Philosophy
Goes to illustrate that science is a function of team work.
Tycho Brahe observed the sky before the age of telescopes.
MANY think of Tycho Brahe as the most significant astronomical observer before the invention of the telescope and well worthy of the prominent crater on the moon named after him. Yet, in the hours before his death on October 24, 1601, lying in the grip of a fever rending him delirious, Brahe reportedly said, ''May I not have lived in vain.''
Born in 1546 in Scania, then part of Denmark, to one of the highest-ranking noble families, he was raised by his paternal uncle. At university in 1560 he saw a solar eclipse, which piqued his interest in astronomy.
Not lacking confidence, he challenged another student to a sword duel over claims of who was the better mathematician. In the ensuing contest, Brahe lost part of the bridge of his nose and would then on wear a silver plate to cover the offending area; he reportedly wore a gold one to church.
His impressive scholarship reached the ears of King Frederick, who offered the island Ven on which to build an observatory and substantial funds to run such an institution. Estimates suggest 5 per cent of Denmark treasury funds were used in the venture - a staggering sum, underlying the ubiquitous faith placed in Brahe. He took possession of Ven in 1574 and built a castle and observatory he called ''Uraniborg'', or ''heavenly castle''. It was the last purpose-built astronomical observatory not to feature a telescope - its invention lying almost 30 years in the future.
Discovering most records of previous observations were not exacting enough, Brahe designed, manufactured and calibrated new instruments allowing unprecedented accuracy. Ven became a revered centre of learning and had as many as 100 assistants sourced from European universities. International scholars visited and he trained the next generation of astronomers. It even boasted its own press.
In 1572, he observed the second-last supernova to be seen in the Milky Way and five years later the comet of 1577. The accepted Ptolemaic model at that time featured the Earth at the centre of the universe, encircled by glass spheres supporting each of the orbiting moon, sun and planets and, lastly, the stars. The sphere of stars was thought unchanging and comets an atmospheric phenomenon.
The fact a supernova appeared where no star resided before refuted the earlier claim. Furthermore, highly accurate parallax measurements of the comet also indicated irrefutably to Brahe that the comet was way out of the Earth's atmosphere and further than the sphere of the moon.
As such, this required a rethink on the held model of the universe. He came up with an original concept that sat between the Ptolemaic and Copernican models. Brahe did away with the glass spheres and continued to hold Earth at the centre, with moon and sun orbiting it, but the rest of the planets orbiting the sun.
In 1597, after falling out of favour with new king Christian following Frederick's death, he left Denmark, packing up books, instruments and observations, eventually ending up in Prague as the Imperial Mathematician. This was incredibly significant, for in this new location his main assistant was Johannes Kepler, a mathematical genius.
Following Brahe's death in 1601, Kepler used the superb detail and accuracy of Brahe's collected observations to formulate his laws of planetary motion; without this trove of painstakingly collected data, astronomy may have not burst forth to the new age till much later.
Tycho Brahe [Wikipedia]
- Franceso Ingoli, Galileo And The Roman Inquisition
In January of 1616, the month before before the Roman Inquisition would infamously condemn the Copernican theory as being “foolish and absurd in philosophy”, Monsignor Francesco Ingoli addressed Galileo Galilei with an essay entitled “Disputation...
- Exhumation Of Tycho Brahe
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," said Marcellus [an officer] having just seen the ghost of Hamlet's father, the late king of Denmark----"Hamlet" Act I, Scene 4...William Shakespeare. Why did they do this? Was it worth the expense?...
- An Issue Between Tycho Brahe And Copernicus
Tycho Brahe, the most prominent and accomplished astronomer of his era, made measurements of the apparent sizes of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. From these he showed that within a geocentric cosmos these bodies were of comparable sizes, with the...
- Bad Boys Of Astronomy
I was amused at a recent entry at New Scientist..."Meet the scoundrels of astronomy"... History is littered with astronomers who doggedly pursued fame at the expense of the scientific method. While researching a biographical encyclopaedia, Thomas Hockey...
- Pre-mariner 4 Knowledge Of Mars
Barrie W. Jones's "Mars before the space age" [recently published in the International Journal of Astrobilogy (Volume 7, Number 2, pp. 143-155, 2008)] has provided a succinct thirteen page history of Mars...pre-Mariner 4. Abstract: Mars has surely...
Philosophy
Tycho Brahe...an early astronomical observer
Goes to illustrate that science is a function of team work.
