When I very first spotted Heavenly Intrigue on my library shelves, I resisted picking it up because of the blatant sensationalism of the subtitle but I just couldn’t pass up the chance to get a second perspective on the same story. As expected, this book presented a much less detailed overview of Kepler and Brahe’s work than Tycho and Kepler, with a much greater emphasis on interpersonal relationships and drama. It was much easier to follow and I think this would have been the case even if I’d read it first as the book is clearly intended for a broader audience. In addition to glossing over some of the details of the history and the science, there were several cases where the explanations of the instruments Kepler and Tycho used were much clearer and given with fewer astronomy terms.

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When I very first spotted Heavenly Intrigue on my library shelves, I resisted picking it up because of the blatant sensationalism of the subtitle but I just couldn’t pass up the chance to get a second perspective on the same story. As expected, this book presented a much less detailed overview of Kepler and Brahe’s work than Tycho and Kepler, with a much greater emphasis on interpersonal relationships and drama. It was much easier to follow and I think this would have been the case even if I’d read it first as the book is clearly intended for a broader audience. In addition to glossing over some of the details of the history and the science, there were several cases where the explanations of the instruments Kepler and Tycho used were much clearer and given with fewer astronomy terms.

If asked in advance which book I would like better, I would have guessed that this lighter read might have appealed to me more. Unfortunately, after reading Tycho and Kepler, this book felt a little shallow. I didn’t learn anywhere near as much from this book, which allowed me to breeze by the historical setting, and I felt much less accomplished finishing it. It made me very glad I already knew the full story behind some of the brief references made in this book, for two reasons. First, I knew what I would missing if I hadn’t read the other book first. The second, more troublesome reason, is that knowing the full story let me see where this book selectively left details out or interpreted events differently to cast a more favorable light on Brahe and a less favorable light on Kepler.

I can’t say Heavenly Intrigue wasn’t convincing anyway. It seemed very well researched and included many fascinating quotes from primary sources to back up the claim that Keppler was the most likely person to have murdered Brahe. The analysis of Brahe’s impressive mustache leading to the conclusion he was poisoned with mercury was also presented very convincingly. Unfortunately, this argument was only laid out in the last few chapters, while the majority of the book was spent biasing the reader against Kepler and for Brahe. So, while this was a nice easy read and might make a better introduction to Kepler and Brahe as a result, I would definitely recommend Tycho and Kepler as the more informative and satisfying read. ( )

Clearly, to the mass media reader, a murder mystery would be much more compelling than the science of history, let alone that of sixteenth century astronomy.

Early in the book, Heavenly intrigue, the authors, Joshua and Anne-Lee Gilder, juxtapose the two astronomers, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, in such a way that the outcome of their accusation is inevitable: Brahe, the rich aristocrat, is murdered by Kepler, the poor man's son, who aspires the old man's position and data for financial gain.

The authors never tell the reader that there are other theories about Brahe's death, involving the same means, but with another perpetrator, namely his cousin, Eric Brahe. The other flaw seems that the authors impose the modern view of scientific co-operation on the reader, while we do not know and cannot assess the exact nature of the co-operation between Brahe and Kepler. ( )

Heavenly Intrigue is to history what the nightly news on your local Fox affiliate is to journalism. The authors take an important and complex collaboration between two astronomers and sensationalize it. They portray Johannes Kepler as devious madman bent on obtaining Tycho Brahe's observational data by any means necessary. Brahe is the hard-working aristocrat who takes Keppler under his wing. How far will Keppler go to succeed? What stunning revelations have surfaced about Brahe's death? Watch the News at 10!

I would note that of the authors, one was a magazine editor and the other was a TV reporter/producer. It shows in their careless handling of facts. ( )

This book sets forth the theory that Tycho Brahe was murdered, and that in fact, Johannes Kepler did it. Gilder traces Kepler's life and his interactions with Brahe. He makes a decent case for Kepler's motive and opportunity, as well as presenting evidence that Brahe's death was indeed murder rather than natural or accidental. ( )

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