Ticobrahe lost part of his nose in a duel with another Danish nobleman, Mendor Passberg. He stayed incredibly loyal to her and it clearly caused him agony later life because his children could not inherit his estates being non-noble. And he therefore was seeking ways of making sure they had an inheritance. Initially tried to make sure they could inherit the island of Veen as long as they drew an interest in astronomy - but that was basically swept aside. Then eventually sold his part of the Knülstorp estate for 10,000 Reichstahler so he could distribute the money to his children.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the pioneering Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546 – 1601) whose charts offered an unprecedented level of accuracy.
In 1572 Brahe's observations of a new star challenged the idea, inherited from Aristotle, that the heavens were unchanging. He went on to create his own observatory complex on the Danish island of Hven, and there, working before the invention of the telescope, he developed innovative instruments and gathered a team of assistants, taking a highly systematic approach to observation. A second, smaller source of renown was his metal prosthetic nose, which he needed after a serious injury sustained in a duel.
The image above shows Brahe aged 40, from the Atlas Major by Johann Blaeu.
With
Ole Grell
Emeritus Professor in Early Modern History at the Open University
Adam Mosley
Associate Professor of History at Swansea University
and
Emma Perkins
Affiliate Scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.