From: josephs@helium.gas.uug.arizona.edu (joseph d scott) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban Subject: Re: Tycho Brahe Date: 15 Dec 1993 22:01:24 GMT In article, William E. Smith wrote: >In article <1993Dec14.190423.14863@Virginia.EDU>, cro6e@Virginia.EDU >(Charles Robert Odell) wrote: > >> If you ever heard of him, can anybody offer some proof for this >> legend about Brahe: >> >> HistUL: Brahe went to a state dinner, but he forgot to go to >> the bathroom. Well, since it was considered impolite to leave >> the table before the king, and the king was taking his sweet >> time eating and dining, Brahe's bladder "exploded" and he died. > > Well, not quite true. From a reference in COSMOS by C. Sagan, Tycho >Brahe was at a dinner given by the Baron of Rosenberg. After consuming >much wine he resisted the urge to leave the room ahead of the baron. >As a consequence, he developed a urinary infection. His condition >worsened with time due to his refusal to heed advice to temper his >eating and drinking habits. He eventually died of complications due >to the infection. Yes, but Sagan doesn't give any references. In _Coming of Age in the Milky Way_, Timothy Ferris repeats the bladder explosion story, which was postulated at the time of Brahe's death and remained in circulation long enough to be quoted as fact in _Martyrs of Science_ by Sir David Brewster in 1874. However, the notion that Brahe up and died right off the bat is something of a mutation - not even Brewster claims that, but Ferris does. Ferris quotes as a reference "Dryer, 1980, p. 386" but unfortunately, no such work exists. He is attempting to refer to John Louis Emil Dreyer's 1890 work, _Tycho Brahe: A Picture of Scientific Life and Work in the Sixteenth Century_ (ISBN 0-8446-1996-5), long considered the definitive biography. Page 386 is in the appendices, and contains an excerpt from Brahe's observation log (the last entry, I believe, and in Kepler's handwriting). Alas, it is in Latin, and my High School Latin years have faded into obscurity. It is translated in _The Lord of Uraniborg: A Biography of Tycho Brahe_, Victor E. Thoren, Cambridge University Press, 1990 (ISBN 0-521-35158-8) as: [Brahe] accompanied Councillor Minckwicz to dinner at the home of Peter Vok Ursinus [the Baron of Rosenberg]. Holding his urine longer than he was accustomed to doing, Brahe remained seated. Although he drank a bit overgenerously and felt pressure on his bladder, he had less concern for the state of his health than for etiquette. By the time Brahe returned home, he could no longer urinate. This was on October 13th, 1601. The log indicates that he spent the next 5 days in sleepless agony before finally urinating, thereby finding some small relief. Still, his strength was spent, and he spent 5 more days in increasing delirium. The night before the 24th, he was repeatedly heard to call out words to the effect of "he did not wish his life to have been in vain," which have since often been attributed as his deathbed words. On the 24th he died a peaceful death. At some point his death was attributed to kidney stones, but when the body was exhumed in 1901 (and found in excellent condition, considering), no kidney stones were found, though a search was made (Thoren refers to Edvard Gotfredson, "Tyge Brahes sidste sygdom og dod", _Fund og Forskning_ 2(1955): 32-5). Modern theory attributes his death to "uremia due to hypertrophy of the prostate" (Thoren, p. 469 n.). Also worth noting is that John Allyn Gade in _The Life and Times of Tycho Brahe_ seems to believe that Brahe suffered from a recurring bladder condition which he frequently consulted with physicians about, only to ignore their advice. He also repeats the "bladder bursting at the table" story, but gives no references for either, remarking in essence, "Everyone says so, so it must be...oh, nevermind." BTW, regardless of what Timothy Ferris may think he read in Dreyer, the text itself agrees with the story in Thoren, adding only that he was "seized with illness, which was aggravated by his remaining at the table." That's a paraphrase, I'm afraid. Joe "newbius ad perpetuitatem" Scott ______________________________________________________________________ Joseph Scott | Maybe when I grow up I'll have Vicki University of Arizona | Robinson in my sig. josephs@gas.uug.arizona.edu| ______________________________________________________________________