, n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2018.
“William Shakespeare Biography.” The Biography.com website. A&E Television Networks, 5 August, 2017. Web. 5 Feb. 2018.
Nicolaus Copernicus, an astronomer of Polish descent, is most famously known for proposing that Earth and other planets orbit around the sun, better known as the heliocentric model for the solar system (Nicolaus Copernicus Biography, 2017). He was born on February 19th, 1473 and died on May 24th, 1543 (Nicolaus Copernicus Biography, 2017)
He also discovered that the Earth spun about once daily on its axis, causing the production of the night and day that we see (Nicolaus Copernicus Biography, 2017). He is also known to have proposed the idea of precession, a phenomenon in which Earth’s axis rotates in a circular motion about its axis once every approximately 26,000 years (Nicolaus Copernicus Biography, 2017). For these foundational reasons, Copernicus is a very important figure in modern astronomy.
However, with this post I would also like to point out some other things surrounding Copernicus’s life that you may now have been aware of.
Events that Happened During Copernicus’s Life
In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella of the united Christian Spain conquer the last Moor stronghold of Granada, ending Moorish rule over Spain and returning it to the Spaniards (Leo Africanus, 1992).
Also
In 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli completes his now prolific book The Prince, an almost guidebook of how to become a ruler and maintain rulership (A timeline of contemporary European events, 1400 to 1550, n.d.).
Someone Other than Copernicus Who was Famous During his Time
One of the most famous figures to exist during Nicolaus Copernicus’s life is Michel de Nostredame, or more famously known as Nostradamus (Editors, 2017). Nostradamus was prolific for his time and still today for his occupation as a French physician and the collection of works that he published known as Les Propheties (Editors, 2017). Les Propheties is known today as work that is said to predict future events, and people still today extrapolate its contents to explain how Nostradamus predicted that certain events would happen as well as interpret it as evidence toward predicting other farfetched events in the future. In general, Nostradamus can be regarded as an oracle of both the 16th Century and today.
So now you ask, “Well Jonah, what is the meaning of all of this loose information?”
I think that sometimes it is important to understand different aspects of a time period and circumstances surrounding what is being observed in order to fully understand what is being observed. For example, if a naïve child of the future were taught that a man named Nicolaus Copernicus determined that the Earth is traveling around the sun, he or she might say: “well, what is so great about that? I can look on the NASA website and they can tell me the exact same thing.” If this child didn’t understand the historical context behind these discoveries, as well as the events that were surrounding these discoveries, then not only would he or she not appreciate the groundbreaking discover that was made, but also would not understand the difficultly of the scientific method and the ingenuity that was involved to come to this conclusion. After observing this I see that, by observing history, we can better understand why these discoveries came to light during this time as well as the hinderances that these scientists were subject to in their discoveries. In observing this, we can inspire ourselves to move past our hinderances in the hope to innovate as well as help inspire awe and fascination for the sciences.
Featured image credit of Compilation11.com
Born: February 15, 1564. Died January 8, 1642.
3a: In 1605, Jamestown, Virginia was established in the New World. It was the first permanent English colony on American mainland. In 1605, Don Quixote was published. Written by Miguel de Cervantes, it was the first modern novel and became a cultural and literary landmark.
3b: El Greco (1541 -1641) was a famous painter that lived during the time. El Greco was a special artist in his unique dramatic and expressionistic style that would later go on to influence Expressionism and Cubism.
4: Learning about this context helps place things in the schemes of history. At the time, the way people thought about the world and the heavens was entirely different. This can be reflected in not only our science, but our writings, music, art, and politics. This era was well before the Enlightenment or the Scientific Revolution, and so many developments in human thinking and study were very different. Resources were scarcer and the study of information was substantially barer.
Chosen Astronomer: Johannes Kepler
Born: December 27, 1571, at roughly 1pm.
Died: November 15, 1630.
Historical events: On March 24, 1603, when Kepler was 32, Elizabeth I of England died and was succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland. His ascension of the throne united the crowns of Scotland and England.
Historical Figure: William Shakespeare
William Shakepseare was born on April 23, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52. He and Kepler lived at the same time for 45 years (1571-1616). Shakespeare, known popularly as the “Bard of Avon”, was an English playwright, actor and poet. Today, his plays are widely circulated, reenacted and studied for their wide ranges of emotions and conflicts that transcend their origins in Elizabethan England and apply to to diverse cultural and political contexts.
Chosen Astronomer: Johannes Kepler
Born: December 27, 1571, at roughly 1pm.
Died: November 15, 1630.
Historical events: On March 24, 1603, when Kepler was 32, Elizabeth I of England died and was succeeded by her cousin King James VI of Scotland. His ascension of the throne united the crowns of Scotland and England.
Historical Figure: William Shakespeare
William Shakepseare was born on April 23, 1564 and died on April 23, 1616 at the age of 52. He and Kepler lived at the same time for 45 years (1571-1616). Shakespeare, known popularly as the “Bard of Avon”, was an English playwright, actor and poet. Today, his plays are widely circulated, reenacted and studied for their wide ranges of emotions and conflicts that transcend their origins in Elizabethan England and apply to to diverse cultural and political contexts.
Johannes Kepler’s (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) primary contribution to the astronomy field was his laws of planetary motion. Not only are these concepts important to modern day astrophysics (such as when sending satellites to study distant planets), but also lay the foundation for Newton’s work on universal gravitation.
One major astronomical event that happened during Kepler’s lifetime was the Supernova of 1604. It was a supernova that occurred in our galaxy, and was bright enough to be observed with the naked eye. In fact, it is the most recent supernova to have been bright enough for that to happen.
