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Abstract

In 1619 Kepler published his Five books on world harmony, the grand synthesis of his cosmic theories based on his vision of a harmonic creation.1 It contained a profound analysis of the concept of constructibility, as well as a precise and sharp criticism of the constructional practices of contemporary geometers and their use of algebra. For Kepler the issue was of central philosophical importance, and for that reason his analysis of constructional exactness in geometry was both more detailed and more critical than any in his period.

[Kepler 1619]; I quote from the edition of this work in [Kepler 1937–1975] taking the translations from [Kepler 1997].

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Bos, H.J.M. (2001). Kepler. In: Redefining Geometrical Exactness. Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0087-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0087-8_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6521-4

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