Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One of History's Greatest Scientific Discoveries

by Anne-Lee Gilder and Joshua Gilder

Book Overview

Heavenly Intrigue is the fascinating, true account of the seventeenth-century collaboration between Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe that revolutionized our understanding of the universe-and ended in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385508441
• ISBN13: 9780385508445
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Couldn't put it down.

I read this book in one day because it really would not let me put it down. The accusation that Kepler murdered Brahe is not new - it was simply forgotten over the centuries because people want to believe that morality and intelligence go together. Brahe, being a geocentrist, must be a kook - and Kepler must be a hero for opposing him - right? Wrong. This is not an astronomy text, but a well-written crime story that honestly looks at the religion, politics, science and sin that led to the murder of Tycho Brahe. It's better than CSI because it really happened.

Great Read

CSI should make this an episode. There are so many pieces of evidence that the authors weave together to come to their pretty startling conclusion - that one of the greatest astronomer of all time (Kepler) probably poisoned another one of the greatest astronomers of all time (Brahe) to get a hold of his planetary observations. The authors don't say they can prove Kepler did it, just that all the evidence points in his direction. And they've found a lot of evidence in letters no one has published before, at least in English. If I were on the jury, I think I'd vote to convict.

A real-life murder Mystery

This is an extraordinary book: a narrative history of science that doubles as a real-life murder mystery. First the authors open a window on a fascinating time, when astronomy, astrology and even alchemy were all considered different branches of the same science. The authors do a wonderful job bringing those times alive and writing about the sciences in a way that is totally accessible to even a liberal arts major like me. I especially enjoyed the sections on Tycho Brahe's alchemy, and the authors' deep research into his mercury drug, which convinced them that it was a by-product of Brahe's lab that was used to poison him. Then the authors use modern forensics and medical knowledge, along with a Law-and-Order type analysis of motive, means and opportunity to pin Kepler - his assistant at the time, and one of history's most famous astronomers -- as the most likely culprit. I found it all fascinating and entirely plausible.

No Spin - Just Facts

Boy, this book sure paints a different picture of Johannes Kepler than I learned in school! He's still the genius who discovered the Three Laws of Planetary Motion that led to Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation, but the authors use Kepler's own words and actions to paint a portrait of someone who was by turns prone to violent rages (the family he grew up in was violent, abusive and crazy) and coldly calculating - a man without a conscience. Then they take us step by step through his first interaction with Brahe (considered then the greatest astronomer of his time) to Brahe's death a little more than 2 years later, convincingly detailing Kepler's tricks, lies and other stratagems to steal Brahe data - including in the end, poisoning him with mercury. What's so good about this book is that it doesn't take one or two stray bits of information and "spin" them to make its thesis. Every word and deed is documented, almost always with original sources - generally Kepler's own letters. This is a must read for anyone interested in the history of science, or just interest in a great story for that matter.

Crazy Genius

I really enjoyed this book, which reads like a novel, but has a wealth of research and references. I learned a lot about the science of early astronomy and was captivated by the main protagonists, Brahe and Kepler. Brahe was aristocratic, out-going, larger than life. Kepler was physically abused as a child and ended up a real mental case. For me, it made these remote, historical figures flesh and blood. Because the authors go back to the personal letters of these two men, you feel like you're getting to know them intimately. The portrait of Kepler is especially amazing: a genius who also happened to be a psychopath.