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Johannes Kepler (1571-1630).........................................................................................................2

Galileo Galilei (1563-1642).............................................................................................................2
Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1737).........................................................................................................2
TOP SCIENTISTS IN PHYSICS

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)

Modern astronomy begins with Copernicus (1473-1543) declaring (1530) that the Earth
rotates on its axis once daily and travels around the Sun once yearly. Next Tycho Brahe
(1546-1601) made important contributions to astronomy by devising instruments to
observe the motion of planets. In particular, Brahe compiled extensive data on the planet
Mars. However, his assistant Johannes Kepler made the monumental discovery of the time.
Brahe, fearing his bright assistant might eclipse him as the leading astronomer of the day,
assigned Kepler the perplexing orbit of the planet Mars. Ironically, it was precisely the Mars
data that allowed Kepler to develop his three laws describing the orbit of planets around
the Sun.

Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion:

1. Planets revolve around the Sun in an elliptical path, with the Sun occupying one of
the foci of the ellipse.
2. A moving line drawn from the Sun to any planet sweeps out equal areas in equal
intervals of time.
3. The squares of planets' orbital periods are proportional to the cubes of the semi-
major axes of their orbits.

Galileo Galilei (1563-1642)

Mathematician /astronomer /physicist who made numerous contributions to modern
science. Galileo was first to use a telescope to gather evidence proving that the Earth
revolves around the Sun.

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1737)

There can be no outstanding scientist list without Sir Isaac Newton; he made revolutionary
advances in mathematics, optics, physics, and astronomy. In 1687 Newton published the
Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica. Principia, as it has become known, is
recognized as the greatest scientific book ever written! Newton analyzed motion of bodies
under the action of centripetal forces. The results were applied to orbiting bodies,
projectiles, pendulums, and free-fall near Earth.

Newton's Three Laws of Motion:

1. A body continues in a state of rest, or motion with a constant velocity, unless

compelled to change by an external force.
2. The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting upon it
and inversely proportional to its mass.
3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

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