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... eric form impose the same perfection on the larger universe? Working from this presupposition, Kepler proceeded to elaborate a theory of planetary orbits. Though there was a discrepancy in the system at the orbit of Jupiter, Kepler refused to fault the system itself and credited the error to a flaw in the tables of Copernicus. He immediately proceeded to publish is findings.
As Ptolemy had entitled his work the Almagest, or the Greatest, Kepler entitled his own explanation of the way things work Mysterium Cosmographicum, or "The Mystery of the Universe", explained, of course, by Kepler. At this point in his life, however, Kepler was proceeding from a false assumption, attempting to marshal evidence to prove an unverifiable premise. There is no compelling geometrical reason for the planets to occupy their particular orbit; they just do. This, however, was beyond Kepler's knowledge.
For an astronomer working in the early years of the seventeenth century, the universe was the most profound and sublime manifestation of the creative activity of God and should realize itself in an expression of perfect symmetry. The next question which Kepler asked himself concerning the planetary orbits was more fundamental: why did the outer planets move more slowly? Saturn's orbit is about twice the size of Jupiter's, but Saturn takes substantially more than twice as long to make a circuit. Initially, Kepler followed a medieval explanation and posited two possibilities: either the active nature angelic beings who moved the worlds was proportionately diminished as the distance from the sun increased, or their was a single celestial being in the sun responsible for moving all the worlds in the solar system, and the power of this being is diminished as the distance increases. Such was his assertion in the first edition of Mysterium Cosmographicum. Later in life, after he turned fifty, he issued a second edition of his book, and corrected himself, and replaced the word "soul" with that of "force. " Like the Milesian philosophers of two millennia earlier Kepler had arrived at the conclusion that natural phenomena should be explained in terms of natural causes.
The break with the medieval world-view was complete. Where Kepler had initially assumed that planetary movement was the product of some animating spiritual energy, he eventually arrived at the conclusion that the animating energy was simply a mechanistic force that could be explained in mathematical and geometrical terms. Kepler realized that he would only be able to confirm his solar model by gaining access to Tycho's data. When the Protestant/Catholic tension in the Holy Roman Empire eventually led to the closing of the school at Ganz, Tycho invited Kepler to join him at Prague. When he arrived, however, optimism quickly gave way to disillusionment.
Tycho's eccentric personality, coupled with his experiences with Christian IV, had created within him a sense of paranoia. The great masses of data at his disposal were his, and they were to be doled out in the smallest of portions at his own discretion. Kepler would only be allowed access to the information pertaining to the orbit of Mars. The following year, however, Tycho's improvidence caught up with him and he passed to the great beyond. Kepler realized immediately that the heirs of Tycho's estate had no interest in astronomy, and would quickly dispose of the accumulated work of a lifetime in order to make a profit.
Kepler quickly took steps to prevent that eventuality, confiscating the greater portion of Tycho's research. With this information at his disposal, Kepler was able to generate a mathematical solution to the problems inherent in the system of Copernicus: The planets did travel around the sun, but the orbit was an ellipse rather than a circle. In 1609, Kepler published his findings in a book entitled On the Motion of Mars. To these mathematical insights would soon be added the visual evidences of another great astronomer: Galileo.
GALILEO (1564 -- 1642) Up to this point in history there had been little added to the knowledge of the heavens that might not have been known to the ancient Greeks. All had been based upon naked eye observation and mathematical calculation which could have been worked out by Ptolemy had he not been blinded by his presuppositions. The year before Kepler published his findings on the orbital peculiarities of Mars, however, was marked by a far more significant scientific breakthrough. In the Netherlands, a scientist named Lipperhey used a pair of lenses in sequence to create a telescope in 1608. The following year the instrument was brought to the attention of an Italian scientist named Galileo Galilei, and his ever active mind immediately set out to improve the device. At this point one must deal with the unfortunate truth that the primary motive force of progress is the twin pursuit of power and progress.
How can an innovation be utilized to secure either a military or a commercial advantage? Having produced an instrument with a magnification power of nine, Galileo brought the device to the attention of the Venetian Senate as well as the Duke of Venice. The advantages such a tool would bestow on the Venetian navy was immediately apparent, and Galileo was granted tenure at the University of Padua and the security of a reasonable salary. Galileo then turned his instrument towards the heavens. His first major discovery was that the Moon's surface is mountainous, and not a perfect sphere as had always been assumed. This rocked few theological boats.
According to the Medieval world-view, the fall of Lucifer had corrupted creation to the orbit of the moon, but beyond that the celestial sphere remained undefiled. His next major discovery was his discovery of the moons of Jupiter, and this also was the cause of significant theological distress. After all, seven had been considered a perfect number since antiquity, and this perfection was reflected in the existence of the seven "Wanderers" or planets that are visible to the unaided eye. The presence of the moons of Jupiter threatened to upset the very balance of the cosmos. Additionally, here was hard, empirical evidence that there were other "centers" beside the center of the universe, i.
e. the Earth. The Copernican argument, asserting that the sun rather than the earth, was the center around which the visible universe ci...
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Research essay sample on The Scientific Revolution Medieval World View
