Tycho & Kepler

432 Pages·2002·48.79 MB·English

by  Kitty Ferguson

EFFIGIES TYCHONIS BRAHE OF.
iAESDITFRIOCNHOEMTJCIONRUSMTHSUTMIEIINCTIOORRIUSM. JjI
A*.DOMINI 1S$-.JtTKTlS SVM. 40.
iii,- 1Mi =»m^-k J
*Yj
Ms.
1
v_
Tycho Kepler
&
THE UNLIKELY PARTNERSHIP
THAT FOREVER CHANGED
OUR UNDERSTANDING
OF THE HEAVENS
$28.GO
CANAD
"An absorbing [tale] that simultaneously
stimulates our imagination
and sat—isfies our scientific curiosity."
The Times (London)
On his deathbed in 1601, the Danish nobleman and
greatest naked-eye astronomer, Tycho Brahe, begged
his young colleague, Johannes Kepler, "Let me not
seem to have lived in vain." For more than thirty
—
years mostly in his native Denmark and then in
Prague under the patronage of the Holy Roman
—
Emperor, Rudolph II Tycho had meticulously
observed the movements ofthe planets and the posi-
tions ofthe stars. From these observations—he devel-
oped his Tychonic system ofthe universe a highly
original, if incorrect, scheme that attempted to rec-
oncile the ancient belief that the Earth stood still
with Nicolaus Copernicus's revolutionary rearrange-
ment of the solar system some fifty years earlier.
Tycho knew that Kepler, the brilliant young mathe-
matician he had engaged to interpret his findings,
believed in Copernicus's arrangement, in which all
the planets circled the Sun; and hewas afraid his sys-
—
tem the product of a lifetime of effort to explain
—
how the universe worked would be abandoned.
In pointoffact, itwas. Fromhis studyofTycho's
observations came Kepler's stunning three Laws of
—
PlanetaryMotion eversince the cornerstoneofcos-
mologyandour understandingoftheheavens. Yet, as
Kitty Ferguson reveals, neither ofthese giant figures
would have his reputation today without the other.
The story ofhow their lives and talents were fateful-
ly intertwined is one ofthe most memorable sagas in
the long history ofscience.
Set in a singularly turbulent and colorful era in
European history, at the turning point when medieval

TYCHO
& KEPLER

Also by Kitty Ferguson f<Jk^SALrt£R^Q%yviPANY
Measuringthe Ur,
Other books by ICitty Ferc
TheFire in theEquations: Science,
theSearchfor God
Prisons ofLight: BlackHoles
Stephen Hawking: Questfora Theory ofEverything

TYCHO&
KEPLER
The Unlikely Partnership That Forever Changed
Our Understanding ofthe Heavens
FERGUSON
KITTY
Walker & Company
Neiv York
To mysister, Ginger
Copyright©2002byKittyFerguson
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedor
transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,
includingphotocopying,recording,orbyanyinformationstorage
andretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
fromthePublisher.
FirstpublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericain2002
byWalkerPublishingCompany,Inc.
PublishedsimultaneouslyinCanadabyFitzhenryandWhiteside,
Markham,OntarioL3R4T8
Forinformationaboutpermissiontoreproduceselections
fromthisbook,writetoPermissions,Walker&Company,
435 HudsonStreet,NewYork,NewYork 10014
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Ferguson,Kitty.
Tycho&Kepler:theunlikelypartnershipthatforeverchanged
ourunderstandingoftheheavens/KittyFerguson.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8027-1390-4 (alk.paper)
1. Bra—he,Tycho, 1—546-1601. 2. Kepler,Johanne—s, 1571-16—30.
Astronomers Denmark Biography. 4.Astronomers Germany Biography.
5.Kepler'slaws. 6. Planetarytheory. I.Title:TychoandKepler. II.Title.
QB36.B8F47 2002
520'.92'24—dc21
[B] 2002027445
VisitWalker&Company'sWebsiteatwww.walkerbooks.com
BookdesignbyKatyRiegel
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
2468 97531
10