Question
Question: How did Tycho Brahe and Kepler employ the scientific method?...
How did Tycho Brahe and Kepler employ the scientific method?
Solution
Firstly, you could recall the works of both the scientists given in the question. Also, mention how these scientists were related to each other and also how their works were interrelated. Then you could think of the scientific methods employed by the scientists in their respective works.
Complete answer:
In the question, we are asked as to how Tycho Brahe and Kepler employed the scientific method.
You may know that the precise measurement related to the motions of the stars and planets, Mars in particular, was done by Tycho Brahe. The stellar parallax is the apparent movement of stars against a distant background. When Tycho Brahe searched for one, he found none and that made him conclude that Earth is motionless.
From Tycho Brahe’s work we see that the following scientific methods were taken by him:
(1) Questioning about the motions of planets, stars, etc.
(2) Making precise measurements of the quantities and followed by data analysis.
(3) made a conclusion from the observations and then published them to the world.
Kepler, who was Brahe’s contemporary, was then made to work on the same. And his conclusion after so many failed attempts was what we call the three fundamental laws of gravitation.
Other than the scientific methods employed by Tycho Brahe, Kepler also formulated a theory that explained the data he produced and in addition he also extended this theory to planets other than mars.
So, this is how the two mentioned scientists employed scientific method in their work.
Note:
Brahe and Kepler are considered as the odd couple of the scientific world. Though Kepler is known to be the father of modern astronomy, it was Brahe’s observational data that is considered accurate and also comprehensive during the era of pre telescopic astronomy. Kepler is considered imaginative as well as a daring theorist and Brahe was known for accurate data.