Tycho Brahe, the scandalous astronomer - Dan Wenkel

Tycho Brahe, skandalozni astronom - Dan Wenkel

Prevoditelj: Martina Valković Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

How do you imagine the life of a scientist?

Kako zamišljate život znanstvenika?

Boring and monotonous,

Dosadan i monoton, provode

spending endless hours in the lab

beskrajne sate u laboratoriju

with no social interaction?

bez ikakve socijalne interakcije?

Maybe for some but not Tycho Brahe.

Možda neki, ali ne Tycho Brahe.

The 16th century scholar who accurately predicted planetary motion

Učenjak iz 16. stoljeća, koji je predvidio kretanje planeta

and cataloged hundreds of stars before the telescope had been invented

i katalogizirao stotine zvijezda prije no što je teleskop izumljen,

also had a cosmic-sized personal life.

također je imao i bogat osobni život.

Tycho Brahe was born in 1546 to Danish nobles,

Tycho Brahe je rođen 1546. god. u obitelji danskih plemića,

but at age two was kidnapped to be raised by his uncle instead.

no u dobi od dvije godine bio je otet kako bi ga odgojio njegov ujak.

His parents didn't seem to mind.

Čini se da njegovim roditeljima to nije smetalo.

Tycho was supposed to have a career in law,

Tycho je trebao ostvariti karijeru u pravu, no

but after witnessing a solar eclipse at thirteen,

nakon što je s trinaest godina svjedočio pomrčini sunca

he began spending more time

počeo je provoditi više vremena

with mathematics and science professors,

s profesorima matematike i znanosti,

who taught him the art of celestial observation.

koji su ga podučili umijeću promatranja neba.

By the time Tycho's uncle sent him off to Germany a few years later,

Kad ga je ujak, nekoliko godina kasnije, poslao u Njemačku, Tycho je

he had lost interest in his law studies,

već izgubio interes za proučavanje prava,

instead reading astronomy books,

umjesto toga je čitao astronomske knjige,

improving his instruments,

unaprijeđivao instrumente,

and taking careful notes of the night skies.

te pažljivo bilježio pojave na noćnom nebu.

It wasn't long before his own measurements

Nedugo nakon, njegova vlastita mjerenja

were more accurate than those in his books.

bila su točnija od onih u knjigama.

While in Germany, Tycho got into a bit of an argument

U Njemačkoj, Tycho je upao u malu svađu

with another student at a party

s drugim studentom na zabavi

over a mathematical formula,

zbog jedne matematičke formule,

resulting in a sword duel

što je rezultiralo

and Tycho losing a good-sized chunk of his nose.

mačevalačkim dvobojem i Tychovim gubitkom dobrog dijela nosa.

After that, he was said to have worn

Nakon toga, navodno je nosio

a realistic prosthetic of gold and silver

realističnu protezu od zlata i srebra

that he would glue onto his face.

koju bi zalijepio za lice.

Fortunately, Tycho didn't need his nose

Na sreću, Tycho nije trebao nos

to continue his astronomical work.

kako bi nastavio sa svojim radom u astronomiji.

He kept studying the night sky

I dalje je proučavao noćno nebo

and creating all sorts of instruments,

i izrađivao razne instrumente,

including a building-sized quadrant for measuring

uključujući kvadrant za mjerenje kuteva zvijezda

the angles of stars.

veličine zgrade.

After months of careful observation,

Nakon mjeseci pažljivog promatranja,

Tycho discovered a new star

Tycho je otkrio novu zvijezdu

in the constellation Cassiopeia.

u konstelaciji Kasiopeja.

The publication of this discovery granted him rock star status

Objava ovog otkrića jamčila mu je status rock zvijezde

and offers of scientific positions all over Europe.

i ponude za znanstvene pozicije diljem Europe.

Wanting to keep him at home,

U želji da ga zadrži,

the King of Denmark offered to give Tycho

Kralj Danske mu je ponudio

his own personal island with a state of the art observatory.

osobni otok s najmodernijim observatorijem.

