Ian Mulvany

May 6, 2023

in our time notes - Tycho Brahe

#inourtime/notes #astronomy

I’d give this episode a solid B. I already knew quite a bit about Brahe from my background in astrophysics. Much of my internal impression came from reading Arthur Koestler’s the sleepwalkers many years ago - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleepwalkers-History-Changing-Universe-Classics-ebook/dp/B06VSXFQJH

I did pick up some tidbits:

• His island Uraniborg was named after the goddess of astronomy - Urania. How did I not know that!
 • He received significant funding from the state, amounting as points to a few % of GDP.
 • His connection with Kepler was deepened due to his forced exile from Denmark and eventual move to Prague. • His noses were made of alternatively brass or silver. I’d thought that it was gold.
 • He had his own paper mill and print works built on the island to support publication of his works (I guess a bit like running your own blog!).

If you want to dig into in our time episodes more there is a fantastic site that allows you to explore the archive in all sorts of ways: https://genmon.github.io/braggoscope/.


About Ian Mulvany

Hi, I'm Ian - I work on academic publishing systems. You can find out more about me at mulvany.net. I'm always interested in engaging with folk on these topics, if you have made your way here don't hesitate to reach out if there is anything you want to share, discuss, or ask for help with!