Murder in Prague
January 18, 2009 2:31 PM Subscribe
Astronomer Tycho Brahe was one of the more colorful characters of the scientific Renaissance. He lost his nose in a duel; flouted the rules of Danish nobility and married a commoner; built, on the island of Hven, Uraniborg, the best astronomical observatory of his day; kept a beer-drinking pet moose; and amassed the data that would ultimately allow Johannes Kepler to derive the three laws of planetary motion.
His chief sponsor had been Danish king Frederick II, but Frederick's heir, Christian IV, quarreled with Tycho and kicked him out of Hven. Insulted, Brahe left Denmark for Prague and the sponsorship of Rudolph II. New evidence has emerged suggesting that the offended king may have had Tycho assassinated.
For a long time, the circumstances of Brahe's death were considered merely unfortunate, if not laughable. It was thought that he'd held his urine for too long during an official dinner and burst his bladder. When chemical analysis showed a high concentration of mercury, it was suggested that he had poisoned himself during alchemical experiments. Others have speculated that Kepler was responsible.
The latest evidence, however, is a diary from a cousin named Erik Brahe, known to have a sort of secret agent for the Danes. Because of this new evidence, Brahe's body is scheduled to be exhumed for additional tests.
For a long time, the circumstances of Brahe's death were considered merely unfortunate, if not laughable. It was thought that he'd held his urine for too long during an official dinner and burst his bladder. When chemical analysis showed a high concentration of mercury, it was suggested that he had poisoned himself during alchemical experiments. Others have speculated that Kepler was responsible.
The latest evidence, however, is a diary from a cousin named Erik Brahe, known to have a sort of secret agent for the Danes. Because of this new evidence, Brahe's body is scheduled to be exhumed for additional tests.
Just how many times has he been exhumed at this point? I think he was dug up at least once to check up on his metal nose attachment. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if someone had tried to check into the whole bladder story at some point.
posted by Mitrovarr at 2:50 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by Mitrovarr at 2:50 PM on January 18, 2009
The Prague National Museum, which has Brahe's moustache in its collection, sent a few of the hairs to Denmark.
Quoted FOR AWESOME.
I wonder what other historical moustaches have been preserved.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 2:55 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]
Quoted FOR AWESOME.
I wonder what other historical moustaches have been preserved.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 2:55 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]
Yes, it's true. Johannes Kepler pushed that drunken moose down the stairs.
posted by steef at 2:56 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by steef at 2:56 PM on January 18, 2009
...
Is it just the mustache hairs, or is there... something holding it together?
posted by strangecargo at 3:04 PM on January 18, 2009
Is it just the mustache hairs, or is there... something holding it together?
posted by strangecargo at 3:04 PM on January 18, 2009
One of the guys in my department is a total Brahe junkie.... he's theorized for a couple years that Kepler poisoned him to steal his data. This is still debated weekly at lunch.... we have a joke about "the secret society of moose and mug" after the drunken moose incident. I made a stylized depiction of the event (pdf).
Great post, thanks CheeseDigestsAll.
posted by 7segment at 3:21 PM on January 18, 2009 [2 favorites]
Great post, thanks CheeseDigestsAll.
posted by 7segment at 3:21 PM on January 18, 2009 [2 favorites]
At least it wasn't a defenestration, that's really a downer.
posted by stbalbach at 3:27 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by stbalbach at 3:27 PM on January 18, 2009
My bet's on Colonel Mustard, in the library, with the candlestick.
posted by Dark Messiah at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by Dark Messiah at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2009
Yes, it's true. Johannes Kepler pushed that drunken moose down the stairs.
At least it was protected from the terrible secret of space.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 3:49 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]
At least it was protected from the terrible secret of space.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 3:49 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]
Interesting. Thanks for the post.
posted by homunculus at 3:53 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by homunculus at 3:53 PM on January 18, 2009
"...out of reverence to the creator's eye, which watches over the universe." Inscription at the entrance to Stjerneborg. (I'm fairly certain that is like, the second webpage I ever visited after getting home internet access.)
posted by steef at 3:59 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by steef at 3:59 PM on January 18, 2009
Excellent memories of first year astronomy. Our instructor showed up in 16th century garb and played Tycho Brahe for an entire lecture, explaining his work and taking questions from the students. Not till the bell rang did he drop character, at which point he got a standing ovation.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 4:04 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 4:04 PM on January 18, 2009
Quality post. I have a harder time digesting this sort of stuff from web pages than I do from books, but this sounds like a wonderful literary tangent to take off on some day.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:06 PM on January 18, 2009
I wonder what other historical moustaches have been preserved.
