"Thomas de Groot" <t.d### [at] internlnet> wrote:
> "PM 2Ring" <nomail@nomail> schreef in bericht

> > I want to see this scene in 3D... will you be making the source available?

> Yes, I shall post this scene in p.b.s-f

Thanks, Thomas, I'll start rendering a stereo version tonight, on my little
old 500MHz, 256Mb Windows 2000p machine. It may take some time to do high
quality, especially if I use area lights, etc.

> > Johannes would be proud of you. I'm pretty sure he drew the original
> artwork
> > himself. FWIW, they have this book at my local library. Kepler is an
> > absorbing writer, even if some of his ideas seem a little strange to
> modern
> > readers.
> >
> Well, don't forget he lived in the 16th century. Our knowledge has much
> increased since then.

And Kepler played a key role in this increase. He almost didn't obtain
access to Tycho's Mars observations - the family were very possessive after
Tycho's death, even though Kepler had been Tycho's assistant & had
performed countless observations himself.

If Kepler hadn't found that the orbit of Mars is elliptical, it may have
taken another century or more for this important fact to be known. That
would have certainly hampered the development of the calculus & Newtonian
mechanics. Modern mathematics & physics would not be where they are today
without Kepler, IMHO.

He was a master geometer, fully conversant with the properties of the conic
sections through the work of Apollonius, and with the almost inexhaustible
supply of patience required of an observational astronomer in the days
before telescopes. These qualities were essential for him to be able to
determine the shape of Mars's orbit. And, with those qualities, I reckon
he'd be brilliant at POV, too. (Hey, I managed to get back on-topic. :)

>However, in his time, his work was truly revolutionary.

And still worth reading, if you don't mind a bit of mathematical mysticism
thrown in. Personally, I find it fascinating, to see how various belief
systems influence how people think about the world.

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