Astronomers

Galileo Galilei: Galilei Galileo (1564-1642) an Italian physicist and astronomer, was greatly remembered for some very important contributions to astronomy and physics.  He was also known for his battle against the authorities for freedom of inquiry.  Early in his life, Galileo was taught by monks at Vallombrosa, and then entered the university of Pisa in 1581 to study medicine.







Nicholas Copernicus: Nicholas Copernicus (1473 -1543) was a Polish astronomer, well known for his Copernican theory. His theory stated that sun rest near the center of the universe, and the earth, which spun daily on its axis, revolved annually around the sun. Now, this process is known as helocentric, or suncentered, system.  Copernicus first began going to  the University of Krakow in 1491.  He studied liberal arts for four years withouth recieving a degree, and then went to Italy to study law and medicine.


Johannes Kepler:

Johannes Kepler(1571-1630) was a German astronomy and natrual philosophere who was known for his ability in formulating and verifying the three laws of planetary motion, which are now known as Keplers's Laws.    He studed theology and classics at the University of Tubingen.  While he was there he studied the Copernican theory, which he accepted.  When Kepler left Tubingen to go to Graz, Austria, he began to work on a complex geometric hypothesis to explain the distance of planetary orbits, which he mistakingly took as circular. During this he also proposed that the sun emitted a force that inversely diminishes the distance and pushes the planets around their orbits.  Using all of this information he wrote a book called Mysterium Comosgraphicum(Cosmographic Mystery) in 1596. From 1594 to 1600 Kepler was the chair of astronomy and mathematics the University of Graz, until he became Tycho Brahe's  assistant at the observatory near Prague.