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