Born to a Danish noble family with a military tradition, Tycho was both headstrong and autocratic, but happily possessed ‘a passion for accuracy’ (Thoren, 1990). He was to become the Danish astronomer who is considered to have made the most accurate astronomical observations of the pre-telescope era. In 1559 he started studying rhetoric and philosophy at the University of Copenhagen. However, the observation of a solar eclipse in 1560 turned his interest to astronomy, and he devoted the major part of the time in Copenhagen to mathematics and astronomy. In 1563 Brahe observed a close approach of Jupiter and Saturn, the time of which deviated a whole month from that predicted by the Alfonsine Tables and several days from the Prussian Tables. After 1565 he started travelling throughout Europe to study science at universities in Leipzig, Wittenberg, Rostock, Basel, Ingolstadt and Augsburg. In November 1572, while staying at a relative's manor at Herrevad Abbey, he observed a new star in...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Bibliography
Berry, A. (1898) A Short History of Astronomy. London: J. Murray Dover Publications Inc., 1961).
Dreyer, J. L.E. (1890) Tycho Brahe: A Picture of Scientific Life and Work in the Sixteenth Century. Edinburgh: Adams and Charles Black.
Hellman, C. D. (1970) Brahe, Tycho. Dict. Sci. Biogr., Vol. 2, 401–16.
Shackleford, J. (1993) Tycho Brahe, Laboratory Design and the Aim of Science. Isis 84, 211–230.
Thoren, V. E. (1990) The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Weaver, J. H. (ed.) (1987) The World of Physics. New York: Simon and Schuster (Vol. 1).
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Chapman & Hall
About this entry
Cite this entry
Haubold, H.J. (1997). Brahe, tycho (1546–1601). In: Encyclopedia of Planetary Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_44
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4520-4_44
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-06951-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4520-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive