Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. There's a reading list to go with it on our website

and you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC in Our Time.

I hope you enjoy the programs.

Hello, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists

of all time.

Born in 1571, his work laid the foundations for the breakthrough that Isaac Newton made a century later.

Kepler conducted research in the field of optics and made important advances in mathematics.

He became imperial mathematician of the Holy Roman Emperor, but his most significant

achievement was his development of his three pioneering laws of planetary

motion which revolutionized our understanding of the solar system. He accomplished

all this despite the fact that he had little money

his personal life was hit by tragedy

his mother was accused of witchcraft

and he was a Lutheran at a time

when an increasingly Catholic Germany often persecuted Lutherans.

He's also thought to have written one of the first works of science fiction.

With me to discuss Johannes Kepler's life and science are David Wooten, Professor of History,

the University of York, Eulinker Rubin, Professor of History at the University of York,

Eulinka Rublach, Professor of Early Modern European History at the

University of Cambridge and Fellows and Johns College,

and Adam Mosley Associate Professor in the Department of History at Swansea University.

Item Mosley, religion played a major role in Kepler's life,

...