The Composition of Kepler's Astronomia nova (eBook)

James R. Voelkel (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2021
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-22401-5 (ISBN)

Infos

This is one of the most important studies in decades on Johannes Kepler, among the towering figures in the history of astronomy. Drawing extensively on Kepler's correspondence and manuscripts, James Voelkel reveals that the strikingly unusual style of Kepler's magnum opus, Astronomia nova (1609), has been traditionally misinterpreted. Kepler laid forth the first two of his three laws of planetary motion in this work. Instead of a straightforward presentation of his results, however, he led readers on a wild goose chase, recounting the many errors and false starts he had experienced. This had long been deemed a ''confessional'' mirror of the daunting technical obstacles Kepler faced. As Voelkel amply demonstrates, it is not. Voelkel argues that Kepler's style can be understood only in the context of the circumstances in which the book was written. Starting with Kepler's earliest writings, he traces the development of the astronomer's ideas of how the planets were moved by a force from the sun and how this could be expressed mathematically. And he shows how Kepler's once broader research program was diverted to a detailed examination of the motion of Mars. Above all, Voelkel shows that Kepler was well aware of the harsh reception his work would receive--both from Tycho Brahe's heirs and from contemporary astronomers; and how this led him to an avowedly rhetorical pseudo-historical presentation of his results. In treating Kepler at last as a figure in time and not as independent of it, this work will be welcomed by historians of science, astronomers, and historians.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.1.2021
• Zusatzinfo: 1 halftone, 15 line illus.
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik
• Schlagworte: absurdity • Alhazen • Almagest • Ambiguity • Analogy • Approximation • Apsis • area law • Argonauts • Aristarchus • Aristotelian physics • Astrology • Astronomer • astronomia • Astronomia Nova • Astronomical Object • Astronomy • bisection • Book of Nature • Bürgi, Joost • Calculation • celestial sphere • Celestial spheres • Circular motion • Circular Orbit • circumference • colonization of mars • Columbus, Christopher • conchoid • Copernican heliocentrism • Copernican Principle • Copernican system • Cosmography • Counter-Reformation • David Fabricius • Delambre • De revolutionibus orbium coelestium • Dionysius the Areopagite • dodecahedron • earth • Earth's orbit • Eccentric anomaly • ephemeris • epicyclic distance model • Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae • equant • Erasmus Reinhold • Eriksen, Johannes • Eudoxus • exoplanet • Explanation • Fabricius, Johannes • First principle • Frankfurt • Galileo Galilei • Geminus • Geocentric model • geo-heliocentrism • Geometry • Gordian Knot • Gruppenbach • harmonices mundi • heliocentrism • Heraclides • Hercules • Hipparchus • hypothesis • icosahedron • Illustration • Index of Prohibited Books • Inferior and superior planets • Inner Core • Johannes Kepler • Johannes Praetorius • Jupiter • Koestler, Arthur • Libration • Limnaeus, Georg • Logos • longitude • Lucan, Civil War • lunar theory • Magellan • Marägha school • Marius, Simon • Mars • mathematician • Mathematics • Mean anomaly • Mean motion • Melanchthon, Philipp • Mercury • Methodology • Michael Maestlin • Mira Ceti • month • Mysterium Cosmographicum • narrative • Natural Philosophy • Newtonian synthesis • Nicolaus Copernicus • nova of 1604 • observational astronomy • octahedron • Octant (instrument) • optical equation • Orbit • Orbital elements • Orbital inclination • Orbit of Mars • Orbit of Venus • Oswald, Johannes • Owen Gingerich • Paul Wittich • Peer Review • Perihelion and aphelion • Peucer, Caspar • Philosopher • physical equation • physicist • Planetary System • Platonic solid • Posidonius • Position of the Sun • Proportionality (mathematics) • Prosthaphaeresis • Prutenic Tables • Ptolemy • Publication • Pythagoras • Pythagoreanism • Pythagoreans, secrecy of • Quantity • Retrograde and prograde motion • rhetoric • Rhodius, Ambrosius • Rudolphine Tables • Saturn • SCHOLASTICISM • Seleucus • skepticism • solar time • Stellar parallax • Suggestion • tetrahedron • theoretical physics • theory • True anomaly • Tychonic System • Writing
• ISBN-10: 0-691-22401-3 / 0691224013
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-22401-5 / 9780691224015