Kepler Walter William Bryant 9781287966241 Books
Download As PDF : Kepler Walter William Bryant 9781287966241 Books
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
Kepler Walter William Bryant 9781287966241 Books
“Kepler”, a biography by Walter W. Bryant and first published in 1920, certainly was substantial enough – even too substantial in those parts where the author (from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich) describes in much detail all the equations and theories Kepler and other astronomers before him worked out. I must admit I quick-read several chapters; I wasn’t overly interested in the exact mathematical formulas for each of the three Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motions, but much more in his life and in himself as a person.(If you are scientifically minded and want to see what I mean, have a look at the wikipedia-article and then imagine having it all explained in mere text, without any of the illustrations.)
What I’d known about Johannes Kepler until now was precious little enough: He lived in the 16th and 17th century, was born in Weil der Stadt (a small town not very far from where I live) and worked as an astronomer, sometimes in close association with Tycho Brahe. With what I have learned from the book, a different picture emerges; that of a troubled man who was never really able to live off his scientific work, a man who had to deal with many problems and obstacles in both his personal and his professional life, and who most likely was never very happy during the 58 years of his life.
He married twice; his first wife and several of his children died of various illnesses, no doubt due not only to the not very hygienic circumstances people generally lived under at the time, but also because the family were poor and probably could not always afford good meals and what limited medical help would have been available. Because of his constant shortage of money (he was patronized by several high-standing persons, for instance the Austrian emperor Rudolf, but payment was irregular at best), he wrote and sold horoscopes on demand – something he hated, because he knew it to be unscientific and untrue. The political and religious changes of his times meant he frequently had to change post and move his family from places in Austria to Prague, to Denmark and Germany, and he even could have gone to Italy on invitation of Galileo Galilei, but declined the offer on the grounds of feeling it was unsafe.
To top all the problems coming from outside, he was physically weak and affected by vision problems due to having nearly died from smallpox as a child. Knowing all this, his great efforts in achieving something in the world of science seem even greater. Although his own knowledge was limited (for instance, Newton had not yet discovered the Law of Gravity), his work became crucial to the further development of astronomy.
Like I said, I had not known much about Kepler until reading this book. It was well worth it, because I now have a more complete picture of someone who did not give up easily in the face of adversities.
Not much can be found about the author with a superficial research; his name is listed several times in connection with various posts at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich for the years 1892 to 1923; apparently, he died in office as Superintendent of the Magnetical and Meteorological Department on 31 January 1923. He wrote other books and scientific articles, too, but little seems to have been recorded about himself.
Product details
|
Tags : Kepler [Walter William Bryant] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages,Walter William Bryant,Kepler,Nabu Press,1287966241,Fiction - General,Fiction General,General,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
People also read other books :
- Playing God edition by Doug Moore Literature Fiction eBooks
- Piercing the Darkness The Deepest Darkness series Book 2 eBook D A Bale
- Just One Damned Thing After Another The Chronicles of St Mary Series Book 1 eBook Jodi Taylor
- Altered Reality A Lesbian Love Story Darcy Campbell 9781539012214 Books
- Passages A Pemberley Tale Brenda J Webb 9781540773111 Books
Kepler Walter William Bryant 9781287966241 Books Reviews
This book is little more than a Xerox copy of a book, written in 1920, that is in the public domain. My copy is in paperback and has a different cover and is copy of a book from the University of California Library, complete with a few marginal highlight lines, which are innocuous, but illustrate that this essentially a bound Xerox copy. I do not recommend the book, as much of it is consists of translations from Kepler’s original text, with very little additional comment by Bryant. The style is typical of the 19th century – ponderous and somewhat boring.
If you are really interested in Kepler, then I recommend “Kepler” by Max Caspar. Caspar was the foremost Kepler scholar and presents a detailed discussion of Kepler’s life and work. Caspar’s book was originally written in German in 1948, and is also somewhat ponderous, with paragraphs that are more than a page long. However, there is a lot more meat in Caspar’s book, and it is considered the definitive Kepler biography.
