From the earliest humans to Claudius Ptolemaeus, Galileo Galilei, George Ellery Hale, Edwin Hubble to Geoffery Marcy; the study/science of astronomy and the night sky has always attempted to decipher the sun, the moon and the planets but also our place as humans, within the cosmos.
Johannes Hevelius
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Portrait by Daniel Schultz
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Born |
28 January 1611 Danzig, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
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Died |
28 January 1687 (aged 76), Danzig, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
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Alma mater | Leiden University |
Known for | Lunar topography |






Alexander von Humboldt
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Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler (1843)
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Born |
14 September 1769 |
Died |
6 May 1859 (aged 89) |
Resting place | Schloss Tegel |
Nationality | German |
Alma mater | Freiberg School of Mines (diploma, 1792) University of Frankfurt (Oder) (no degree) University of Göttingen (no degree) University of Berlin[1] (no degree) |
Known for | Biogeography, Kosmos (1845–1862), Humboldt Current, magnetic storm, Humboldtian science, Berlin Romanticism[2] |
Academic advisors | Markus Herz, Carl Ludwig Willdenow, Abraham Gottlob Werner |
Notable students | Louis Agassiz[3] |
Influences | F. W. J. Schelling[1][4] |
Influenced | Darwin, Wallace, Thoreau, Whitman, Emerson, Muir, Irving, Ida Laura Pfeiffer, Frederic Edwin Church, Ernst Haeckel, George Perkins Marsh |
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Pierre-Simon Laplace
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Pierre-Simon Laplace as chancellor of the Senate under the First French Empire
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Born |
23 March 1749 Beaumont-en-Auge, Normandy, Kingdom of France
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Died |
5 March 1827 (aged 77) Paris, Kingdom of France
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Nationality | French |
Alma mater | University of Caen |
Known for |












Johannes Kepler
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Portrait of Kepler by an unknown artist in 1620.
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Born |
27 December 1571 Free Imperial City of Weil der Stadt, Holy Roman Empire
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Died |
15 November 1630 (aged 58) Free Imperial City of Regensburg, Holy Roman Empire
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Education | Tübinger Stift, University of Tübingen (M.A., 1591)[1] |
Known for | Kepler’s laws of planetary motion Kepler conjecture Rudolphine Tables |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy, astrology, mathematics, natural philosophy |
Doctoral advisor | Michael Maestlin |
Influences | Nicolaus Copernicus Tycho Brahe Pythagoras |
Influenced | Sir Isaac Newton Benoit Mandelbrot Thomas Browne |
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Nicolaus Copernicus
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Born |
19 February 1473 |
Died |
24 May 1543 (aged 70) Frauenburg, Warmia, Royal Prussia, Poland
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Education |
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Known for | |
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Academic advisors | Domenico Maria Novara da Ferrara |
Influences | |
Influenced | Johannes Kepler |
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Galileo Galilei
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1636 portrait by Justus Sustermans
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Born |
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei[1]
15 February 1564[2] |
Died |
8 January 1642 (aged 77) |
Education | University of Pisa |
Known for | |
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Patrons | |
Academic advisors | Ostilio Ricci da Fermo |
Notable students | |
Influences | |
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Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre
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Born |
19 September 1749 Amiens, France
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Died |
19 August 1822 (aged 72) Paris, France
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Nationality | French |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Astronomy |
Doctoral advisor | Jérôme Lalande |
Doctoral students | Gerard Moll |
Signature | ![]() |
Tycho Brahe
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Portrait of Tycho Brahe at age 50, c. 1596, wearing the Order of the Elephant
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Born |
Tyge Ottesen Brahe
14 December 1546 |
Died |
24 October 1601 (aged 54) |
Nationality | Danish |
Alma mater | University of Copenhagen Leipzig University University of Rostock |
Occupation | Astronomer, writer |
Known for | Tychonic system Tycho’s supernova Rudolphine Tables Variation |
Spouse | Kirsten Barbara Jørgensdatter |
Children | 8 |
Parent(s) | Otte Brahe Beate Clausdatter Bille |
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![Learned: Tico Brahae, his astronomicall coniectur, of the new and much admired [star] which appered in the year 1572](https://www.ccibookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Blank-Book-Cover.png)























