Scientists: Johannes Kepler Traditional Cache
Scientists: Johannes Kepler
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This cache was placed as a result of
Scientists: A spawner cache by
photino. The cache itself is a small container, just big enough
for the logbook, pencil, and some small trinkets. The terrain
rating is probably more accurate in the spring and summer, when it
may be wetter. Right now it's more like a one and a half. There's
really no definitive public parking nearby, but I'm sure you'll
find a place to pull off the main drag safely.
Johannes
Kepler (1571-1630)
Johannes Kepler was one of the most important scientist in the
field of astronomy. He was the founder of "celestial mechanics",
having been the first to explain planetary motion.
In addition to his theories on the structure of the Universe,
Kepler made important headway into the field of optics, his
publication Stereometrica Doliorum formed the basis of integral
calculus, and he also made important advances in geometry.
In addition to these major breakthroughs, Kepler also explained how
the tides were influenced by the Moon, determined the exact year of
Christ's birth, derived Logarithms based on mathematics, with no
reference to John Napier's work, and is responsible for finding the
three laws of planetary motion.
Kepler's first Law: The orbit of a planet about the Sun is an
ellipse with the Sun's center of mass at one focus.
Kepler's second Law: A line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out
equal areas in equal intervals of time.
Kepler's third Law: The squares of the periods of the planets are
proportional to the cubes of their semi-major axes.
You may also be surprised to learn that Kepler was a very religious
man, who found a way to credit God for each and every discovery he
would make, not to mention his own life and career paths. Kepler
had originally planned on becoming a priest, but was drawn into the
world of science. Furthermore, he was of the Lutheran faith, which
caused him many problems throughout his life, since Germany was
part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution 1806. Always
being subjected to persecution by the Catholics, Kepler had to
relocate several times due to pressure from the Church, yet he
would not convert. Also, mathematicians were not in great demand at
the time, and Kepler did not have very much money to support his
family. He lived in poverty, and died in poverty, but one thing is
for certain, he was very prolific, and his work did not die with
him.
Like so many geniuses before and after him, Kepler has never known
fame or fortune, but without his perseverance and strength of
character, not to mention his many important discoveries, who knows
how long it would have taken for us to even begin understanding the
true structure of the universe.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)