Johannes Kepler was an extremely passionate and enthusiastic young astronomer who was entirely captivated by the centrality of the sun in the heliocentric theory and also the mathematical harmonies of the world – direct relationships between numbers and natural properties. Among his other slightly ridiculous discoveries, Kepler discovered three unequivocally important laws of planetary motion that began to fill out the framework of the heliocentric universe and allowed the paths of the planets to finally be mapped correctly. Kepler’s first law states that planets travel in ellipses rather than perfect circles, his second law concludes that planets travel faster as they near the sun and slower as they move away from it, and his third law is …show more content…
Galileo made extensive contributions to a number of fields including physics, astronomy, and mathematics. Obsessed with studying different types of motion and paths of falling bodies, Galileo used the pendulum to keep time as accurately as possible while performing various simple experiments such as rolling balls of different weights down inclines with specific angles. All of these exercises allowed Galileo to establish a practical understanding of motion and mechanics that would later be used by Isaac Newton (Kreis, “Lecture 11”). However, one of Galileo’s most impressive feats was his invention of a telescope powerful enough to reveal details and imperfections within the heavens never seen before. Galileo was the first person to see things such as moon craters and sunspots. He was also the first to detect and give accounts of the rings of Saturn, the phases of Venus, and Jupiter’s moons, all contained in his book, The Starry Messenger. Unfortunately, Galileo’s advocacy of and great confidence in his discoveries, along with his belief that they did not actually contradict the teachings of the Bible and the Catholic Church, put him in the direct path of the Italian Inquisition, members of which did not share his sentiments. Forced to recant under the threat of torture, Galileo spent the last eight years of his life under house arrest (Kreis, “Lecture