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Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Natural philosopher, mathematician,
astronomer, astrologist and optician.
He discovered the laws of planetary motion
– Kepler’s Laws. In mathematics, the
approximate calculation of numerical
integrals was named after him (Kepler’s
Fassregel). With his Dioptrice published
in 1611, Kepler laid the foundations
for optics as a science.
reconcile the geo- and heliocentric
views. His pupil and assistant,
Johannes Kepler, completed Brahe’s
work following his death. Kepler’s
orbital mechanics, which has the
planets move on elliptical orbits
around the sun, continues to be valid
to this day. Dominican friar Giordano
Bruno (1548-1600) explained the
cosmos to be infinite and the sun to
be its center: he even claimed that
there is an infinite number of worlds,
each with its own sun. Galileo Galilei
built a copy of the telescope of
Lippershey and was probably the first
to use it for celestial observations.
He discovered mountains on the
moon, the four moons of Jupiter,
sunspots (at the same time as others),
the rings of Saturn and the
change in the phases of Venus.
Galileo was a fervent proponent of
Copernican teachings which earned
him a summons to the court of inquisition
in 1616 and a warning
not to spread the “false” teachings
of Copernicus. Ultimately, he was
forced to renounce the Copernican
views in 1633.
Innovation 16, Carl Zeiss AG, 2005
special
Egyptian calendar
The Egyptian calendar was probably invented in the
29 th century B.C.: it consists of three annual seasons
of four 30-day months.
Adding five epagomenal days representing the birthdays
of the gods, Osiris, Horus, Seth, Isis and Nephthys,
the Egyptian calendar had a total of 365 days.
The earliest astronomical image of the northern and
southern hemisphere in the grave of Senen-mut.
The southern hemisphere – top – shows a list of the
decans (stars) including the constellations of the
southern sky, Orion and Sothis (Sopdet). Moreover,
the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, and Venus are
shown, some of them as gods crossing the sky
in row boats.
The northern hemisphere – bottom – shows constellations
of the northern sky including the Great Bear
(Ursa major) in the middle.
The remaining constellations have not been identified.
To the right and left, there are 8 and 4 circles,
respectively, below which a number of gods carrying
sun discs strides towards the middle of the picture.
The inscriptions on the circles correspond to the
original monthly festivities in the lunar calendar,
the inscriptions of the gods denote the original days
of the lunar calendar.
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