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Early Numerical Analysis in Kepler's New Astronomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2010

Steinar Thorvaldsen
Steinar Thorvaldsen*
Affiliation:
University of Tromsø, Norway
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Argument

Johannes Kepler published his Astronomia nova in 1609, based upon a huge amount of computations. The aim of this paper is to show that Kepler's new astronomy was grounded on methods from numerical analysis. In his research he applied and improved methods that required iterative calculations, and he developed precompiled mathematical tables to solve the problems, including a transcendental equation. Kepler was aware of the shortcomings of his novel methods, and called for a new Apollonius to offer a formal mathematical deduction. He was also in great need of computational power, and his friend and colleague, Wilhelm Schickard, constructed the first prototype of a true mechanical calculator, although it never came into regular use. The article concludes that Kepler's new astronomy was clearly backed up by numerical methods and embedded concepts and challenges of great importance for the future development of numerical analysis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Science in Context , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 39 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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