16th Century

Question 1

Tycho Brahe
1546 – 1601

Answer 1

Danish
Heir in many noble families. Very rich. Owned 1%.
Lost his nose in drunken sword duel in the dark. Over status as mathematician.
Morganatic marriage to commoner.
Observation of a nova disproved that universe beyond moon was unchangeable.
Last major astronomer to work without the aid of a telescope.
Built large quadrants and sextants.
With accuracy of large instruments, quickly realized the influence of wind and the movement of buildings, thus opted to mount his instruments underground directly on the bedrock in a large underground observatory.

Keppler was his assistant, and was a Copernican, and at odds with Brahe’s geo-heliocentric planetary model.
Accuracy of Brahe’s stellar and planetary tables allowed Keppler to work out his laws.
Died of urinary retention, possibly burst bladder, after prodigious drinking