Great Minds: Tycho Brahe, the Astronomer With a Pet Elk

In the late 16th century, Tycho Brahe built an observatory on an island and collecting some of the most accurate data ever. He also lost his nose in a duel with a classmate -- over who was the better mathematician.
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Sources:
chandra.harvard.edu/edu/formal...
csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/le...
galileo.rice.edu/sci/brahe.html
www.space.com/19623-tycho-brah...

[@Anacronian]

As a Dane, I must say I get a kick out of hearing people from other nations try to pronounce Thyge Ottesen Brahe's name. :)

[@forcecrafted]

+Anacronian Du burde sove bro

[@forcecrafted]

E - Money No, he was right:da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_Brahe

[@TandalfBeast]

I'd say it's pronounced more like brah with a long a instead of this BraHE business

[@karstend542]

+Anacronian Det er altid sjovt at høre. Hørte en udtale Cocio som Kosio :-)

[@mikikiki]

How’s it pronounced!! I respect his work and wanna say it right!

[@cj-seejay-cj-seejay]

In high school my friends and I all thought his name was adorable. My friend used to draw manga-style Tycho art.

[@scishowspace]

+slut4berniesanders Do you have pictures??

[@cj-seejay-cj-seejay]

+SciShow Space Haha I wish I did! High school was more than 10 years ago (I'm old), so not many of our doodles survive. :(

[@Lord-Loaf]

@@cj-seejay-cj-seejaydang bro, you’re an og!

[@GelidGanef]

Tycho Brahe, astronomer by night, party animal also by night. #nightlife

[@ylette]

Underrated comment.

[@OblivionFalls]

I just realized that in the Bartimaeus Trilogy, the main character, a 5000 year old spirit, briefly mentions that a few hundred years ago he knew someone named Tycho, who lived in Prague, who had a fake nose. That's awesome XD

[@megasonicgeo]

This guy's voice is amazing

[@VikingPickles]

ikr?

[@Ntmoffi]

Said it before. He should do voice acting.

[@kryziaa]

+megasonicgeo yeah better than the guy from deep astronomy

[@jellyacc]

+megasonicgeo yeah i've always thought so too! reminds me of bender's if he weren't a boozy robot

[@Neumah]

+scratchy yy Hah! Never thought of that, but its true! I will never look at him the same again. Now quick, put a magnet to his head and see what happens!

[@msoelling]

The confusion about the 'elk-moose' properly derives from the fact that a "moose" in danish is called "Elg". It's a common misconception.

[@lisve]

+Morten Sølling THANK YOU

[@thulyblu5486]

+Morten Sølling So what's an elk called in danish?

[@Kasperekdk]

+Thulyblu wapiti according to google, tho ive Never used that word ever. Doesn't even sound Danish

[@msoelling]

+Thulyblu Well for one thing we don't have elk in the northern part of europe. They only live in North America and east asia. But in general we call them "krondyr" for "crown animal" or as mentioned above wapiti which i believe is internationally known.

[@Valthjof]

+Thulyblu It's not a very natural word because they don't have these animals. The closest in Scandinavia would be a 'hjort' (red deer), but the American elk is called 'wapiti' (from Cree or Shawnee). Brahe had, I gather, a moose ('elg' or even 'elk' in Norwegian).

[@dersitzpinkler2027]

Keep doing these great minds videos! They're always very well done and absolutely fascinating.

[@kezla]

What a great life! Love these profile stories. The graphics really help explain concepts too, really appreciate the effort.

[@scishowspace]

+Kezla Thanks!

[@psychhourph1557]

More of this kind of episode pls! I wanna know a lot of astronomers and their works. Good job!

[@combatking0]

How many other scientists had a party moose? Brahe makes it into my top 10 list of scientists. Now I need to find 8 more...

[@bigeteum]

duel to prove who is the best in math, oh i miss the old days!!

[@tyfenrir]

This guy needs a podcast. I could listen to him talk about space for hours. Great Voice!

[@j.dunlop8295]

Excellent application of relevant disscriptions of Tycho's relevance! At his death, average of death was 43-47 yr. He was 55.

[@HandeToon]

On the confusion about his pet, the words for "moose" and "elk" are used interchangably in Europe but in North America the animal is called a moose (alces alces). The North American elk is also called a "wapiti" (cervus canadensis).

[@rdreher7380]

+HandeToon Yeah, and there really should be no confusion about what Animal he had, no "may have actually been," because there are no wapiti in Europe.

