Johannes Kepler Quotes
So, Fabricius, I already have this: that the most true path of the planet [Mars] is an ellipse, which Dürer also calls an oval, or certainly so close to an ellipse that the difference is insensible.
Kepler, Johannes. Letter to David Fabricius. 11 Oct. 1605.
Note that Da Vinci predated Galileo. One big difference was that Da Vinci did not publish his heretical views, but wrote them in his private notebook. The church authorities likely did not know about his heresy.
While critics of Islam cite this sura to show how absurd the Koran can be and contradicts what is known about the Earth’s orbit, few sophisticated, moderate Muslims believe this. However, even in the United States there are many Christians and Orthodox Jews who not only deny Evolution but also believe the Earth is 6000 years old. The basic difference is that in Islamic countries publicly critiquing such anti-scientific theological statements is rare and an individual who publicly argues against the Koran taken literally is often in danger from state or private retribution. In the West the conflict between the Bible and known science is not only publicly commented upon but in a somewhat derisive way. However, consider this: Islam is about 1500 years old. When Christianity was the same age, Galileo was tried and convicted by the Catholic Church for denying this very statement. Perhaps in another 700 years Muslims will look back with embarrassment on this as most of Christianity does.
This is a very important quotation for it proves that the solar system was known to be centered around the sun (and not the Earth) 1500 years before the Roman Catholic Church was persecuting Galileo for claiming the opposite. The church exercised such control over thoughts and expression that they suppressed what scientists had known for over 1000. Modern governments cannot suppress truth easily for 1000 days and often not more than a few days. The Romans learned it from the Egyptians so it was not a major secret until it was made one by the church This astronomer of Cleopatra’s Egypt, was the one who taught Julius Caesar about the Egyptian calendar which he adopted for Rome and the Western World. See {621708} .
Johannes Kepler was a German astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer. He is a key figure in the 17th-century scientific revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of the foundations for Newton's theory of universal gravitation.
