Johannes Kepler
Outstanding scientist and committed Christian
by Ann Lamont
Johannes Kepler was born in the town of Weil der Stadt, Germany, on December 27,
1571. Johannes was a very small boy who was frequently ill. At the age of three
years he contracted smallpox and lingered close to death for several months. His
childhood was also unsettled and unhappy. His father was a mercenary soldier who
was away from home for long periods, sometimes years at a time.
When Johannes’ mother went away to be with her husband, Johannes was left
with his grandfather. The separation from his parents was distressing for Johannes,
but God blessed him during these years. His grandfather, a dedicated Christian,
encouraged young Johannes as his faith grew. Although poor, Johannes’ grandfather
appreciated the value of education and sent Johannes to school. The boy’s
outstanding academic ability soon came to the attention of his teachers.
When Johannes’ parents returned after several years, his father, Heinrich,
set up business as an innkeeper.
Heinrich was not interested in paying fees to send his son to school. Instead he
saw Johannes as a cheap source of labour in the inn, so Heinrich made his son leave
school. However, business at the inn later declined and Johannes’ help was
not really needed. With his former teachers’ encouragement, Johannes successfully
obtained a scholarship from the Duke of Württemberg to enable him to continue
his schooling. Johannes’ drunken father reluctantly allowed him to return
to school.
Education
Through the Duke’s continued generosity, Johannes Kepler was able to begin
attending the University of Tübingen in 1587. His studies included Latin, Hebrew,
Greek, the Bible, mathematics, and astronomy. Kepler was taught mathematics and
astronomy by Michael Mästlin, one of the few astronomy professors of that time
who had accepted Copernicus’ idea that the planets, including the earth, revolved
around the sun. Almost all scholars of that era still believed that the earth was
the centre of the solar system.
Kepler obtained his B.A. degree in 1588 and his M.A. degree in 1591. He then continued
at Tübingen, studying theology. During his youth, Kepler had become a committed
Christian and dedicated himself to serving God. As he said shortly before he died,
he believed ‘only and alone in the service of Jesus Christ. In Him is all
refuge, all solace.’1 Kepler intended to serve God as a Lutheran
minister after completing his university education. However, God had other plans
for this uniquely gifted young man.
In 1594, Kepler was asked to go to the Lutheran high school in Graz, Austria, to
replace the mathematics teacher who had just died. Although close to finishing his
theological training, Kepler felt led by God to take up this teaching position.
Astronomy and astrology
As well as teaching mathematics in Graz, Kepler became district mathematician. This
position involved surveying land, settling disputes over the accuracy of weights
and measures used in business, and calendar-making. In addition to actually listing
dates, calendars today frequently include information on public holidays, school
holidays, and phases of the moon (full moon, new moon, etc.). Some calendars even
include the dates of sporting events, social services payment days, and the like.
Similarly, in Kepler’s time, calendars were expected to include information
which was useful to people’s everyday lives. The information given included
advice to farmers on when to plant and harvest crops, advice to leaders on military
campaigns, advice on matters of romance, etc.
Today we understand how the relative positions of the sun, moon and planets, together
with the tilt of the earth on its axis, combine to determine the seasons of the
year, the phases of the moon, tides, eclipses of the sun and moon, and so on. These
occurrences have scientific implications for agriculture, fishing, military planning,
and other things. (Even in modem times, some military offensives are timed to fit
in with seasons and moonlight.)
With such present-day knowledge, legitimate conclusions based on the science of
astronomy can be distinguished from unfounded claims based on astrology. However,
in Kepler’s day, there was considerable confusion both in the general community
and in universities regarding the distinction between astronomy and astrology. With
their limited knowledge of the movements of heavenly bodies, scientists were unsure
which events on earth were affected by events observed in the heavens and which
were not.
Kepler continued making calendars. However, he determined that he would subsequently
check the accuracy of his predictions in order to sort those which were legitimate
from those which were not. As part of this process, Kepler published a book in 1601
which ‘rejected the superstitious view that the stars guide the lives of human
beings’.2 Kepler progressively rejected other aspects of astrology
as well. In his biography of Kepler, J. H. Tiner points out that ‘Johannes
was the first scientist to investigate the long term accuracy of astrology. His
records showed that trusting in astrology could be a risky business.’3
Motion of the planets
Kepler strongly believed that ‘The world of nature, the world of man, the
world of God—all three fit together.’4 In particular, Kepler
reasoned that because the universe was designed by an intelligent Creator, it should
function according to some logical pattern. To him, the idea of a chaotic universe
was inconsistent with God’s wisdom. In contrast, many other scientists had
given up searching for a simple logical pattern.
Without access to accurate data on the positions of the planets over a period of
time, Kepler based his early attempts to discover the pattern behind the motion
of the planets on the philosophies and mathematics of the ancient Greeks. He proposed
his ideas in a book called Cosmic Mystery written in 1595. Although many of his
ideas later proved to be incorrect (as is often the case in science), publication
of this book brought Kepler to the attention of the outstanding Danish astronomer,
Tycho Brahe.