"A feisty man of science"
by
Perry Vlahos
October 27th, 2011
The Sydney Morning Herald
by
Perry Vlahos
October 27th, 2011
The Sydney Morning Herald
Tycho Brahe observed the sky before the age of telescopes.
MANY think of Tycho Brahe as the most significant astronomical observer before the invention of the telescope and well worthy of the prominent crater on the moon named after him. Yet, in the hours before his death on October 24, 1601, lying in the grip of a fever rending him delirious, Brahe reportedly said, ''May I not have lived in vain.''
Born in 1546 in Scania, then part of Denmark, to one of the highest-ranking noble families, he was raised by his paternal uncle. At university in 1560 he saw a solar eclipse, which piqued his interest in astronomy.
Not lacking confidence, he challenged another student to a sword duel over claims of who was the better mathematician. In the ensuing contest, Brahe lost part of the bridge of his nose and would then on wear a silver plate to cover the offending area; he reportedly wore a gold one to church.
His impressive scholarship reached the ears of King Frederick, who offered the island Ven on which to build an observatory and substantial funds to run such an institution. Estimates suggest 5 per cent of Denmark treasury funds were used in the venture - a staggering sum, underlying the ubiquitous faith placed in Brahe. He took possession of Ven in 1574 and built a castle and observatory he called ''Uraniborg'', or ''heavenly castle''. It was the last purpose-built astronomical observatory not to feature a telescope - its invention lying almost 30 years in the future.
Discovering most records of previous observations were not exacting enough, Brahe designed, manufactured and calibrated new instruments allowing unprecedented accuracy. Ven became a revered centre of learning and had as many as 100 assistants sourced from European universities. International scholars visited and he trained the next generation of astronomers. It even boasted its own press.
In 1572, he observed the second-last supernova to be seen in the Milky Way and five years later the comet of 1577. The accepted Ptolemaic model at that time featured the Earth at the centre of the universe, encircled by glass spheres supporting each of the orbiting moon, sun and planets and, lastly, the stars. The sphere of stars was thought unchanging and comets an atmospheric phenomenon.
The fact a supernova appeared where no star resided before refuted the earlier claim. Furthermore, highly accurate parallax measurements of the comet also indicated irrefutably to Brahe that the comet was way out of the Earth's atmosphere and further than the sphere of the moon.
As such, this required a rethink on the held model of the universe. He came up with an original concept that sat between the Ptolemaic and Copernican models. Brahe did away with the glass spheres and continued to hold Earth at the centre, with moon and sun orbiting it, but the rest of the planets orbiting the sun.
In 1597, after falling out of favour with new king Christian following Frederick's death, he left Denmark, packing up books, instruments and observations, eventually ending up in Prague as the Imperial Mathematician. This was incredibly significant, for in this new location his main assistant was Johannes Kepler, a mathematical genius.
Following Brahe's death in 1601, Kepler used the superb detail and accuracy of Brahe's collected observations to formulate his laws of planetary motion; without this trove of painstakingly collected data, astronomy may have not burst forth to the new age till much later.
Tycho Brahe [Wikipedia]
- Franceso Ingoli, Galileo And The Roman Inquisition
In January of 1616, the month before before the Roman Inquisition would infamously condemn the Copernican theory as being “foolish and absurd in philosophy”, Monsignor Francesco Ingoli addressed Galileo Galilei with an essay entitled “Disputation...
- Exhumation Of Tycho Brahe
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," said Marcellus [an officer] having just seen the ghost of Hamlet's father, the late king of Denmark----"Hamlet" Act I, Scene 4...William Shakespeare. Why did they do this? Was it worth the expense?...
- An Issue Between Tycho Brahe And Copernicus
Tycho Brahe, the most prominent and accomplished astronomer of his era, made measurements of the apparent sizes of the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets. From these he showed that within a geocentric cosmos these bodies were of comparable sizes, with the...
- Bad Boys Of Astronomy
I was amused at a recent entry at New Scientist..."Meet the scoundrels of astronomy"... History is littered with astronomers who doggedly pursued fame at the expense of the scientific method. While researching a biographical encyclopaedia, Thomas Hockey...
- Pre-mariner 4 Knowledge Of Mars
Barrie W. Jones's "Mars before the space age" [recently published in the International Journal of Astrobilogy (Volume 7, Number 2, pp. 143-155, 2008)] has provided a succinct thirteen page history of Mars...pre-Mariner 4. Abstract: Mars has surely...