Tycho
Brahe was
born on December 14, 1546 in Scanic, Denmark as the first son of a
noble family. In Danish, his name was spelled Tyge, but when written
in Latin, it became Tycho. While he was in school, he had to make his
astronomical observations at night while his tutor was asleep because
astronomy wasn't considered a serious pursuit. At the age of 20, he
got into a sword fight, and his nose was hacked off. He had a false
nose made of gold and silver and wore it for the rest of his
life.
He is considered one of the greatest observational astronomers of all times. He observed the movements of the stars and planets in an attempt to divine the structure of the universe. According to his theory of the universe, the moon and sun revolved around the earth, and all other astronomical bodies revolved around the sun. Although this view may seem ridiculous today, it was not until 1837 that this view was disproved by observation. In Tycho's time, the most popular belief was still that the Earth was the center of the universe.
He died on October 24, 1601.
Page created by: W. Hepburn
References
Gade, J. A. (1947). The Life and Times of Tycho Brahe. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Thoren, V. E. (1990). The Lord of Uraniborg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rosen, E. (1986). Three Imperial Mathematicians: Kepler Trapped between Tycho Brahe and Ursus. New York: Abaris Books.