Image of Tycho Brahe from the University of Texas at Austin Department of Astronomy image collection
This is another one of those stories that comes along every so often that allows me to geek out from both the history and science perspective (and in this case, my actual career science field – astronomy!). Tycho is one of those interesting characters of science that seems to cause endless fascination, so I’m not surprised to see this. And yes, he’s the one who famously had a metal replacement nose after losing the flesh one in a duel!
From The BBC:
Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe exhumed to solve mystery
Tycho Brahe was a Danish nobleman who served as royal mathematician to the Bohemian Emperor Rudolf II.
He was thought to have died of a bladder infection, but a previous exhumation found traces of mercury in his hair.
A team of Danish and Czech scientists hope to solve the mystery by analysing bone, hair and clothing samples.
Tycho was born Tyge Ottesen Brahe in 1546 in Scania, which at the time was a Danish province, and studied astronomy at the University of Copenhagen, as well as German academic institutions.
He catalogued more than 1,000 new stars and his stellar and planetary observations helped lay the foundations of early modern astronomy.
…
Professor Jens Vellev, from Aarhus University, is leading the team of scientists and archaeologists which opened the tomb in Tyn Church on Monday.He says he hopes to get better samples of hair and bones than were taken in 1901.
The use of the latest technology to test the samples may also help shed more light on the mystery of the astronomer’s death, although Professor Vellev is not promising anything.
“Perhaps, we will be able to come close to an answer, but I don’t think we will get a final answer to that question,” he said.
The scientists also hope to determine what kind of metal Brahe’s prosthesis was made of – it was commonly believed to have been gold and silver, but others suggested it might have contained copper.
More articles (all of the articles have interesting pictures):
NPR: Danish Astronomer’s Remains Exhumed In Prague
Scientific American: Was Tycho Brahe poisoned? 16th-century astronomer exhumed–again
And finally, a bunch of photos and some video from the research are available on the Opening of Tycho Brahe’s Tomb pages from Aarhus University
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Or maybe he poisoned himself?
That’s mentioned in at least one of the articles – between medicinal use of mercury and his dabbling in alchemy, he could have poisoned himself accidentally. I’m looking forward to hearing their findings!
Brahe is one of the characters in John Banville’s novel Kepler – good read:
http://www.amazon.com/Kepler-novel-John-Banville/dp/0679743707
The New York Times put up a nice article yesterday:
Is Tycho Ready for his Closeup?
It would be great if they did make a movie. shtove is right about Banville’s book, it’s a fascinating look at the Rudolfine think-tank, with Tycho as an unpredictable brilliant monster instantly familiar to anyone who’s worked in academia. (Although most tenured professors don’t keep dwarves.)
I haven’t read much in English on the allegation that Queen Sophie was having an affair with Tycho – perhaps there are Danish sources that support this. Her husband, King Frederik, seems to have been a generous patron of the man supposedly cuckolding him. He had an Anne Boleyn situation of his own – he wanted to marry his mother’s lady-in-waiting, held out for years while the establishment and his mother put enormous pressure on him, and finally gave up and married the much-younger Sophie. Their daughter, James I’s Queen Anne, has a lively reputation, though.
I had to laugh at the headline on the page: “Murder! Intrigue! Astronomers?” 🙂
I’m actually kind of surprised that Tycho hasn’t had more fictional treatments (and he wouldn’t require a lot of embellishment to make him appeal to a modern audience!).