World History Moment: Founding Tycho Brahe’s Observatory

World History Moment: Founding Tycho Brahe’s Observatory

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Astronomer Tycho Brahe had quite the reputation as a partygoer in his youth. He even lost his nose in a duel and wore a gold one the rest of his life. But in 1576, he turned to science.

On August 8 of that year, he laid the cornerstone of Uraniborg, an astronomical observatory that became one of the first research institutions in the world. Even Johannes Kepler cut his teeth at Uraniborg.

Historian John Schmidt tells us more about Tycho Brahe’s quest to understand the cosmos.