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Mercury poisoning ruled out in Brahe death
Source: Agencies |
November 16, 2012, Friday
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EVER since Tycho Brahe died in 1601, there has been a mystery about whether the Dane whose celestial observations laid the groundwork for modern astronomy fell victim to natural causes or was murdered.
Yesterday, scientists who had exhumed his body said one thing is clear: he was not poisoned with mercury.
"We measured the concentration of mercury using three different quantitative chemical methods in our labs" in the Czech Republic and Denmark, said Kaare Lund Rasmussen, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Southern Denmark.
"All tests revealed the same result: that mercury concentrations were not sufficiently high to have caused his death. In fact, chemical analyses of the bones indicate that Tycho Brahe was not exposed to an abnormally high mercury load in the last five to 10 years of his life," Rasmussen said in a statement.
The scientists didn't say what did kill the astronomer, but tests on the remains are still being conducted.
Brahe was long believed to have died at the age of 54 of a bladder infection. Legend said it was the result of his reluctance to breach court etiquette during a reception by leaving for a toilet. Kidney disease was another suspect.
Assistant a suspect
But some speculated he may have been poisoned with mercury, even at the hands of a king or a rival astronomer.
"Rumors of death by poisoning arose shortly after Tycho Brahe's death," said Jens Vellev, a professor of medieval archeology at Aarhus University, Denmark, who heads the Czech-Danish team of scientists that conducted the research.
"Brahe's famous assistant (astronomer) Johannes Kepler has been identified as a possible murder suspect, and other candidates have been singled out for suspicion ..."
Some even contend a cousin of Brahe's killed him with mercury on the orders of Danish King Christian IV for allegedly having an affair with the king's mother.
Tests conducted in 1996 in Sweden, and later in Denmark, on samples of Brahe's mustache and hair obtained in a 1901 exhumation, showed unusually high levels of mercury, supporting the poisoning theory.
Vellev wasn't satisfied with the findings and won permission to reopen the tomb.
In 1572, Brahe detected a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. The next year, he became the first astronomer to describe a supernova, or exploding star.
Yesterday, scientists who had exhumed his body said one thing is clear: he was not poisoned with mercury.
"We measured the concentration of mercury using three different quantitative chemical methods in our labs" in the Czech Republic and Denmark, said Kaare Lund Rasmussen, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Southern Denmark.
"All tests revealed the same result: that mercury concentrations were not sufficiently high to have caused his death. In fact, chemical analyses of the bones indicate that Tycho Brahe was not exposed to an abnormally high mercury load in the last five to 10 years of his life," Rasmussen said in a statement.
The scientists didn't say what did kill the astronomer, but tests on the remains are still being conducted.
Brahe was long believed to have died at the age of 54 of a bladder infection. Legend said it was the result of his reluctance to breach court etiquette during a reception by leaving for a toilet. Kidney disease was another suspect.
Assistant a suspect
But some speculated he may have been poisoned with mercury, even at the hands of a king or a rival astronomer.
"Rumors of death by poisoning arose shortly after Tycho Brahe's death," said Jens Vellev, a professor of medieval archeology at Aarhus University, Denmark, who heads the Czech-Danish team of scientists that conducted the research.
"Brahe's famous assistant (astronomer) Johannes Kepler has been identified as a possible murder suspect, and other candidates have been singled out for suspicion ..."
Some even contend a cousin of Brahe's killed him with mercury on the orders of Danish King Christian IV for allegedly having an affair with the king's mother.
Tests conducted in 1996 in Sweden, and later in Denmark, on samples of Brahe's mustache and hair obtained in a 1901 exhumation, showed unusually high levels of mercury, supporting the poisoning theory.
Vellev wasn't satisfied with the findings and won permission to reopen the tomb.
In 1572, Brahe detected a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia. The next year, he became the first astronomer to describe a supernova, or exploding star.
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