Johannes Kepler was born in the midst of
an exciting and confusing time for Europe. The continent was entering
the Renaissance, a reawakening of thought across the continent.
By the time of Kepler's birth, the Renaissance had reinvigorated
European culture, politics, philosophy, religion, literature, and
science. The authority of the Catholic Church was challenged for
the first time in centuries by the reformer Martin Luther, who
pointed out the wrongs that he felt the Church had committed. Luther's
rebellion spurred the Protestant Reformation, in which Luther and
his followers freed themselves from the authority of the Church,
creating a new sect of Christianity. Kepler, a Protestant, often
found himself caught in the midst of the resulting tension between
Catholicism and Protestantism. Catholics frequently persecuted him.
A similar challenge of scientific authority was also in
progress, a radical shift in thought that later became known as
the Scientific
Revolution. Scientists in all fields were beginning
to question the wisdom of the ancient philosophers who had molded
their disciplines. They gradually began rely on objective facts
and observation and to turn away from the mysticism, religion,
and unfounded theorizing that had previously dominated the field.
This drastic change in scientific practices and beliefs was most
apparent in the field of astronomy.
Physics and astronomy had been dominated by the work of
Aristotle, a philosopher from the time of ancient Greece, and Ptolemy, an
astronomer from the second century A.D. Astronomy was rooted in
both philosophy and theology, and it was difficult for scientists
to separate their work from that of the mystics or the clergy.
Through the work of the four fathers of the astronomical
revolution, Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton, both the practice
of astronomy and man's view of the universe were transformed. Astronomers
rejected the Ptolemaic view of the universe that had held court
for centuries. They supplanted Ptolemy's earth-centered universe
with a new sun-centered system. These modern thinkers, far ahead
of their time, persevered against the mockery, apathy, and anger
of their peers. And eventually, through Newton's synthesis of math,
physics, and astronomy, they triumphed.
The work of these astronomers shook the world. They denied everything
that humans had held certain for centuries. The excitement and
confusion that these astronomers left in their wake in is reflected
in John Donne's seventeenth century poem "An Anatomy of the World
– The First Anniversarie." As he wrote, "And new Philosophy calls
all in doubt. 'Tis all in pieces, all coherence gone. "
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