Page 1 of 1
Kepler A Murderer?
Posted: 14.12.2010, 08:49
by LordFerret
Let me start by noting that if this is not the appropriate place for this post/subject, moderator (Selden) please do move it.
Hello all, it's been a long while, I hope everyone is well.
It has come to my attention that there is a book, a theory based on fairly certain research, that almost all but positively shows that Johannes Kepler murdered Tycho Brahe, presumably for his stellar research data. The book is titled
"Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One Of History's Greatest Scientific Discoveries" By Joshua Gilder and Anne-Lee Gilder. Apparently this book was first copyrighted and published in 2004. I'd never heard of it before, nor of its topic, thanks to my uncle for enlightening me.
Google Books provides a free
preview which you can view here -
http://books.google.com/books?id=WQZ78_u7vYYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=heavenly+keppler&source=bl&ots=KPFZxGICcI&sig=04j6Xlh0jdzhUd6k6BrZN-ZERsc&hl=en&ei=nQUHTcz-KoWClAf2yqnkDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=falseI plan to see about obtaining the full copy from my public library to read.
I was wondering if any of you had ever heard of this before? What are your impressions of this, and do you feel there is, or should be, cause for a discovery credit impact... a discrediting of some manner of Kepler? Obviously the math and data behind it will remain, but what of the men? I find it quite shocking and a surprise, and the story of which likely something to make a movie out of!
Alan
Re: Kepler A Murderer?
Posted: 14.12.2010, 15:48
by Fenerit
Unfortunately I've not read such a book, so cannot say which are its thesis, and what is the central point on which the authors hold their statements. However, the hypotesis that Kepler was the murderer of Tycho started few after the death of Tycho, and is well-know. It seem based on the rivalry between Kepler and the Tycho's heir Tengnagel and concern the scientific heritage of the danish astronomer. For Kepler, to have the approvation in using data, was to have the Emperor Rudolph II in person that promised money to the heir. This sinister man (so is depicted from several historians) continually delayed the pubblication of the Astronomia Nova because the Tycho's datasets were used within the copernican system, instead of to be used to confirm the tychonic system. From here the suspect that the heir had insinuated Tycho were murdered by Kepler. This fact, and that to Kepler died the daughter and that its mother was accused to be a witch, perpetuated the mystery.
Re: Kepler A Murderer?
Posted: 16.12.2010, 17:36
by Fenerit
An integration to the discourse above:
- The money enstabilished by Rudolph II with which to pay the heir was up 20 thousands of thalers, too much for the bohemian's cash, so the heir finally received a complessive payment of few hundreds; this could be the cause of the grudge toward Kepler.
Re: Kepler A Murderer?
Posted: 27.01.2011, 00:52
by Aphyle2007
The book is okay, and makes extensive use of primary sources, mainly letters. There is a great deal on the strained relationship between Kepler and Brahe, and considerable ink is dedicated to portraying Kepler as an ambitious, borderline sociopath interested only in personal self-promotion. Brahe is portrayed as a largely affable, overly forgiving and trusting of others, yet also interested in his personal legacy. Only the last section deals with the murder, attributed to not one but two massive ingestions of mercury salts by Brahe -it either was murder or patent medicine gone very wrong. Kepler is painted as the most likely suspect, not so much from his opportunity to commit the murder, but rather from his subsequent actions of collecting up Brahe's data and leaving, telling Brahe's family that the data were Brahe's bequest to him. Downplayed is the possibility that Brahe might have been murdered bu a distant relative, perhaps on orders from the Danish royal family. Interesting read, but I remain unconvinced that Kepler "did the deed."
So now I read that Brahe's body was exhumed last November, samples taken, and then reinterred. I've not seen anything since.
Re: Kepler A Murderer?
Posted: 27.01.2011, 02:37
by Fenerit
Interesting.
Aphyle2007 wrote:Brahe is portrayed as a largely affable, overly forgiving and trusting of others,...
This Brahe's portray is somewhat new; usually is portrayed as a suspicious man, always parsimonious in showing its tables; seem that granted Kepler of calculating the Mars' orbit just to "hide" him the data, being a recursive operation that Kepler could do without to see them deeply. BTW, what about Longomontanus in such book?
Aphyle2007 wrote: ... Only the last section deals with the murder, attributed to not one but two massive ingestions of mercury salts by Brahe -it either was murder or patent medicine gone very wrong.
Is that recorded somewhere? On the physician's notepad?
Aphyle2007 wrote:So now I read that Brahe's body was exhumed last November, samples taken, and then reinterred. I've not seen anything since.
We will wait. Mercury should remains. Unfortunately, mercury was used as ointment yet, not only in salt form, thus people were heavy poisoned, indeed.
Re: Kepler A Murderer?
Posted: 04.02.2011, 03:58
by Aphyle2007
Fenerit wrote:Interesting.
Aphyle2007 wrote:Brahe is portrayed as a largely affable, overly forgiving and trusting of others,...
This Brahe's portray is somewhat new; usually is portrayed as a suspicious man, always parsimonious in showing its tables; seem that granted Kepler of calculating the Mars' orbit just to "hide" him the data, being a recursive operation that Kepler could do without to see them deeply. BTW, what about Longomontanus in such book?
What I recall from the book is that the source of the portrayal of Brahe you describe seems to come from Kepler's letters. Perhaps once could view him as suspicious simply because his trust seems to have been broken often. That said, Brahe didn't exactly give Kepler free access to the data. I cannot recall much about Longomontanus but know that he is mentioned in the book. If I can find the book around here, I'll send it to you, if you send address sent by PM once I find it.
Aphyle2007 wrote: ... Only the last section deals with the murder, attributed to not one but two massive ingestions of mercury salts by Brahe -it either was murder or patent medicine gone very wrong.
Is that recorded somewhere? On the physician's notepad?
See below. Ointments are mentioned as a possible source, but the amount of mercury and the punctuated nature of the indication (narrow bands) suggest an oral rather than topical ingestion.
Aphyle2007 wrote:So now I read that Brahe's body was exhumed last November, samples taken, and then reinterred. I've not seen anything since.
We will wait. Mercury should remains. Unfortunately, mercury was used as ointment yet, not only in salt form, thus people were heavy poisoned, indeed.
Apparently, some of Brahe's hair was found in a collection, taken at his death. Heavy-metal analysis showed two huge mercury spikes about 10-14(?) days apart, roughly the time between the big party and his death. That said, there was either enough doubt that it was Brahe's hair or an intense interest in getting additional samples.