NO-NOSE TYCHO
Tycho Brahe was never wrong. At least that’s what he believed. And he was willing to do anything to prove his point, including fighting a sword duel. It didn’t go well.
Born in Skane, Denmark in 1546, Brahe was one of a pair of twin boys born to Beate Bille and Otte Brahe. Brahe’s twin brother died shortly after his
Tycho Brahe was never wrong. At least that's what he believed. And he was willing to do anything to prove his point, including fighting a sword duel.
birth, but Brahe survived and lived with his parents until he was 2 years old. When he was still a toddler, Brahe was kidnapped by his father’s brother.
Uncle Jørgen was a Vice-Admiral and quite wealthy. He was also childless. Jørgen claimed that he had made a deal with Brahe’s father before he was born, that Brahe would be given to Jørgen to raise. Brahe’s father reneged on the deal. Jørgen said he was only taking what was rightfully his. And because Tycho was going to be named Uncle Jørgen’s only heir, Brahe’s parents eventually agreed to let Jørgen and his wife raise Brahe.
Education became the central focus of Brahe’s life. He began studying Latin when he was 7 years old and entered the Un iversity of Copenhagen when he was 13. His uncle wanted Tycho to become a lawyer, but Brahe was fascinated with the stars and heavens. During his first year at university, there was a solar eclipse, and Brahe became fascinated with how scientists of the time had accurately predieted the time of the eclipse. He spent all of his spare time and much of his study time learning all he could about the constellations.
When he turned 16, Uncle Jørgen decided that it was time for Brahe to get serious about his law studies. He hired a 20-year-old tutor named Anders Vedel and sent the two young men off to Leipzig, Germany.
But Brahe was determined that he was going to become, an astronomer. He bought expensive instruments and books and stayed up late at night to study the stars. He hid these from his tutor and did very poorly in his law studies. His uncle was furious, but Brahe didn't care. He was studying what he wanted and thought his uncle was wrong to force him to study law.
At 17, Brahe was observing a special celestial event where Jupiter and Saturn passed very close to each other. He was aghast when he found out that the astronomers’ predictions were off by several weeks. Brahe believed he could do better and began working on much more precise observations.
He completely stopped his law studies and dedicated himself to perfect observation of the exact position of the stars and planets. His tutor gave up trying to teach him and left, but the two remained good friends for life. His uncle was not pleased that Brahe refused to study law, and his visit home in May of 1565 was probably full of family arguments. But the arguments stopped a month later: His uncle died of pneumonia after rescuing the king of Denmark from drowning. As his uncle’s only heir, Brahe became a very, very rich young man.
But Brahe was determined that he was going to become an astronomer. He bought expensive instruments and books and stayed up late at night to study the stars.
He no longer had to listen to anybody tell him what he could and could not study. He devoted himself to learning the mathematics needed to study celestial objects and studied with famous astronomer Bartholomew Schultz.
During this time, Brahe got into an argument with another student about who was the better mathematician. As usual, Brahe was sure he was the best. To settle the argument, the two agreed to have a sword duel—in the dark. Brahe may have been better at math, but he was not the best at dueling. During the fight, Brahe’s nose was sliced off his face. For the rest of his life, Brahe wore a prosthetic nose that was made of metal. He carried putty with him to keep the nosepiece glued to his face.
Although he may have been conceited about his abilities, it was somewhat justified. Brahe made the most accurate celestial observations of his time and challenged the scientific beliefs of the period. For example, he studied a strange light that was in the sky in 1572, His accurate calculations proved that this was not a simple atmospheric phenomenon, as astronomers of the day thought. We now know that Brahe made the first accurate study of a supernova.
To settle the argument, the two agreed to have a sword duel—in the dark. Brahe may have been better at math, but he was not the best at dueling.
Brahe became famous for his scientific work, and the king of Denmark awarded him his own island to continue his studies of the heavens. For the next 20 years, Tycho lived in his own scientific castie that had the most sophisticated astronomy tools of the day. He had a chemistry lab in his basement and a printing press to print his books exactly as he wanted. He threw huge parties that were attended by nobility from around the world.
But in the late 1590s, Brahe got into an argument with the new king of Denmark. He packed up his laboratory and moved to Prague. In 1599, he became the royal mathematician for the Emperor of Prague. He took on an assistant named Johannes Kepler and worked on theories of planetary motion.
Brahe died in 1601, and his pride probably contributed to his death. He died 11 days after dining at the royal palace. During the party, he drank a great deal of wine, but refused to get up to go to the bathroom because he believed it was inappropriate etiquette. When he got home, he could not urinate and in the next few days, he developed a fever and excruciating intestinal pain and died.
After his death, Kepler used Brahe’s notes and observations to deduce the three laws of planetary motion. Kepler’s theories laid the groundwork for the work of scientist Sir Isaac Newton.