Kepler was born in December of 1571 as a premature child in Swabia, a wine region in southwest Germany. At the age of seven months he became sickly with smallpox. It affected his vision bad enough that he would never see the stars he relied so much on as a firm believer in astrology.
He is best known as a mathematician, theorizing on the laws of planetary motion, a solid foundation for Isaac Newton's theory of universal gravitation. He lived in a time where church, science, and astrology were closely related, so he believed that God had created the solar system with an intelligible plan that could be deciphered through reasoning.
Though his theories of an intricate plan were off, his work and ideas created a strong foundation for generations of astronomers to come.
