Famous physicists
Life Stories (from course
notes by Michael Fowler at the University of Virginia)
-
Tycho
Brahe. After flunking out in the study of law, this noble
Danish
astronomer led a team to map the motion of the planets with astonishing
accuracy-- in the age predating telescopes.
-
Johannes
Kepler. German astronomer with an unhappy homelife as a
child. He stole Brahe's voluminous data from his heirs and used
it
brilliantly to figure out his laws of planetary motion.
-
Isaac
Newton. A failed farmer. Figured out his law of
universal
gravitation based on Kepler's laws, in the course of which he invented
the calculus.
Nobel prize winners; photos
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