Tycho Brahe Astronomer Extraordinaire

Danish nobleman, astronomer, "the first competent mind in modern astronomy to feel ardently the passion for exact empirical facts", teacher of Kepler, astrologer and alchemist.

He had a brass nose and maybe a golden one for special occasions, because he lost his in a quarrel with another nobleman over a math problem.


He was also proud owner of a tame elk

...Apparently during dinner the elk had drunk a lot of beer, fallen down the stairs and died.

I found this by accident, I heard he also had a little person employed full time to sit under his table and make prophecies.

Aristocrats.

Hipatia of Alexandria, also very interesting...IV century

a reply to: Peeple

Carl Sagan told his tale extremely well in his series "Cosmos". A must watch for all who are interested in astronomy (and making the perfect apple pie).

Tyco Brahe loved to party and this was his demise.

I find the story of Johannes Kepler just as fascinating. They worked together but Tyco was not one to share his work very well until he died of "consumption" and his wife then shared it.

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

a reply to: Peeple
Sir Oliver Lodge wrote about him in "Pioneers of Science" (My grandfather was given this book as a school prize).

In 1563 he observed the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. He found the old planetary tables were as much as a month out in predicting this event, and he set out to improve them. "His first instrument was a jointed ruler with sights for fixing the posiiton of planets with respect to the stars, and observing their stations and retrogressions."

He was able to establish his own obervatory when the king of Denmark offereed him an isalnd (Huen) near Copenhagen as a site, £20,000 to build it, and a pension of £400 a year for iife. (money measurements arae probably in Victorian prices)

a reply to: Peeple

I don't know about the small person under his desk (which for me conjurers up images of the Oval Office) but he evidently was greatly assisted in his work by his potentially equally brilliant sister, Sophie.

Upon her husband's death, Sophie Thott managed his property in Eriksholm (today Trolleholm Castle[5]), running the estate to keep it profitable until her son came of age. During this time, she also became a horticulturalist, in addition to her studies in chemistry and medicine. The gardens she created in Eriksholm were said to be exceptional.[2] Sophie was particularly interested in studying chemistry and medicine according to Paracelsus,[4] in which small doses of poison might serve as strong medicines, and used her skills to treat the local poor.[2] She was devoted to the study of astrology and helped her brother with producing horoscopes.

Tycho wrote that he had trained Sophia in horticulture and chemistry. While Tycho Brahe did not discourage her from learning astronomy at first, he thought it more important for her to focus on learning in other areas of sciences. Tycho Brahe did train her in some astronomy so that she would be able to assist in some of his observations. One such observation was the observation of a lunar eclipse when she was only fourteen years old. Later in both of their careers Tycho began to discourage her from continuing her research into astronomy because he believed it to be too complex for the talents of a woman.[4][5]

Sophia Brahe studied horticulture and chemistry. Despite the discouragements of her brother, Sophia continued to pursue knowledge in astronomy. It was well known by her acquaintances that she had a strong will and would continue to research as she desired. [1] [15] The work that Sophia aided her brother in is now seen as the basis of modern orbit predictions of the planets and solar system.[16] The Island of Hven, sometimes referred to as Ven (Sweden), is where many of these observations took place. In the Hven Observatory, Tycho and Sophia collected the most accurate measurements to date (prior to the telescope invention) of the positions of the planets with respect to time.[17] Tycho Brahe is generally known for the devices and instruments that he made which aided in the observations. Sophia, on the other hand, had a key role in performing the observations themselves.[18] Sophia's work in astronomy became very respected by her brother and other astronomers who worked closely with them. Tycho even had plans to publish one of her letters on the subject, he wrote in a piece a flattering comparison to a famous scholar Fulvia Olympia Morata.[4] Tycho and his assistants, which included Sophia, watched the orbits of planetary bodies, rather than the locations alone.[19] A monumental discovery that was made by the Brahe siblings was the new star, known as Tycho's Supernova.[20] The official scientific name of the Supernova is SN 1572. Tycho's Supernova was a controversial discovery which waviered peoples faith due to it being the first evidence found showing that the Earth is not at the center of the universe.[21]

en.wikipedia.org...

Tycho's Supernova. Someone I think stole all the thunder for himself.