Abstract :
Numerical methods are usually constructed for solving mathematical problems
such as differential equations or optimization problems. In this contribution
we discuss the fact that numerical methods, applied inversely, were
also important in establishing these models. We show in detail the discovery
of the laws of planetary motion by Kepler and Newton, which stood at the
beginning of modern science. The 400th anniversary of the publication of
Kepler’s laws (1609) is a good occasion for this investigation.