Called Uraniborg and costing about 1% of Denmark's entire budget,

Nazvan Uraniborg, ovaj observatorij koštao je otprilike 1% čitavog budžeta Danske

this observatory was more of a castle,

i bio je više poput dvorca,

containing formal gardens,

sadržavajući formalne vrtove,

rooms for family, staff and visiting royalty,

sobe za obitelj, osoblje i gostujuće pripadnike kraljevske obitelji

and an underground section just for all the giant instruments.

i podzemni dio samo za sve te divovske instrumente.

Tycho also built a papermill and printing press

Tycho je sagradio i tvornicu papira i tiskaru

for publishing his papers,

kako bi objavljivao svoje radove,

and a lab for studying alchemy.

te laboratorij za proučavanje alkemije.

And since no castle would be complete

A kako nijedan dvorac

without entertainment,

nije potpun bez zabave,

Tycho employed a clairvoyant dwarf

Tycho je zaposlio patuljka vidovnjaka,

named Jep as court jester.

zvanog Jep, kao dvorsku ludu.

Tycho lived on his island,

Živio je na svom otoku,

studying and partying for about 20 years.

proučavao i tulumario otprilike 20 godina.

But after falling out with the new Danish King,

No, nakon razmirice s novim danskim kraljem,

he took up an invitation from the Holy Roman Emperor

prihvatio je poziv svetog rimskog cara

to become the official imperial astronomer in Prague.

da postane službeni carski astronom u Pragu.

There, he met another famous astronomer Johannes Kepler,

Ondje, upoznao je drugog slavnog astronoma Johannesa Keplera,

who became his assistant.

koji mu je postao asistent.

While Kepler's work interested him,

Iako ga je Keplerov rad zanimao,

Tycho was protective of his data,

Tycho je štitio svoje podatke

and the two often got into heated arguments.

i dvojica astronoma su se često žestoko svađala.

In 1601, Tycho attended a formal banquet

Godine 1601., Tycho je prisustvovao svečanom banketu

where he drank quite a lot

gdje je poprilično popio,

but was too polite to leave the table to relieve himself,

no bio je prepristojan da napusti stol i olakša se,

deciding to tough it out instead.

pa je umjesto toga odlučio pretrpjeti.

This proved to be a bad idea,

To se pokazalo kao pogrešna ideja,

as he quickly developed a bladder infection

jer je brzo razvio infekciju mjehura

and died a few days later.

i umro nekoliko dana kasnije.

But over 400 years after his death,

No i više od 400 godina nakon smrti,

Tycho still had a few surprises up his sleeve.

Tycho je nastavio iznenađivati.

When his body was exhumed and studied in 2010,

Kada mu je tijelo ekshumirano i proučeno 2010. godine,

the legendary gold and silver nose

legendarni zlatni i srebrni nos

was nowhere to be found,

nije nigdje pronađen,

with chemical traces suggesting

a kemijski tragovi su upućivali

that he wore a more casual brass nose instead.

da je umjesto njega nosio "casual" nos od mesinga.

Tycho's mustache hair was also found

Također se otkrilo da Tychovi brkovi

to contain unusually high levels of toxic mercury.

sadrže neobično visoku razinu otrovne žive.

Was it from a medicine used to treat his bladder infection?

Je li to bilo od lijeka koji je koristio za liječenje infekcije?

A residue from his alchemy experiments?

Ostatak od njegovih alkemijskih eksperimenata?

Or did his quarrelsome coworker Johannes Kepler

Ili ga je svadljivi kolega Johannes Kepler

poison him to acquire his data?

trovao kako bi došao u posjed njegovih podataka?

We may never know,

Možda nećemo nikad saznati,

but the next time you think scientists lead boring lives,

no ako opet pomislite da znanstvenici vode dosadne živote

dig a little deeper.

kopajte malo dublje.

A fascinating story may be just beyond the tip of your nose.

Fascinantna priča vam je možda nadomak vrška nosa.