Tycho Brahe, the genius Danish astronomer and wearer of metal noses, is being exhumed by scientists in Prague who want to know how he died.
The cause-of-death candidates are:
- exploding bladder
- murder by a sneaky Johannes Kepler
- Mad Hatter-style mercury poisoning
- assassination by the King of Denmark, who didn’t like Brahe sleeping with his mother
No wonder scientists are curious: the guy was a walking gossip column. Plus:
“Scientists also hope to determine what kind of metal Brahe’s [false nose] was made of — it was commonly believed to have been gold and
silver, but others suggested it might have contained copper.”
Amazing. Time to add Brahe to one of our favorite loops, Exhumation Celebration.
From the Who2 blog:
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| Tags: | Exhumations, False Noses, Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe |