Kepler: Analogies in the search for the law of refraction Academic Article

journal

  • Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A

abstract

  • This paper examines the methodology used by Kepler to discover a quantitative law of refraction. The aim is to argue that this methodology follows a heuristic method based on the following two Pythagorean principles: (1) sameness is made known by sameness, and (2) harmony arises from establishing a limit to what is unlimited. We will analyse some of the author's proposed analogies to find the aforementioned law and argue that the investigation's heuristic pursues such principles.

publication date

  • 2016-10-1

edition

  • 59

keywords

  • Harmony
  • Heuristics
  • Johannes Kepler
  • Methodology
  • Pythagorean
  • Sameness

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0039-3681

number of pages

  • 14

start page

  • 22

end page

  • 35