Mathematicians
Johannes Kepler
Early Modern
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Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) was a German mathematician and astronomer, a central figure of the Scientific Revolution best known for his three laws of planetary motion, which showed that planets travel in elliptical rather than circular orbits. In his 1611 pamphlet on the six-cornered snowflake he gave the first mathematical treatment of the close packing of equal spheres, conjecturing that no arrangement packs spheres more densely than the cubic and hexagonal close packings; the claim, now the Kepler Conjecture, was not proved until Thomas Hales's work of 1998 and its 2014 formal verification. Kepler also advanced the practical use of Napier's new logarithms, publishing his own eight-figure logarithm tables with the Rudolphine Tables in 1628.
Facts
BirthplaceWeil der Stadt, Holy Roman Empire (present-day Germany) 1 Death PlaceRegensburg, Holy Roman Empire (present-day Germany) 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionCalculated tables of eight-figure logarithms, published with his Rudolphine Tables in 1628, helping to establish Napier's new method as a practical tool for astronomers. 2 Defining ContributionFirst stated, in 1611, the conjecture that no packing of equal spheres in space is denser than cubic or hexagonal close packing, now called the Kepler Conjecture. 3 Defining ContributionFormulated the three laws of planetary motion, establishing that planets move in elliptical orbits and overturning the assumption of circular orbits that had held since antiquity. 1 Defining ContributionGave the first mathematical treatment of the close packing of equal spheres, an analysis he connected to the hexagonal shape of honeycomb cells. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Conjectures Posed
Kepler first stated the conjecture in 1611; it was proved by Thomas Hales in 1998.
In Branch
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Johannes Kepler (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead sectionQuote, Lead section
a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion
1. Johannes Kepler (Wikipedia)
2. Johannes Kepler, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St AndrewsPrague years sectionQuote, Prague years section
gave the first mathematical treatment of close packing of equal spheres (leading to an explanation of the shape of the cells of a honeycomb, 1611)
2. Johannes Kepler, Biography (MacTutor History of Mathematics)
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St AndrewsLater years sectionQuote, Later years section
calculated tables of eight-figure logarithms, which were published with the Rudolphine Tables (Ulm, 1628)
3. Kepler Conjecture (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationOrigins sectionQuote, Origins section
The conjecture was first stated by Johannes Kepler (1611) in his paper 'On the six-cornered snowflake'.
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