Bearing the heavens : Tycho Brahe and the astronomical community of the late sixteenth century / Adam Mosley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mosley, Adam, 1974-

Contributor:

Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Brahe, Tycho, 1546-1601.

Brahe, Tycho.

Astronomy--Denmark--History--16th century.

Astronomy.

Astronomers--Denmark--Biography.

Astronomers.

History.

Denmark.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 354 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Summary:

Bearing the Heavens is a ground-breaking study of the astronomical culture of sixteenth-century Europe. It examines, in particular, the ways in which members of the nascent international astronomical community shared information, attracted patronage and respect for their work, and conducted their disputes. Particular attention is paid to the Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), known for his observatory Uraniborg on the island of Hven, his operation of a printing press, and his development of a third world-system to rival those of Ptolemy and Copernicus. Adam Mosley examines the ways in which Tycho interacted with a Europe-wide network of scholars, looking not only at how he constructed his reputation through print, but also at his use of correspondence and the role that instruments played as vehicles for data and theories. The book will be of interest to historians of science, historians of the book, and historians of early modern culture in general.

Contents:

Bearing the heavens. Coelifer: Atlas as bearer of the heavens ; Astronomy and kingship: disciplinary history and princely practice ; Tycho Brahe, prince of astronomers

Tycho Brahe's astronomical letters. Tycho Brahe and the Republic of letters ; Epistolary origins: the beginning of the Hven-Kassel exchanges ; Weddings, merchants, and other hindrances to good-will ; Epistolary calibration: instruments, refraction and cosmology at Uraniborg and Kassel ; Intellectual property, credit and the exchange of gifts ; Conclusion

Books and the heavens. From manuscript to print ; (i) To please all men of learning and good will? ; (ii) A dedicated gift ...? ; (iii) ... or an astronomical text? ; Astronomical readers ; (i) Textual astronomy ; (ii) The astronomical library ; (iii) Readings hostile and authorial ; A melancholy conclusion

Instruments. Globi Tychonici ; Printing and privilege: books, globes and gifts ; Moving heaven and earth: models of celestial motion ; Conclusion

Concluding remarks

Appendix: Known and presumed owners of Tycho's works prior to 1602.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-339) and indexes.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1891 Department of Arts Fund.

ISBN:

9780521838665

0521838665

OCLC:

78070992

Online:

Publisher description

Contributor biographical information