Tycho de Brahe: Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica

Tycho de Brahe: Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica – Pytheas Books – S.B.14 – Sächsische Landesbibliothek - Staats - und Universitätsbibliothek (Dresden, Germany)

Wandsbek, Hamburg (Germany) — 1598

Allowed the most precise astronomical sky measurements before the invention of the telescope: mural quadrant, armillary spheres, and sextants in Tycho Brahe's impressive treatise on astronomical instruments

  1. Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) was a Danish nobleman and one of the most important astronomers of the Renaissance, who still had to work without magnifying lenses

  2. Supported by King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway (1534–1588), he developed groundbreakingly precise instruments such as the mural quadrant

  3. They allowed him to make amazingly detailed and precise observations of the sky at his famous observatories on the island of Ven

Tycho de Brahe: Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica

S.B.14 Sächsische Landesbibliothek – Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek (Dresden, Germany)
  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Tycho de Brahe: Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica

Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) went down in history as an astronomer primarily because of his incredibly comprehensive and precise observations of the heavens, which he carried out without the aid of any lenses — i.e., without a telescope — and which later enabled Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) to discover his groundbreaking findings on planetary motion. With his methodology of repeated and increasingly accurate measurement and reverification, which he was only able to realize with a whole bunch of assistants, he also had a decisive influence on the scientific ideal that is still valid today. None of this would have been possible without the instruments he developed. He recorded his designs in an elaborately illustrated catalog with detailed descriptions: Tycho de Brahe: Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica. With its accurate and artistically colored, full-page woodcuts and copperplate engravings, it is without question one of the most remarkable scientific books of the Renaissance. The Saxon State Library preserves a copy of the brilliant first edition, which was printed in Wandsbek in 1598 on Brahe's own printing press.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Tichonis Brahe: Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica
Size / Format
84 pages / 32.7 × 23.5 cm
Origin
Germany
Date
1598
Language
Illustrations
22 illustrations of Brahe's astronomical instruments (4 engraved and 18 woodcut), 9 additional woodcut plans, diagrams and titles
Content
First edition of the Astronomiae instauratae mechanica
Artist / School

Available facsimile editions:
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