If you were to ask me to name the scientists who have most impacted my own life and views of the Cosmos, at the very top of that list would be Johannes Kepler.
Since I was introduced to him on Sunday, October 12, 1980, he has been a constant foundation for understanding the later works of Einstein, as well as my enjoyment of science fiction and of cosmology.
I first met Kepler on the third episode of the series, Cosmos, with Carl Sagan relating not just his works, but his life as a man, which was fraught with dangers we can hardly imagine today. a man who amid events that historian’s study, religious and political upheaval and cultural clashes, defenestration's and war, still wanted to know the answers to questions that we too seek to find. It is his work that led us to our first steps into the Cosmos. Without his laws, we would not understand how to land on the Moon, or take photos of Pluto, or to communicate with Voyager all those billions of kilometers away on its expedition.
Each year, on the 27th of December, I watch episode three of the series, Harmony of the Worlds, as my small tribute to remembering Kepler's work and life. His books occupy places on honor on my shelves, and those he has influenced by his work, are next to them.
Johannes Kepler, with his unwavering faith in the harmony of the cosmos and his relentless pursuit of mathematical truth, stands as the most important astronomer of all time, for he transformed our understanding of the heavens from mystical wonder to a universe governed by unbreakable laws, bridging the celestial and the terrestrial in a way no one before or since has achieved.

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