This 4 page paper examines the reforms that were proposed by Johannes Kepler during the sixteenth century and why he made these proposals that revolutionised the practice of astrology. The bibliography cites 5 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: TS14_TEastrkepler.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
it was a man of science that proposed major changes to the way astrology was practiced. Johannes Kepler was born on 1572 in Germany at Weil-der-Stadt. Born to a family
of falling fortunes, his father had been a mercenary solider and his mother had a reputation as a witch. The impression given by Kepler ands some of his quotes
may lead a read to the impression he had not belief in astrology, however, this was not the case. In many biographies there is the presentation of a man who
studied mathematics and astronomy. The quote that is often used to illustrate this view is that of astrology being the foolish daughter of the wise mother, the wise mother being
astronomy (Negus, 1991). However, this was more reflective of his view of the way that astrology was practiced, principally common astrology. He separated his view of the celestial harmonies ad
popular astrology, typified by the almanac publishers and the cheap astrologers who would tell fortunes for a few coppers (Godwin, 1987). These he saw as preferring "engage in mad ravings
with the uneducated masses" (Negus, 1991). Kepler worked at a different level, it is easy to argue that he had the advantage of an education and as such was
able to afford himself a level of intellectual snobbery, but this is more that snobbery, it also stems form his ideas of the divine in the universe and that astrology
was the study if the divine being "a testimony of Gods works and... by no means a frivolous thing" (Negus, 1991). However, as time went by he did show a
reluctant reversal of this perception, which may also have been aided by his personal circumstances. He was a mathematician; the Imperial Mathematicus, there was a salary for this position, but