Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe (born Tyge Ottesen Brahe) (December 14, 1546 – October 24 1601) was a Danish nobleman known primarily for his work as an astronomer and an astrologer (the two were highly related in his day), as well as an alchemist. He was granted an estate on the island of Hven and the funding to build the Uraniborg, an early research institute, where he built large astronomical instruments and took many careful measurements. As an astronomer, Tycho worked to combine what he saw as the geometrical benefits of the Copernican system with the philosophical benefits of the Ptolemaic system into his own model of the universe, the Tychonian system. His best known assistant was Johannes Kepler, who would later use Tycho's astronomical information to develop his own theories of astronomy.
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December 14 - 1546 - October 24 - 1601 - Danish - Nobleman - Astronomer - Astrologer - Alchemist - Hven - Uraniborg - Research institute - Copernican system - Ptolemaic system - Tychonian system - Johannes Kepler
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He is universally referred to as "Tycho" rather than by his surname "Brahe". Apparently his contemporaries did so and the usage has persisted. His name is pronounced {{IPA|/?ty?ko ?b???h?/}}, according to transcription in the International Phonetic Alphabet (in English, it is thought that Teeko is a close approximation of its probable pronunciation).
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International Phonetic Alphabet - English
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While credited with the most accurate astronomical observations of his time, he was unable to carry the implications of the voluminous data he collected to its logical consequences; it was his assistant, Johannes Kepler, whose superior mathematical faculty would enable the full interpretation of his master's acute observations and allow for the discovery of the laws of planetary motion (it should also be noted that none before Tycho had attempted to make so many redundant observations, and the mathematical tools to take advantage of them had not yet been developed). Nonetheless, his mark in science should not be underscored, for he had done what others before him were unable or unwilling to do — to catalogue the planets and stars with enough accuracy so as to determine whether the Ptolemaic or Copernican system was more valid in describing the heavens.
Related Topics:
Laws of planetary motion - Ptolemaic - Copernican system
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Oct. 13, 1884: Greenwich Resolves Subprime Longitude Crisis
1884: Geographers and astronomers adopt Greenwich as the Prime Meridian, the international standard for zero degrees longitude. The late 19th century was an era of standardization. With the Second Industrial Revolution stimulating world trade, the Treaty of the Meter established the International System of weights and measures in 1875. With railroads linking together entire continents, nations were replacing hundreds (or even thousands) of diverging local times with a system of hour-wide time zones. (The United States adopted its zones in 1883.) Amid all this, navigation at sea -- and the charting of stars in the heavens -- often remained a matter of local, national or even religious preference. Maps might be based on longitude east or west of Jerusalem, Saint Petersburg, Rome, Pisa, Copenhagen (think Tycho Brahe), Oslo, Paris, Greenwich (just east of central London), El Hierro (in the Canary Islands), Philadelphia (former U.S. capital) and Washington, D.C. These divergent reference meridians -- representing a mixture of astronomical, theological and maritime power -- ranged over 112 degrees of longitude. You could do the math, but that meant you did the math. These were the days before computers and even the bulkiest of mechanical calculators. Got abacus? Many state boundaries in the U.S. West were determined by the Washington Meridian, which then ran through the Old Naval Observatory in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. But an 1850 law established its use... Wired.com
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