How much was Johannes Kepler worth?
| Net Worth: | $500 Thousand |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Astronomer |
| Date of Birth: | December 27, 1571 |
| Country: | Germany |
| Height: | Unknown |
About Johannes Kepler
German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer Johannes Kepler (December 1571 – November 15, 1630) is thought to have had a net worth of $500,000. Kepler was born prematurely two days after Christmas 1571 in Weil der Stadt, Wurttemburg, the son of a mercenary soldier and the daughter of an innkeeper (now part of Germany). He went to the University of Tubingen to study theology and ancient literature. There, he met Michael Maestlin, a professor of mathematics, who later served as his mentor.
Maestlin supported astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’ heliocentric theory of the solar system and planets. Instinctively accepting this hypothesis, Johannes Kepler developed an interest in astronomy and saw the hand of God in its simplicity.
In order to accept a position as a professor of mathematics and astronomy at the university in Graz, Austria, Johannes Kepler left the University of Tubingen in 1594 and abandoned his desire to become a cleric. He then constructed a sophisticated theory to account for the separation between planets’ orbits after adopting this attitude. (He incorrectly assumed that their orbits were circular, just like so many others before him. Even yet, his preliminary calculations were within 5% of the observable evidence. He changed his thinking to hold that planetary orbits are elliptical in his subsequent work.)
The second hypothesis put forth by Johannes Kepler was that a planet’s orbital planes were subject to a continuous force from the sun that weakened with increasing distance. He thought that this force moved the planets along their paths of orbit. He published these ideas in a work titled Mysterium Cosmographicum in 1596. (Cosmographic Mystery). The Copernican paradigm was defended for the first time in writing using geometric calculations.
Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer who did not personally believe in the Copernican system, requested Johannes Kepler to work for him in 1600 because he was so moved by Kepler’s achievements. One of the most active cosmological observers was Brahe, a mathematician at the court of Emperor Rudolph II in Prague. The data he gathered during his lifetime was significantly superior to any others made before the invention of the telescope at the time of his death, which occurred one year after Johannes Kepler started working as his assistant.
Tycho Brahe’s successor as the imperial mathematician and court astronomer was Johannes Kepler after Brahe’s passing. He held this position up until 1612, when he was appointed mathematician for the states of Oberosterreich (upper Austria).
Johannes Kepler was a skilled astronomer, mathematician, and prolific writer during his working years. Just two years after taking over for Brahe, he published his first significant work, a treatise on the theory of optics.
Astronomia Nova (New Astronomy), his subsequent significant work, was released in 1609. He was able to determine the orbit of the planet Mars using both his own observations and those of his forerunner. He proposed that the planets move in elliptic orbits with the sun at one focus, rejecting all prior theories of circular planetary orbits. The first of what are known as Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion was this. The second, which also featured in this work, is known as the area rule and states that an imaginary line between the sun and a planet would sweep away equal sections of an ellipse at equal intervals of time, implying that a planet would travel more quickly the closer it gets to the sun.
Johannes Kepler also produced a book during his time in Prague that eagerly accepted and expanded upon Galileo’s telescope discoveries. The year before he left for Linz, he also finished a book on optics as telescope lenses.
Johannes Kepler continued to observe and record his findings after relocating to northern Austria to take up his new position. His third Law of Planetary Motion was included in Harmonice Mundi (Harmony of the World), which was published in 1619. The ratio of the cubes of two planets’ semimajor axes is equal to the ratio of the squares of their revolutionary periods. (In essence, the ratio of a planet’s orbital period squared to its distance from the sun is a constant and the same for all planets.)
Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae (Epitome of Copernican Astronomy), Johannes Kepler’s magnum opus, was being worked on at the same time and was eventually published in 1621. All of his earlier work was brought together in this edition. The major astronomical text for many years afterward was this book, which was the first astronomy textbook to use the Copernican paradigm.
Tabulae Rudolfinae (Rudolfine Tables), which debuted in 1625, was the final significant work to be published during Johannes Kepler’s lifetime. Tycho Brahe’s observations and calculations served as the foundation for this work. The mean inaccuracies of a planet’s real location were decreased from 5° to within 10′ with the use of these new planet motion tables. Kepler’s theories and observations were later used by Sir Isaac Newton to develop his theory of gravitational force.
In Regensburg, Johannes Kepler passed away on November 15, 1630. (now part of Germany). Johannes Kepler’s net worth was $500,000 at the time of his passing.
Somnium (Dream), which was published four years after his passing. He talked about lunar residents and a lunar voyage in this piece. Thus, Johannes Kepler was not only a prolific contributor to astronomy and mathematics but also one of the first authors of science fiction.