[@SALSN]

I thought an elk and a moose were the same animal... Guess that was not supposed to be the primary lesson from this video :-P

[@Regolith86]

+Simon Als Nielsen It's a bit complicated. What we in North America call a moose (a term which comes from the native Algonquin name for the animal) is called an elk in Europe, where as what we in North America call an elk is like a larger version of the European red deer (large enough that it got its name because early European explorers thought it was a kind of moose/elk) . This is probably what caused the host's confusion.

[@rdreher7380]

+Regolith Yes, what we call elk is the wapiti, or Cervus canadensis. In Europe, elk is Alces alces, which we call moose. SO there should be NO confusion or guessing. Wapiti don't even live in Europe, whereas moose do, so obviously he had a moose.

[@karstend542]

+Regolith So, what about Raindeers and Caribous?

[@rdreher7380]

***** Both refer to Rangifer tarandus. Caribou is used in North America, but we say "reindeer" too, and I've never heard of "Santa's Caribou," that's for sure.

[@karstend542]

Ok. Cool.

[@travelonmiller4917]

Poor moose!😂 I am in love with this channel!!! As a lay person I am obsessed with science and physics in particular! But in spite of the fact that I can't understand the mathematics I can follow the theories quite easily most of the time. That's why I love your channel! You guys do a wonderful job of explaining subject matter that's quite detailed and sophisticated without loosing me in the technicals of it all. And you do with a great sense of humor to boot!!! I just wish you guys would post more stuff more often. Please keep 'em coming!!!😍😍😜

[@Finkelfunk]

Tycho Brahe, the guy with the most bosslike mustache in history

[@carriemaxwell4695]

I loved hearing this particular tale.

[@DioOmicida]

I wasn't expecting talking prior to the intro so when the video loaded and he had already jumped into the topic, I'm jumped from fright out of my seat.

[@gawkthimm6030]

as a dane a appreciate hearing about our most beloved and strange astronomer - there are loads more fun stories about the elk/moose

[@electricmovement0779]

thank you so much amazing content

[@meteor09]

More of this would be great minds episodes would be awesome! Copernicus, Kepler, Haley, Messeir, Oort, Hubble, Leavitt...

[@BluBlu777]

Great video. TY❤

[@coolmodeandean3465]

finally someone using the Internet for good instead of evil ... love it great job

[@ThatSpiffingChap]

In British English an "Elk" is a "Moose". The name "Moose" only exists because for some reason Americans and Canadians called some type of deer an "Elk" and then went on to make a new name for the animal which already had the name "Elk". It boggles my mind as to how this happened as most Germanic languages have a cognate to "Elk" for the animal; also they are very different to look at other than being herbivores and having antlers. Also on a side note it was a European Elk (what is in America/ Canada a Moose) as they are very common in the region he lived in and as far as I know the North American "Elk" isn't indigenous to Europe.

[@jskvbinmv]

Thanks. I was just about to write exactly that. :)

[@rdreher7380]

+Raavast Yeah, North American "Elk" aka wapiti, aka Cervus canadensis, don't live in Europe, only North America and Northeastern Asia.

[@rogerwilco2]

+Raavast Yeah, I'm always surprised when language developments like that happen.

[@kaileyschronicles3497]

Haha! I didn't think there was a worse death than Jean-Baptiste Lully, but there you go! Poor moose too! :(

[@PsyTechnical]

We love your voice dude.

[@angrysocks]

When I learned about Brahe's model of the solar system my teacher said its actually more descriptive than the other two models. Galileo's was based on time or how long it took each planetary object to "circle the earth" while Copernicus' was based on distance. Brahe's take both time and distance into account. Also, if planets have an elliptical orbit and the sun is one focal point what is the other?

[@mikearicks77]

I 😍 sci Show!!!!

[@rudywilhelm828]

Isaac Newton three laws of Motion are based on Tycho Brahe's data that Kepler had ordered printed after the just invented printing press by J. Gutenberg.

[@MarkArandjus]

I tell you this in all honesty: whenever I see a picture of Tycho Brahe, Turn Down for What starts playing in my head, because that's the kind of guy he was.

[@TenkoBerry]

This is Great 👌

[@slaterohm]

Its rare to see my name in a video title. Good start to my day

[@Niom_Music]

This man should be a video game voice actor :) His voice is freakin epic

[@deangoldenstar7997]

Finally! A Great Dane!!!

