Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One of History's Greatest Scientific DiscoveriesDoubleday, 2004 - 304 páginas A real-life "Amadeus": Set against the backdrop of the Counter-Reformation, this is the story of the stormy collaboration between two revolutionary astronomers, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. That collaboration would mark the dawn of modern science . . . and end in murder. Johannes Kepler changed forever our understanding of the universe with his three laws of planetary motion. He demolished the ancient model of planets moving in circular orbits and laid the foundation for the universal law of gravitation, setting physics on the course of revelation it follows to this day. Kepler was one of the greatest astronomers of all time. Yet if it hadn't been for the now lesser-known Tycho Brahe, the man for whom Kepler apprenticed, Kepler would be a mere footnote in today's science books. Brahe was the Imperial Mathematician at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor in Prague and the most famous astronomer of his era. He was one of the first great systematic empirical scientists and one of the earliest founders of the modern scientific method. His forty years of planetary observations--an unparalleled treasure of empirical data--contained the key to Kepler's historic breakthrough. But those observations would become available to Kepler only after Brahe's death. This groundbreaking history portrays the turbulent collaboration between these two astronomers at the turn of the seventeenth century and their shattering discoveries that would mark the transition from medieval to modern science. But that is only half the story. Based on recent forensic evidence (analyzed here for the first time) and original research into medieval and Renaissance alchemy--all buttressed by in-depth interviewswith leading historians, scientists, and medical specialists--the authors have put together shocking and compelling evidence that Tycho Brahe did not die of natural causes, as has been believed for four hundred years. He was systematically poisoned--most likely by his assistant, Johannes Kepler. An epic tale of murder and scientific discovery, "Heavenly Intrigue" reveals the dark side of one of history's most brilliant minds and tells the story of court politics, personal intrigue, and superstition that surrounded the protean invention of two great astronomers and their quest to find truth and beauty in the heavens above. |
Índice
The Secret of the Universe | 96 |
Marriage | 112 |
Imperial Mathematician | 133 |
Intolerance | 147 |
Confrontation in Prague | 156 |
Bad Faith | 169 |
Tycho and Rudolf | 177 |
The Mästlin Affair | 183 |
Thirteen Hours | 216 |
The Elixir | 223 |
The Motive and the Means | 235 |
Theft | 247 |
The Three Laws | 250 |
Epilogue | 258 |
Brahes Recipe for His Mercury Drug | 264 |
Notes | 269 |
The Pot Boils | 190 |
The Death of Tycho Brahe | 196 |
In the Crypt | 203 |
Revealing Symptoms | 209 |
286 | |
Illustration Credits | 297 |
298 | |
Otras ediciones - Ver todo
Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One ... Joshua Gilder,Anne-Lee Gilder Vista previa restringida - 2005 |
Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One ... Joshua Gilder,Anne-Lee Gilder Vista previa restringida - 2005 |
Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One ... Joshua Gilder,Anne-Lee Gilder No hay ninguna vista previa disponible - 2005 |
Términos y frases comunes
alchemy appears Archduke astrological astronomer Atlas Maior Barbara Benátky bladder body Brahe's death Brahe's observations Castle Catholic celestial century CHAPTER Christianson comet Copenhagen Copernican Copernicus Cosmic Mystery court Danish Denmark diseases drug earth emperor empirical Europe exile fact Ferdinand Gnesio-Lutherans Graz hair heavenly heavens Heinrich Hven Ibid idea imperial mathematician instruments Jessenius JKGW Johannes Kepler Kaempe Kepler wrote king Knutstorp later letter to Brahe Letter to Kepler Letter to Mästlin Lord Lutheran Magini Mars mathematical Mechanica Medicine mercuric chloride mercury poisoning mind months motion natural nobility noble orbits Pallon Paracelsian Paracelsus physical planetary planets political position Prague Professor Protestant Ptolemy reason Rigsraad Rudolf Rudolf II salary seems Self-Analysis simply solids soon spheres stars studies Styria TBOO Tengnagel theory things Thoren tion Translation tronomer Tübingen Tycho Brahe Tycho's Island Tychonic system University Uraniborg uremia urine Ursus Ursus's wife writes
Referencias a este libro
Cosmic Society: Towards a Sociology of the Universe Peter Dickens,James S. Ormrod No hay ninguna vista previa disponible - 2007 |