Overview
"This is one of the most important studies in decades on Johannes Kepler, among the towering figures in the history of astronomy. Drawing extensively on Kepler's correspondence and manuscripts, James Voelkel reveals that the strikingly unusual style of Kepler's magnum opus, Astronomia nova (1609), has been traditionally misinterpreted. Kepler laid forth the first two of his three laws of planetary motion in this work. Instead of a straightforward presentation of his results, however, he led readers on a wild goose chase, recounting the many errors and false starts he had experienced. This had long been deemed a ""confessional"" mirror of the daunting technical obstacles Kepler faced. As Voelkel amply demonstrates, it is not. Voelkel argues that Kepler's style can be understood only in the context of the circumstances in which the book was written. Starting with Kepler's earliest writings, he traces the development of the astronomer's ideas of how the planets were moved by a force from the sun and how this could be expressed mathematically. And he shows how Kepler's once broader research program was diverted to a detailed examination of the motion of Mars.Above all, Voelkel shows that Kepler was well aware of the harsh reception his work would receive--both from Tycho Brahe's heirs and from contemporary astronomers; and how this led him to an avowedly rhetorical pseudo-historical presentation of his results.In treating Kepler at last as a figure in time and not as independent of it, this work will be welcomed by historians of science, astronomers, and historians."
Full Product Details
Author: James R. Voelkel
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.624kg
ISBN: 9780691007380
ISBN 10: 0691007381
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 18 November 2001
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language: English
Reviews
"""Voelkel ... offers great reading for the Johannes Kepler aficionado.""--Choice ""An exceptional and important contribution to history of science studies""--Rhonda Martens, Renaissance Quarterly"
Voelkel ... offers great reading for the Johannes Kepler aficionado. -- Choice An exceptional and important contribution to history of science studies --Rhonda Martens, Renaissance Quarterly
Voelkel ... offers great reading for the Johannes Kepler aficionado. Choice An exceptional and important contribution to history of science studies -- Rhonda Martens Renaissance Quarterly
Voelkel ... offers great reading for the Johannes Kepler aficionado. -- Choice An exceptional and important contribution to history of science studies -- Rhonda Martens, Renaissance Quarterly
Author Information
James R. Voelkel is capabilities manager of the History of Recent Science and Technology web project located at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has taught astronomy and history of science at Harvard University, Williams College, and The Johns Hopkins University, and is the author of Johannes Kepler and the New Astronomy.
