|
|
|
AstroLink.de - Shops - Buch-Tipps - Geschichte - engl. Titel
Anne-Lee Gilder, Joshua Gilder
Heavenly Intrigue
Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One of History's Greatest Scientific Discoveries |
|
|
|
|
A real-life Amadeus: Set against the backdrop of the Counter-Reformation, this is the story of the stormy collaboration between two revolutionary astronomers, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. That collaboration would mark the dawn of modern science . . . and end in murder.
Johannes Kepler changed forever our understanding of the universe with his three laws of planetary motion. He demolished the ancient model of planets moving in circular orbits and laid the foundation for the universal law of gravitation, setting physics on the course of revelation it follows to this day. Kepler was one of the greatest astronomers of all time. Yet if it hadn't been for the now lesser-known Tycho Brahe, the man for whom Kepler apprenticed, Kepler would be a mere footnote in today's science books. Brahe was the Imperial Mathematician at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor in Prague and the most famous astronomer of his era. He was one of the first great systematic empirical scientists and one of the earliest founders of the modern scientific method. His forty years of planetary observations - an unparalleled treasure of empirical data - contained the key to Kepler's historic breakthrough. But those observations would become available to Kepler only after Brahe's death. This groundbreaking history portrays the turbulent collaboration between these two astronomers at the turn of the seventeenth century and their shattering discoveries that would mark the transition from medieval to modern science.
But that is only half the story. Based on recent forensic evidence (analyzed here for the first time) and original research into medieval and Renaissance alchemy - all buttressed by in-depth interviews with leading historians, scientists, and medical specialists - the authors have put together shocking and compelling evidence that Tycho Brahe did not die of natural causes, as has been believed for four hundred years. He was systematically poisoned - most likely by his assistant, Johannes Kepler.
An epic tale of murder and scientific discovery, Heavenly Intrigue reveals the dark side of one of history’s most brilliant minds and tells the story of court politics, personal intrigue, and superstition that surrounded the protean invention of two great astronomers and their quest to find truth and beauty in the heavens above.
Die Autorin
Anne-Lee Gilder war Reporterin der ARD. Das Ehepaar lebt mit dem gemeinsamen Sohn in der Nähe von Washington. D.C.
Der Autor
Joshua Gilder arbeitete als Journalist und war Angestellter des State Department.
Pressestimmen
"...Heavenly Intrigue is a delight. ... crisply written ... an enthralling read, as a murder mystery being investigated four centuries after the death. ..informative and entertaining..."
(WASHINGTON POST BOOKWORLD)
"The authors present cutting-edge forensic evidence of mercury poison in Brahe's remains. To further build their case, they offer transcripts of letters and papers never before translated from Latin and interpretations from historians of astronomy. ... The story is carefully documented and the science behind the men's work is clearly laid out."
(SCIENCE NEWS)
"...the Gilders have produced a brilliant, readable, and original historical work that ought to convince readers that one of history’s greatest scientist committed a cold-blooded murder."
(NATIONAL REVIEW)
"...a fascinating story, told simply and elegantly ... just as fascinating as the forensic detective work is the Gilders' portrait of the age in which the two men struggled toward a greater clarity about the cosmos."
(THE WASHINGTON TIMES)
"...a startling twist on the story of the troubled relationship of Tycho Brahe and his assistant, Johannes Kepler."
(PUBLISHERS WEEKLY)
Doubleday, 2004, 304 S.
25,90 Euro
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-385-50844-5
|
|
Titel gebraucht, antiquarisch & neu kaufen bei:
|
|
|
|
AstroLink.de
ShuttleLink.de
cc-live