Thinking God's Thoughts After Him

In 1619, Johannes Kepler published Harmonices Mundi, his masterwork on the mathematical harmony of the cosmos. After years of painstaking observation and calculation, Kepler had discovered that the planets move in elegant elliptical orbits, their speeds and distances governed by precise mathematical relationships. The discovery overwhelmed him. In the book's final pages, he wrote a prayer: "I thank Thee, Lord God our Creator, that Thou allowest me to see the beauty in Thy work of creation."…