[@sarex33]

In summary, this large animal, Alces alces, is always called a "moose" in American English but called an "elk" in British English. That same word "elk," as used by a North American, means a completely different and only somewhat related animal, wapiti Cervus canadensis. A mature male is called a bull, a mature female a cow, and an immature moose of either sex a calf. The word "elk" originated from Proto-Germanic languages, from which Old English evolved. The British English word "elk" has cognates in other Indo-European languages, for example elg in Danish/Norwegian; älg in Swedish; alnis in Latvian; Elch in German; and łoś in Polish (Latin alcē or alcēs and Greek ἅλκη álkē are probably Germanic loanwords).[2] In the continental-European languages, these forms of the word "elk" almost always refer to the Alces alces. Thanks Wikipedia

[@sealot1]

geez, I just got out of an exam with questions of the coperincian and ptolemaic system XD messed up when they brought in elipsies too.

[@bukurie6861]

Tychk Bdahe Danjsh Astronomer!He was known for his accuratte and Compehencise astronomical observation as an astronom,astrologer,and alchemist.He was the last of major astronomers to work without telescope(1546-1691)

[@Vonliktenstien]

Would make a good movie.

[@bryanharoldfuller1441]

thank you That was cute, informatively cute😉

[@scabiniful]

this guy lived a wild life. i have new goals.

[@diwitdharpatitripathi2282]

My best astronomer . The one who revolutionize the universal astronomy. And the cosmology.

[@luciabee]

this is WILD

[@elfarlaur]

Elk in Europe is a moose. When the English came to North America, they saw what we call elk and figured it was the same thing (thus why it is called an elk). However, they later found actual elk but decided to call them moose based on their local native name. That's why in other languages like French, the word for moose and that for European elk are the same.

[@AJ-kj1go]

He also made some really dope shoegaze electronica.

[@daviddude79]

This guy is my favorite character on Scishow! XDDD

[@jckgoldness]

Lol I remember my professor Dr. Trupin telling us all bout this guy!

[@tobygrayling6115]

I like how old slap head said "Obviously"

[@TruGadgetmaker]

No Nose×Elk-Moose=Great Astromoner!

[@impalabeeper]

The video mentioned Brahe observed a comet that is less then the moon. How did Brahe measured parallax at the time?

[@VictorKinzer]

I really wish when people bring up this model of the universe they would acknowledge that most of it was originally modeled in the Kerala University of Astronomy and Mathematics well before Brahe began working as an Astronomer. (It was specifically published in the Tantrasamgraha in 1500-1501). Tycho Brahe's system was proposed in the late 16th century. It might seem like a minor thing, but even a nod to the astronomers who came to these conclusions outside of Europe decades before Europeans achieved these breakthroughs matters.

[@CinnabarOne]

Hehe Rudolph, Elk, Moose... Even funnier while drunk...

[@martinboylan1503]

I would love to go to the party with the elk moos and everything

[@xhhdbdhsb8192]

Poor guy, Had a bladder burst

[@nenemarrin]

Apparently, people used to have Math duels all the time! Though, these disputes were usually resolved using math instead of swords...

[@ChuDust]

all these happened in the 1500s? wow seems like humanity really has reached a developmental plateau

[@badantiherochato]

+ChuDust In terms of the discovery of major scientific phenomena? Probably. In terms of developing technologies and fine tuning our understanding of the universe? It's actually in a more rapid rate than ever before.

[@TheOmnipotentPenguin]

Ain't no party like a Brahe party.

[@ljmastertroll]

Now I want a pet moose elk thing.

[@YWGuide]

Nature Nerd help, the Scandinavian / Old Norse word elg or elgr, which is one of the origins of the word elk often refers to the European Moose. Moose is a Algonquian word. So it is likely Tycho's pet was a European Moose which are found in Denmark.

[@Crystalvampire66]

proof that you can be the coolest dude at the party and one of the smartest

[@cheekiblin690]

Was it really seeing an eclipse that made Tycho Barhe want to be an astronomer, or was it studying law at the University of Copenhagen? Seriously though, Brahe's innovations and discoveries helped us understand how the solar system and the planet's orbit work. I wish Kepler could've been nicer with Barhe's research, but anything to discover the ellipse orbit pattern!

[@stankdog1357]

Scishow is awesome

[@erlandodk]

Danish nitpick: His observatory was called "Uranienborg" in Danish. "Uraniborg" is the Swedish name..

[@Max-vb6le]

4th love scishow!

[@Jus10Ed]

"His elk-moose" Ha!

[@Sudstah]

Very eccentric nuts that's what probably made him an out of the box thinker who challenged current beliefs and assumptions.

[@SuperShaq007]

I have been following SciSchow Space since it first came out (I think it was over a year ago), and this is the best episode ever. Brahe is my new role model.

