The sixteenth century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe lived an eccentric life filled with drama, intrigue, and tragedy. Born into a noble family in 1546, Brahe was kidnapped as a child by his wealthy uncle Jørgen Brahe, who wanted him as his heir. Jørgen made Tycho study law, but the young man’s true passion was astronomy. He began secretly studying the stars, fascinated by their movements and patterns.
While at university, Brahe got into an argument about who was the better mathematician and ended up dueling another student. He lost the duel, resulting in his nose being cut off. For the rest of his life, Brahe wore a variety of prosthetic noses made of precious metals. He became known for his shiny golden nose.
After Jørgen’s death, Brahe inherited his fortune and built an elaborate castle with two observatories he called Uraniborg on the island of Hven. There, along with his pet elk, Brahe studied the heavens, making extremely detailed observations and advanced astronomical instruments.
Brahe made many important discoveries, including the first accurate measurements of planetary positions and the first observations of a supernova. He also discovered that comets travel beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, disproving Aristotle’s theory that they were atmospheric phenomena.
Brahe took on assistants like the famous Johannes Kepler, but was very secretive about his astronomical data. After the elk died from drinking too much beer and falling down the stairs at a party, Brahe essentially replaced him with his court jester Jepp, a dwarf he dressed in antlers and made eat under the table.
In 1601, Brahe attended a banquet with the king. Too polite to get up and relieve himself, he held his urine until his bladder became infected, which led to his painful death 11 days later at the age of 54. For centuries people suspected he was poisoned, but forensic evidence proved the cause was urosepsis.
Brahe lived an eccentric life filled with wealth, drama, and tragedy. Despite his bizarre proclivities, he made major contributions to astronomy that helped pave the way for scientists like Kepler and Newton. Brahe proved that even a man with a golden nose can reach for the stars.
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