Tycho Brahe was so impressed with Kepler’s mathematical ability and keenness
to apply mathematics to astronomy that he invited Kepler to join his team of astronomers.
These astronomers had charted the paths of the planets across the sky for many years
but could not make any sense of the complicated paths that they saw. In 1600, Kepler
joined Tycho Brahe at his observatory in Prague. Kepler was given the task of investigating
the orbit of Mars. At last he had access to the data he needed to really attack
the problem of planetary motion scientifically.
The idea that the paths of the planets must be either circles or combinations of
circles was almost universally accepted in Kepler’s time. However, Kepler
found that even complex combinations of circles simply did not work. Turning away
from popular thinking, Kepler ‘tried noncircular paths until he found the
true solution: Mars revolves in an elliptical orbit with the Sun occupying one of
its focuses’.5
Kepler further showed that a planet does not move an equal distance in an equal
amount of time (i.e. at a constant speed) as was previously thought. Instead, he
was able to show that the imaginary line joining the sun to the planet sweeps through
equal areas of the ellipse in equal amounts of time. This means that the planet
travels faster when it is closer to the sun, and slower when it is further away
from the sun. Kepler published these first two laws of planetary motion in 1609
in a book entitled The New Astronomy.
Ten years later, Kepler established his third principle of planetary motion, which
mathematically related the time a planet takes to complete an orbit of the sun and
the average distance of that planet away from the sun. This principle was published
in Harmony of the Worlds in 1619. In this book, Kepler also praised God,
saying, ‘Great is God our Lord, great is His power and there is no end to
His wisdom.’6
Kepler’s Christian faith had led him to a pattern of thinking which had eventually
enabled him to solve the riddle of planetary motion where so many other scientists
had given up trying. Kepler had sought and found a simple logical pattern for planetary
motion which reflected God’s wisdom. As Kepler said: ‘We see how God,
like a human architect, approached the founding of the world according to order
and rule and measured everything in such a manner.’7
Other discoveries
Kepler’s laws of planetary motion were his greatest contribution to science.
These laws had an enormous impact on scientific thinking, providing the groundwork
for Sir Isaac Newton’s later work on universal gravitation. However, Kepler
made many other contributions to science as well. He discovered a new star (a supernova);
he analysed how the human eye works; he made improvements to the telescope, and
made other contributions in the field of optics. He published accurate data on the
positions of stars and planets which were of immense value to navigators. He made
various contributions to mathematics, including faster methods of calculation, and
investigated the volume of many solid bodies.
Kepler is recognized as one of the founders of modern science. ‘In his three
books, Cosmic Mystery, The New Astronomy, and Harmony of the Worlds,
he began the process that eventually replaced superstition with reason.’8
Kepler also spent time investigating the dating of historical events in the Bible,
including the birth of Jesus. In addition, he wrote a story called The Dream
which is credited as being the first modern science-fiction story.
Life of tragedy
Johannes Kepler died after an acute illness in Regensberg, Germany, on November
15, 1630, aged 58 years. Kepler’s life had been filled with tragedy. The unhappiness
and illness of his childhood were followed in adult life by the deaths of three
of his six children during their childhood, the death of his first wife, and repeated
religious persecution. Kepler lived in an era in which most rulers expected the
people to adopt the religious beliefs held by the ruler. However, he refused to
change his beliefs with a change of ruler. Kepler was a man of the Bible and refused
to accept man-made rules which he believed contradicted the Bible. Unfortunately,
this stand caused him to suffer great persecution on a number of occasions.
Another traumatic event in Kepler’s life was the trial of his superstitious
mother who was accused of witchcraft. Had she been convicted, she would have been
tortured and burnt at the stake. It was only Kepler’s skilful defence of his
mother that saved her.
Throughout all these trials, Kepler kept his unshakable faith in God. He summarized
his faith by saying simply that ‘I am a Christian’.9 Despite
his great achievements, he remained humble. His desire was to ‘Let my name
perish if only the name of God the Father is thereby elevated’.10
He acknowledged God as ‘the kind Creator who brought forth nature out of nothing’.11
Kepler was prepared to put aside the plans he had made for his life, and to humbly
follow God’s leading. As a result, he was able to say in later life that ‘I
had the intention of becoming a theologian … but now I see how God is, by
my endeavours, also glorified in astronomy, for ‘the heavens declare the glory
of God.’12
References
- Johannes Kepler, quoted in: J. H. Tiner, Johannes Kepler-Giant of Faith and
Science, Mott Media, Milford, Michigan (USA), 1977, p. 193.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., 1985, vol. 22, p. 506.
- Tiner, p. 69.
- Kepler quoted in Tiner, p. 172.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 22, p. 507.
- Kepler quoted in Tiner p. 178.
- Ibid., (inside front cover).
- Tiner, pp. 195-196.
- Kepler quoted in Tiner p. 197.
- Ibid.
- Ibid. (inside front cover).
- Ibid.
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