ANALOGICAL REASONING AND CONCEPTUAL CHANGE - A CASE-STUDY OF KEPLER,JOHANNES

The work of Johannes Kepler offers clear examples of conceptual change . In this article, using Kepler's work as a case study, we argue that analogical reasoning facilitates change of knowledge in four ways: (a) highlighting, (b) projection, (c) rerepresentation, and (d) restructu ring. We present these four mechanisms within the context of structure -mapping theory and its computational implementation, the structure-ma pping engine. We exemplify these mechanisms using the extended analogi es Kepler used in developing a causal theory of planetary motion.