Famous optician: Johannes Kepler

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Abstract

The German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler is above all famous for discovering the eponymous laws governing planetary motion. Combining Tycho Brahe’s meticulous observations and his own theoretical predictions, his astronomical tables were some of the most enduringly accurate ever established. They provided a firm footing for Copernican theory in the face of the then universally acknowledged model ofa geocentric universe. Despite poor eyesight that prevented him from carrying out original experimental research, he became a major figure in the field of optics, overhauling all its fundamental concepts and developing a sound mathematical approach that supported Galileo’s first telescopic observations.