Tycho Brahe Resume
Royale Académie de Sciences
Name
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
By Hedy Chen and Silvia Santiago
Address
Uraniborg castle Hven Island, in Oresund (Sweden)
Job Objective
In the future, I would like to work in my new observatory in Benátky, 50 km from Prague.
With the help of my colleague and assistant, Johannes Kepler, I would like to keep observing the heavens and discovering new celestial forms; set a new system to measure orbits and distances of the planets.
Qualifications/Life Experiences
I was the first preeminent observational astronomer of the pre-telescopic period, and my observations of stellar and planetary positions achieved unparalleled accuracy for my time.
I proposed the first system in which the Sun orbited the Earth while the other planets orbited the Sun.
My system provided a safe position for astronomers who were dissatisfied with older models but were reluctant to accept the Earth's motion.
I lived by the words "Non videri sed esse", meaning not to be seen but to be.
What made me become an astronomer was my discovery of a Supernova in November 11, 1572.
Employment
I worked for Frederick II of Denmark and Norway, who was impressed with my 1572 observations, and financed the construction of my two observatories on the island of Hven.
In 1599, I was sponsored by Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor; he built a new observatory in a castle in Benátky nad Jizerou, 50 km from Prague.
I worked there for one year. My duties included preparing astrological charts and predictions for my patrons on events such as births, weather forecasting, and providing astrological interpretations of significant astronomical events such as the comet of 1577 and the supernova of 1572.
Education and training
I attended the Copenhagen university where I studied law, I also studied in the Leipzig university, I then traveled through the German region, where I studied astronomy at the universities of Wittenberg, Rostock (where I lost my nose in 1566 at a duel), and Basel.
Summary of major works
Some of my astronomical achievements are my remarkable star catalogue of over 1000 stars.
My catalogue was not the biggest catalogue in the number of stars, but in accuracy.
I improved the methods used of accuracy used for observations, and proved that comets are not objects in the atmosphere.
I also showed irregularities in the moons orbit thanks to my rigorous observations, night after night.
I not only designed and built my own built instruments, but also calibrated them and checked their accuracy periodically.
Some of my major works include De Nova et Nullius Aevi Memoria Prius Visa Stella ("On the New and Never Previously Seen Star.
Johannes Kepler Resume
Royale Académie de Sciences
Name
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
Address
Born in the Free Imperial City of Weil der Stadt, Germany
Worked in Graz, Austria
Job Objective
I would like to discover the motions of planets and their orbits.
I would liked to develop the first astronomical system to use non-circular orbits.
My colleague, Tycho Brahe, and I would also like to find a new celestial form.
Qualifications/Life Experiences
I am a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and writer of science fiction stories.
I discovered the laws of planetary motion and worked in the field of optics, aiding the discoveries of Galileo and I am sometimes referred to as the “first theoretical astrophysicist.”
I was named Imperial Mathematician through the reigns of three Habsburg Emperors and was recommended for many teaching positions.
I wrote many volumes of a textbook, Epitome of Copernican Astronomy.
I also incorporated religious arguments and logical reasoning into my work so that the basis of my work was theological.
In 1612, I was named Provincial Mathematician in Linz.
I am a Pythagorean mystic and consider mathematical relationships to be at the base of nature. My beliefs differ from those of Plato and Aristotle.
Employment
I worked as a mathematics teacher at a seminary school in Austria.
I was an assistant to Tycho Brahe at Benatky nad Jizerou, near Prague, court mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II, mathematics teacher in Linz, Austria, and court astrologer to General Wallenstein.
I was a teacher of mathematics and astronomy in Austria when I was only 23.
Education and Training
I was introduced to astronomy at a young age and observed the Comet of 1577 nd the Lunar eclipse of 1580, recording everything I saw.
I graduated from grammar school and Latin school and passed the “Landexamen”, which was a statewide examination.
I attended the lower and higher seminary in the scholarship-based education system and enrolled in the University of Tübingen as a theology student.
I learned the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems under Michael Maestlin.
Summary of Major Works
I discovered laws of planetary motion, based on books I have written, such as Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and my famous textbook, Epitome of Copernican Astronomy.
I developed the first astronomical system using non-circular orbits and published these ideas in my book, Astronomia Nova, which also included the first and second laws of planetary motion.
In 1604, I observed the supernova, which was named Kepler’s Star, which is described in my book, De Stella nova in pede Serpentarii.
In 1611, I published a monograph on the origins of snowflakes and my publication was the first known work on the subject.
In 1619, I published Harmonices Mundi which included the third law of planetary motion and I completed seven volumes of my textbook in 1612.
In 1627, I completed Rudolphine Tables, which accurately calculate future positions of planets and predictions of rare astronomical events.
I am most famous for the three laws of planetary motion: the elliptical orbit law, equal-area law, and the law of periods.
In 1631, I was the first astronomer to successfully predict a transit of Venus.
I also made investigations into combinatorics, geometry, snowflakes, optics, and camera obscura.
I was the first person to recognize the non-convez regular solids and they are named Kepler solids in my honor and I made the association between the Platonic solids with the classical conception of the elements.
I described the motion of the planets by appealing to magnetism, emanated from the sun, and invoked a universal law to explain the behavior of bodies in heaven or earth.
I am known for compiling prognostications from 1595-1606, and 1617-1624 and I gave the astrological prognosis for the outcome for a war.