I knew of Kepler as the father of orbital mechanics, but I didn't know much else about his life before I read this book. I am impressed and amazed by how persistent he was in deriving a model of the solar system, and doubly impressed that he kept such meticulous records of all of the dead end methods he tried before devising his planetary laws. Recommended for anyone who is interested in how a great man practiced science.
Bryant's book, written early in the 20th century, does a good job of explaining to the lay person--like me--what Kepler accomplished and how he did it. I had no idea that most of what Kepler wrote was wildly wrong, and that he was more of a trial-and-error man than a brilliant scientist. Still, his astronomical laws were revolutionary, and they helped lead the way to modern astronomy.
One of the more interesting parts of this book is the description of how religion delayed scientific breakthroughs. For example, many powerful religionists of Kepler's time and earlier believed that the circle was a "better" figure than the ellipse, and hence that God--in his perfection--would require that planets move in circular orbits. When Kepler proved otherwise, his book was banned.
Today, even the most devoted fundamentalists accept Kepler's discovery that planets move elliptically. Unfortunately, even now many of those who control organized religions make the same error of those who worked against Kepler. Some, for example, use their interpretations of the Bible to ridicule scientific estimates of the age of the earth.
A more enlightened religious leadership, one not seeking to impose its views on science, would--this book demonstrates--benefit both the sacred and the profane domains.
“Kepler”, a biography by Walter W. Bryant and first published in 1920, certainly was substantial enough – even too substantial in those parts where the author (from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich) describes in much detail all the equations and theories Kepler and other astronomers before him worked out. I must admit I quick-read several chapters; I wasn’t overly interested in the exact mathematical formulas for each of the three Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motions, but much more in his life and in himself as a person.
(If you are scientifically minded and want to see what I mean, have a look at the wikipedia-article and then imagine having it all explained in mere text, without any of the illustrations.)
What I’d known about Johannes Kepler until now was precious little enough He lived in the 16th and 17th century, was born in Weil der Stadt (a small town not very far from where I live) and worked as an astronomer, sometimes in close association with Tycho Brahe. With what I have learned from the book, a different picture emerges; that of a troubled man who was never really able to live off his scientific work, a man who had to deal with many problems and obstacles in both his personal and his professional life, and who most likely was never very happy during the 58 years of his life.
He married twice; his first wife and several of his children died of various illnesses, no doubt due not only to the not very hygienic circumstances people generally lived under at the time, but also because the family were poor and probably could not always afford good meals and what limited medical help would have been available. Because of his constant shortage of money (he was patronized by several high-standing persons, for instance the Austrian emperor Rudolf, but payment was irregular at best), he wrote and sold horoscopes on demand – something he hated, because he knew it to be unscientific and untrue. The political and religious changes of his times meant he frequently had to change post and move his family from places in Austria to Prague, to Denmark and Germany, and he even could have gone to Italy on invitation of Galileo Galilei, but declined the offer on the grounds of feeling it was unsafe.
To top all the problems coming from outside, he was physically weak and affected by vision problems due to having nearly died from smallpox as a child. Knowing all this, his great efforts in achieving something in the world of science seem even greater. Although his own knowledge was limited (for instance, Newton had not yet discovered the Law of Gravity), his work became crucial to the further development of astronomy.
Like I said, I had not known much about Kepler until reading this book. It was well worth it, because I now have a more complete picture of someone who did not give up easily in the face of adversities.
Not much can be found about the author with a superficial research; his name is listed several times in connection with various posts at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich for the years 1892 to 1923; apparently, he died in office as Superintendent of the Magnetical and Meteorological Department on 31 January 1923. He wrote other books and scientific articles, too, but little seems to have been recorded about himself.
0 Response to "[FYR]≫ Read Kepler Walter William Bryant 9781287966241 Books"
Post a Comment