Counted among the greatest pre-telescopic astronomers, Tycho Brahe was renowned for his many achievements, including revealing irregularities in the Moon's orbit and developing the wall quadrant and other instruments leading to improved stellar instrumentation. Johannes Kepler worked for Brahe and used many of his mentor's observations to construct his laws of planetary movement.

The son of Otto Brahe and Beatte Bille, both from high nobility in Denmark, Brahe was born on December 14, 1546, in Knudstrup, which is now in Sweden. His uncle, Jörgen Brahe, a vice admiral, legally adopted Brahe. By the time he was seven, Brahe was studying Latin to prepare for a career in law. His family sent him to study in Copenhagen, where, at the age of 13, he witnessed a partial eclipse of the Sun. Brahe was profoundly impressed that the event was accurately predicted and occurred precisely on schedule. Brahe continued on to...