Another major historical event during Kepler’s lifetime was the establishment of Jamestown. Founded in 1607, Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement on the North American continent and was the beginning of American history.
An important figure during the 17th century was Queen Elizabeth I (born 1533 – death 1603). She established the Church of England, allowing Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to exist together. Not only that, she was one of the longest ruling monarchs in all of English history, and through the victory against the Spanish in 1588, established England as one of the most powerful nations in the world at the time.
I thought that it was interesting how many major events happened during this era. Within a century, you have the the foundation for major laws of physics, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the rise of the English empire, the start of American history, and the brightest supernova for the next few hundred years. Similarly, you can look at modern history and you can see things like the numerous wars, the advancements in technology, all of the discoveries made in the past century. Rarely do people actually stop to think about how many of our actions are written down in history, and how often those things happen.
Johannes Kepler’s (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) primary contribution to the astronomy field was his laws of planetary motion. Not only are these concepts important to modern day astrophysics (such as when sending satellites to study distant planets), but also lay the foundation for Newton’s work on universal gravitation.
One major astronomical event that happened during Kepler’s lifetime was the Supernova of 1604. It was a supernova that occurred in our galaxy, and was bright enough to be observed with the naked eye. In fact, it is the most recent supernova to have been bright enough for that to happen.
Another major historical event during Kepler’s lifetime was the establishment of Jamestown. Founded in 1607, Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement on the North American continent and was the beginning of American history.
An important figure during the 17th century was Queen Elizabeth I (born 1533 – death 1603). She established the Church of England, allowing Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to exist together. Not only that, she was one of the longest ruling monarchs in all of English history, and through the victory against the Spanish in 1588, established England as one of the most powerful nations in the world at the time.
I thought that it was interesting how many major events happened during this era. Within a century, you have the the foundation for major laws of physics, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the rise of the English empire, the start of American history, and the brightest supernova for the next few hundred years. Similarly, you can look at modern history and you can see things like the numerous wars, the advancements in technology, all of the discoveries made in the past century. Rarely do people actually stop to think about how many of our actions are written down in history, and how often those things happen.
Who is he?
Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a revolutionary in many fields of scientific discoveries including optics and logarithms. He is important to astronomy most notably because of his work with planetary motion. As the first person to develop a set of physically and mathematically sound laws that correctly accounted for the motions of the planets, Kepler was able to bridge the distinct gap between astronomy and physics that existed at the time. His work provided the framework for the development of Isaac Newton’s universal law of gravitation as well as other breakthroughs in astronomy and various scientific fields.
Contemporary Events
The Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation, lasting from 1545 to 1648, was a religious movement involving the resurgence of Catholicism in response to the former Protestant revolution that threatened the power of the Catholic Church as well as various Catholic ideologies. The intensely interrogative and subjective nature of the Counter-Reformation resulted in the labelling of many new scientific developments as heretical or anti-Catholic.
The Thirty Years’ War
The Thirty Years’ War was one of the most destructive wars in human history and the single deadliest religious campaign in European history. Lasting from 1618 to 1648, this war originated from conflict between Protestant and Catholic states in the Holy Roman Empire and grew to involve other nations including Austria, Sweden, and France.
Contemporary person
Emperor Rudolph II (or Rudolf II)
Emperor Rudolph II (or Rudolf II) was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1576 to 1612 and is considered to be both a highly incompetent leader whose ineffectiveness resulted in the Thirty Years’ War as well as a great facilitator of intellectual studies whose patronage helped initiate the movement known as the scientific revolution. Kepler, himself, was a member of Rudolph’s court and it was the emperor’s protection that allowed Kepler to continue investigating his scientific interests as a non-Catholic.
Reflection
Learning about scientific accomplishments in a historical context has always helped me more deeply appreciate the astronomer and their work. Going into this assignment, I was already fairly familiar with Kepler’s contributions to the field of science, especially his three laws of planetary motion, but after learning about the obstacles he faced as a Lutheran during the Catholic Church’s Counter Reformation, I am even more impressed with his achievements. It was also extremely insightful to read about the societal and authoritative reactions to discoveries like Kepler’s and this assignment definitely helped me better understand why Kepler and other’s scientific breakthroughs faced such intense opposition despite the overwhelming evidence in favor of them.
Nicholas Copernicus (Feb 19, 1473 – May 21, 1543) was a Polish astronomer who introduced the heliocentric system, contrary to the geocentric theory at the time. He also proposed that the Earth turns once daily on its axis, which also changes in direction over long periods of time, resulting in the precessions of the equinoxes.
By 1500, printing presses across Western Europe had produced more than 20 million copies of books, the advance of which would allow Copernicus to spread his theories before the Catholic Church banned his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.
On September 6th, 1522, Magellan’s expedition, led by Juan Sebastian del Cano after Magellan’s death, reached Spain after successfully circumnavigated the globe.
Magellan lived at the same time as Copernicus, born 1480, died April 27th, 1521.
While Copernicus didn’t live at the same time as other astronomers listed, he started the heliocentric theory and, with the increasing popularity of books and printing presses in his life time, could spread his theories across Europe. I find it interesting how his discoveries occurred in parallel with the beginning of the age of exploration as Europeans searched for new routes to the Indies.
Westman, Robert S. “Nicolaus Copernicus.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2017
Domingues, Francisco Contene; Mitchel, Marin. “Ferdinand Magellan.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2017
“Nicolaus Copernicus Biography.” The Biography.com website, A&E Television Networks
