Renaissance astronomy is in the news again, this time because a group of Czech and Danish scientists are testing the remains of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who died in 1601. Brahe’s astronomical observations provided the foundation for the work of Johannes Kepler and other astronomers, but he is also remembered for the rumors which swirled …
The History of Science Collection at BYU contains manuscript material by several prominent astronomers of the 17th and 18th centuries, including correspondence, treatises, and observations. The largest collection is the Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre Collection, VMSS 458. Delambre (1749-1822) was a French astronomer and mathematician who helped develop the metric system and wrote one of the …
A particular strength of BYU’s History of Science Collection is a collection of over 80 European pamphlets and monographs on comets, dating from the early 16th to early 18th centuries. These works were written by theologians, philosophers, and scientists, and as such, approach the subject of comets from conflicting perspectives. For some, the appearance of …
The Associated Press reports today that a team of Polish archaeologists and Swedish geneticists have identified the grave and remains of Nicolaus Copernicus, the astronomer who first posited that the Sun, rather than the Earth, was the center of the universe. The Copernican system, as it is known, was a major advancement in the understanding …