I saw many of Mohammed's beard hairs (and teeth!) while in various museums in Turkey, for example the Mevlana Museum.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 5:12 PM on January 18, 2009
Crap, I could have named my kid Tycho.
posted by From Bklyn at 6:02 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by From Bklyn at 6:02 PM on January 18, 2009
Man, this is bringing the 1987 AP Physics geek out of me. Thanks for the post.
posted by thanotopsis at 6:25 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by thanotopsis at 6:25 PM on January 18, 2009
Oh yes, ladies, I'm really bein' sincere
'cause in a 69 my humpty nose will tickle ya rear.
My nose is big, uh-uh I'm not ashamed
Big like a pickle, I'm still gettin' paid
I get laid by the ladies, ya know I'm in charge,
both how I'm livin' and my nose is large
I get stoopid, I shoot an arrow like Cupid,
I use a word that don't mean nothin', like looptid
posted by kcds at 6:32 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
'cause in a 69 my humpty nose will tickle ya rear.
My nose is big, uh-uh I'm not ashamed
Big like a pickle, I'm still gettin' paid
I get laid by the ladies, ya know I'm in charge,
both how I'm livin' and my nose is large
I get stoopid, I shoot an arrow like Cupid,
I use a word that don't mean nothin', like looptid
posted by kcds at 6:32 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
What?
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff28/beatonna/block5small.png
posted by cthuljew at 6:48 PM on January 18, 2009
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff28/beatonna/block5small.png
posted by cthuljew at 6:48 PM on January 18, 2009
Neat. The Kepler:Brahe thing reminded me of the Newton:Leibniz connection in calculus. The people that general history chooses to give credit for in a discovery... Interesting.
posted by buzzman at 7:07 PM on January 18, 2009
posted by buzzman at 7:07 PM on January 18, 2009
"One of the guys in my department is a total Brahe junkie.... he's theorized for a couple years that Kepler poisoned him to steal his data."
Oddly, I am currently reading a book on this subject right now. It is true that Kepler was very frustrated that Brahe only released data in dribs and drabs, but he did give him a job and a place to live and a job when he and his family needed it. It also seems that Kepler was shocked when Brahe's will gave him all the data and basically put him in charge of keeping his work going.
posted by UseyurBrain at 8:30 PM on January 18, 2009
Oddly, I am currently reading a book on this subject right now. It is true that Kepler was very frustrated that Brahe only released data in dribs and drabs, but he did give him a job and a place to live and a job when he and his family needed it. It also seems that Kepler was shocked when Brahe's will gave him all the data and basically put him in charge of keeping his work going.
posted by UseyurBrain at 8:30 PM on January 18, 2009
why is there no Modern Lovers song about Tycho Brahe? It seems like a mistake.
posted by The Whelk at 11:22 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 11:22 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]
Brahe's relatives were also the real life Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Fascinating guy. I'm a bit of a Brahe junkie myself.
posted by vacapinta at 1:57 AM on January 19, 2009 [1 favorite]
Fascinating guy. I'm a bit of a Brahe junkie myself.
posted by vacapinta at 1:57 AM on January 19, 2009 [1 favorite]
Thanks for a great post! I found a webpage with some animated visualizations of Tycho's Mars data and another describing Tycho's instruments. I remember reading or hearing that one of his instruments for measuring azimuth was mounted on a platform that floated on a pool of mercury, which seems prone to more problems than just measuring angles relative to a plumb line -- but I haven't found anything like that in the descriptions so far.
posted by Killick at 8:05 AM on January 19, 2009
posted by Killick at 8:05 AM on January 19, 2009
Wait, Tycho Brahe had a beer-drinking pet moose?
I did not know that.
posted by Relay at 12:46 PM on January 19, 2009
I did not know that.
posted by Relay at 12:46 PM on January 19, 2009
fwiw, saw a great doc on george hale a couple months ago -- perhaps not as 'colorful' as brahe but still a remarkable life, which also included building observatories and quarreling with sponsors -- without which i would've never have appreciated all he did for the advancement of knowledge, science and astronomy... not unlike this post about brahe :P so thanks! maybe with the exhumation there might be a doc on brahe forthcoming?
posted by kliuless at 6:04 PM on January 19, 2009
posted by kliuless at 6:04 PM on January 19, 2009
I cannot wait for this to be written as a CSI episode.
posted by mazola at 10:01 PM on January 19, 2009
posted by mazola at 10:01 PM on January 19, 2009
I once slipped on ice under the watchful eyes of the Brahe statue near Prague Castle (and my then-dorm) and fell flat on my ass. I BLAME KEPLER. Umm. Or something.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:11 AM on January 20, 2009
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:11 AM on January 20, 2009
In other exhumation news: Italian and British scientists want to exhume the body of 16th century astronomer Galileo for DNA tests to determine if his severe vision problems may have affected some of his findings.
posted by homunculus at 2:36 PM on January 23, 2009
posted by homunculus at 2:36 PM on January 23, 2009
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The year before my mom had toured Uraniborg. She's a total nerd. I'm not.
posted by uandt at 2:47 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]