Tycho Brahe, the scandalous astronomer - Dan Wenkel
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0:07 - 0:09How do you imagine the life of a scientist?
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0:09 - 0:11Boring and monotonous,
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0:11 - 0:12spending endless hours in the lab
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0:12 - 0:14with no social interaction?
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0:14 - 0:18Maybe for some but not Tycho Brahe.
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0:18 - 0:22The 16th century scholar who accurately predicted planetary motion
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0:22 - 0:26and cataloged hundreds of stars before the telescope had been invented
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0:26 - 0:29also had a cosmic-sized personal life.
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0:29 - 0:33Tycho Brahe was born in 1546 to Danish nobles,
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0:33 - 0:37but at age two was kidnapped to be raised by his uncle instead.
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0:37 - 0:40His parents didn't seem to mind.
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0:40 - 0:42Tycho was supposed to have a career in law,
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0:42 - 0:45but after witnessing a solar eclipse at thirteen,
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0:45 - 0:46he began spending more time
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0:46 - 0:49with mathematics and science professors,
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0:49 - 0:52who taught him the art of celestial observation.
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0:52 - 0:56By the time Tycho's uncle sent him off to Germany a few years later,
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0:56 - 0:58he had lost interest in his law studies,
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0:58 - 0:59instead reading astronomy books,
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0:59 - 1:01improving his instruments,
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1:01 - 1:04and taking careful notes of the night skies.
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1:04 - 1:06It wasn't long before his own measurements
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1:06 - 1:09were more accurate than those in his books.
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1:09 - 1:11While in Germany, Tycho got into a bit of an argument
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1:11 - 1:13with another student at a party
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1:13 - 1:15over a mathematical formula,
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1:15 - 1:16resulting in a sword duel
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1:16 - 1:20and Tycho losing a good-sized chunk of his nose.
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1:20 - 1:21After that, he was said to have worn
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1:21 - 1:24a realistic prosthetic of gold and silver
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1:24 - 1:27that he would glue onto his face.
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1:27 - 1:28Fortunately, Tycho didn't need his nose
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1:28 - 1:31to continue his astronomical work.
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1:31 - 1:32He kept studying the night sky
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1:32 - 1:34and creating all sorts of instruments,
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1:34 - 1:37including a building-sized quadrant for measuring
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1:37 - 1:39the angles of stars.
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1:39 - 1:41After months of careful observation,
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1:41 - 1:42Tycho discovered a new star
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1:42 - 1:45in the constellation Cassiopeia.
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1:45 - 1:48The publication of this discovery granted him rock star status
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1:48 - 1:52and offers of scientific positions all over Europe.
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1:52 - 1:53Wanting to keep him at home,
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1:53 - 1:55the King of Denmark offered to give Tycho
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1:55 - 1:59his own personal island with a state of the art observatory.
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1:59 - 2:04Called Uraniborg and costing about 1% of Denmark's entire budget,
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2:04 - 2:06this observatory was more of a castle,
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2:06 - 2:08containing formal gardens,
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2:08 - 2:11rooms for family, staff and visiting royalty,
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2:11 - 2:15and an underground section just for all the giant instruments.
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2:15 - 2:17Tycho also built a papermill and printing press
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2:17 - 2:19for publishing his papers,
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2:19 - 2:22and a lab for studying alchemy.
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2:22 - 2:23And since no castle would be complete
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2:23 - 2:25without entertainment,
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2:25 - 2:26Tycho employed a clairvoyant dwarf
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2:26 - 2:29named Jep as court jester.
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2:29 - 2:30Tycho lived on his island,
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2:30 - 2:34studying and partying for about 20 years.
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2:34 - 2:36But after falling out with the new Danish King,
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2:36 - 2:39he took up an invitation from the Holy Roman Emperor
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2:39 - 2:42to become the official imperial astronomer in Prague.
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2:42 - 2:46There, he met another famous astronomer Johannes Kepler,
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2:46 - 2:48who became his assistant.
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2:48 - 2:50While Kepler's work interested him,
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2:50 - 2:51Tycho was protective of his data,
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2:51 - 2:55and the two often got into heated arguments.
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2:55 - 2:57In 1601, Tycho attended a formal banquet
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2:57 - 2:59where he drank quite a lot
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2:59 - 3:02but was too polite to leave the table to relieve himself,
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3:02 - 3:04deciding to tough it out instead.
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3:04 - 3:05This proved to be a bad idea,
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3:05 - 3:07as he quickly developed a bladder infection
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3:07 - 3:10and died a few days later.
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3:10 - 3:12But over 400 years after his death,
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3:12 - 3:15Tycho still had a few surprises up his sleeve.
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3:15 - 3:18When his body was exhumed and studied in 2010,
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3:18 - 3:20the legendary gold and silver nose
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3:20 - 3:22was nowhere to be found,
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3:22 - 3:23with chemical traces suggesting
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3:23 - 3:26that he wore a more casual brass nose instead.
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3:26 - 3:29Tycho's mustache hair was also found
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3:29 - 3:32to contain unusually high levels of toxic mercury.
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3:32 - 3:36Was it from a medicine used to treat his bladder infection?
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3:36 - 3:38A residue from his alchemy experiments?
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3:38 - 3:41Or did his quarrelsome coworker Johannes Kepler
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3:41 - 3:44poison him to acquire his data?
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3:44 - 3:45We may never know,
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3:45 - 3:48but the next time you think scientists lead boring lives,
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3:48 - 3:49dig a little deeper.
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3:49 - 3:52A fascinating story may be just beyond the tip of your nose.
- Title:
- Tycho Brahe, the scandalous astronomer - Dan Wenkel
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/tycho-brahe-the-scandalous-astronomer-dan-wenkel
If you think scientists lead boring, monotonous lives, you must not know about Tycho Brahe. The 16th century astronomer who accurately predicted planetary motion led quite a dramatic life -- complete with a kidnapping, a sword duel and even a clairvoyant dwarf. Dan Wenkel dives into the history behind this sensational scientist, explaining how he continued to inspire intrigue even after his death.
Lesson by Dan Wenkel, animation by Andrew Nam.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:08
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