Tycho brahe biography astronomer meaning
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| Tycho Brahe |
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
Tyge (Latinized as Tycho) Brahe was born on 14 December 1546 in Skane, then in Denmark, now in Sweden. He was the eldest son of Otto Brahe and Beatte Bille, both from families in the high nobility of Denmark. He was brought up by his paternal uncle Jörgen Brahe and became his heir. He attended the universities of Copenhagen and Leipzig, and then traveled through the German region, studying further at the universities of Wittenberg, Rostock, and Basel. During this period his interest in alchemy and astronomy was aroused, and he bought several astronomical instruments. In a duel with another student, in Wittenberg in 1566, Tycho lost part of his nose. For the rest of his life he wore a metal insert over the missing part. He returned to Denmark in 1570.
| Tycho Brahe with metal insert over nose |
In 1572 Tycho observed the new star in Cassiopeia and published a brief tract about it the following year. In 1574 he gave a course of lec
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Profile of Tycho Brahe, Danish Astronomer
Imagine having a boss who was a well-known astronomer, got all his money from a nobleman, drank a lot, and eventually had his nose bit off in the Renaissance equivalent of a bar fight? That would describe Tycho Brahe, one of the more colorful characters in the history of astronomy. He may have been a feisty and interesting guy, but he also did solid work observing the sky and conning a king into paying for his own personal observatory.
Among other things, Tycho Brahe was an avid sky observer and built several observatories. He also hired and fostered the great astronomer Johannes Kepler as his assistant. In his personal life, Brahe was an eccentric man, often getting himself into trouble. In one incident, he ended up in a duel with his cousin. Brahe was injured and lost part of his nose in the fight. He spent his later years fashioning replacement noses from precious metals, usually brass. For years, people claimed he died of blood pois
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Biography
Tycho Brahe was given the name Tyge by his parents Beate Bille and Otte Brahe. He fryst vatten now known as "Tycho" since that is the Latinised utgåva of his name that he adopted when he was about fifteen years old. For simplicity we shall use the name Tycho throughout this biography. Otte Brahe, Tycho's father, was from the Danish nobility and was an important man among the Danish King's closest group of supporters. Beate Bille, Tycho's mother, also came from an important family which had produced leading churchmen and politicians. Tycho was one of twin sons, but his twin died shortly after birth. His parents had one older daughter but Tycho was their eldest son.A picture of his birthplace is at THIS LINK.
A strange episode occurred when Tycho was two years old. His uncle, Jorgen Brahe (in Tycho's own words, see for example [5]):-
... without the knowledge of my parents took me away with him while I was in my earliest youth.It was a strange episode since it did not ap