[@cleonanderson1722]

Now you just have to do a Kepler episode

[@TnEEn]

what did he shave? i cant tell o.O

[@ultrasuperkiller]

For people that´s confused about why he kept his data secret was because astronomers where frowned upon back in the day. The night sky was deemed unpredictleble and sperattic (due to the inconstistancies with simple eye observation) so he acually hid it all away to not be looked down upon

[@sooooooooDark]

ah its that drunk guy from that one episode of the old cosmos series from carl sagan!

[@jovanweismiller7114]

I know this is an old video, but catching SciShow out in a scientific error deserves a comment. Elk and moose are the same species, Alces alces, common name 'moose' in North America, and 'elk' in Europe. The North American elk, or wapiti, is Cervus canadensis. So, what SciShow calls an elk is a moose to Tycho's European brethren

[@altond511]

Brahe observed a new star in the sky and wrote a paper on it in latin called "on the new star" . The latin word for new is nova. That`s why they call these exploding stars Novas.

[@xRaddicKx]

Oh finnaly you drew a star at the focus of the elipse not in the centre ahahahahah

[@swsephy]

This guy sounds fucking awesome, lol. Crazy, but awesome.

[@apinakapinastorba]

It's funny, that when I look to english-finnish dictionary, elk and moose is a same thing.

[@pete275]

He also writes pretty funny webcomics.

[@FishingWithJames]

BRAHE BRAHE WHEREVER YE MAY BE. BRAHE BRAHE FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE. (and it’s “bray-hee”)

[@acrophobe]

So his uncle kidnapped him, and his parents were just like "byyyeee booooiiii!"?

[@meyakabrown795]

The moose got drunk and died falling down stairs. 😳

[@CorwynGC]

sun at focus of ellipse. yay!

[@locust76]

We need to give all scientists tons of money, private islands and elk-moose pets.

[@100thfail]

He also hired a dwarf named Jepp that was said to tell the future.

[@kcvriess]

This episode should have been on PsyShow Weirdos

[@underadesk]

as far as I know, what is called a moose in north America is very closwly related to what is called an elk in Europe and asia. and what is a caribou in north America is closely related to reindeer.

[@mikajlod25]

no Kepler used some derivative of the tears of lys on him...true story....

[@user-jh2wn2bp6s]

As having from Saint Xavier University in Chicago, a B.A. in Criminal Justice in America, and a minor in Psychology, young interest in Astronomy, having one college elective course, Astronomy 101 put an interest in Astronomy that remained; which lead to becoming a theorist solving Leap Year from the Calendar and that was fun,. The postulated theory is applying for approval here in America, when things come along for me, it may unfold universally. Finally, if we put our use of the cannons of scientific rigors' insight to the how the Luminaries, the Sun, for example, they appear in "the light falls upon the face of the Earth" [Gen,] then as we have, we continue ' our studying the "Luminaries" in works collectively making A Sign for the Seasons, as the creation commands brought about the Luminaries, it also brought us aware of Gods requests, that Man make a Sign by understanding the Light fallen to Earth from the Luminaries he made Genesis 1:14 "Let them mark the Seasons, the days and the years...".

[@AnhTrieu90]

He could be the Bruce Wayne of the 16th century. Playboy by day, scientist by night. His enemy: ignorance.

[@mordirit8727]

3:06 *WHAT THE WHATING WHAT!?*

[@zacharypeterson5252]

He's also one half of Penny Arcade

[@jif.6821]

European Elk and North American Moose basically the same animal, The North American Elk and the European Red Stag basically the same animal.

[@ELYESSS]

2:50 I know someone who thinks it's a conspiracy and earth is in the center of the universe, I know it's sad.

[@OlleLindestad]

It was a moose. They called the moose an elk because, well, that's what moose are called in Europe.

[@jesserjzz1]

They didn't say but Tycho besides all the man behind the name, it is one of the biggest (my personal favorite) and the most recognizable moon crater. I think that they should have said something... :'(

[@DocWolph]

Great. Now I have to pee...

[@cherrysubmarine]

so they exhumed his body 500 years later and were able to determine the cause of his death? wow

[@chistinelane]

deer make amazing pets and companions if you know what you're doing

[@lowercase18]

Brahe didn't die from drinking 😂. Look deeper at Mr Kepler and you'll see that wasn't the first body who he overtook position.

[@greygoogone5174]

didn't he also have a dwarf servant?

[@ThatGuyFromDK]

Elg is danish for moose.