Olbers' Paradox
If the universe is infinite and full of stars, every line of sight should end on one. So why is the night sky dark?
1610 (Kepler), 1744 (de Chéseaux), 1823 (Olbers)17 min read
German astronomy and mathematical physics
Johannes Kepler
1571 – 1630
Imperial mathematician at Prague and author of the three laws of planetary motion. In his Dissertatio cum Nuncio Sidereo of 1610 — a rapid open response to Galileo's telescopic discoveries — he argued that the darkness of the night sky is itself evidence that the realm of stars is bounded. It is the earliest clear statement of the problem later named after Olbers.