
Sometimes it’s good to introduce our kids to people who have lived in the past. Let’s jump back in time to the 1500s and get to know this awesome scientist.
NAME: Johannes Kepler
ADDRESS: Weil der Stadt, Germany
JOB: Teaching mathematics and being the district mathematician.
CLAIM TO FAME: Dr. Kepler figured out some things that no one else had figured out before, In fact other scientists had given up trying,
Here are two of Dr. Kepler’s discoveries.
*Planets move around the sun in an elliptical orbit.
The closer they are to the sun, the faster they travel.
Wait a minute – Do you understand what these discoveries are all about?
Take a hula hoop, stand it on is edge, then push it down so it isn’t a round circle anymore. But stop pushing before you break it. Now you have an ellipse. The planet would be on the pushed down rim, and the sun would be in the side area closer to one of the ends. How could Dr. Kepler figure that out? He was so super smart and he was right.
Dr. Kepler also figured out that the closer a plant comes to the sun on the elliptical path the faster it travels. He was right again.
WHY HE STUDIED PLANETS: Dr. Kepler believed that the earth and heavens were created by a knowing and all powerful God … and therefore all creation must be orderly.
FAVORITE VERSE: In his book Harmony of the of the Worlds, he praised God. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure. (Psalm 147:5)
ODDS AND ENDS: He also studied the human eye and the telescope. He detailed mathematical charts to show how the stars and planets relate to one another and help navigators get to where they were going.
WHY HE’S SO IMPORTANT: He is said to be one of the major developers of modern science, yet the foundation of all he did was based on the Bible. He KNEW God created the world and therefore, he understood that all creation is a detailed and orderly design.
THANK YOU LORD, FOR PEOPLE WHO GLORIFY YOU WITH THEIR LIVES.