Researchers Make an Unexpected Discovery From Renaissance Astronomer Tycho Brahe’s Alchemy Laboratory
Tycho Brahe was a renowned Renaissance astronomer who dedicated his life to solving the mysteries of the sky. Now his lab has given the world another mystery, stated Popular Mechanics. The startling discovery was explained in detail in a study published in Heritage Science.
Experts have long known that, along with astronomy, Brahe also cooked up medicines and dabbled in alchemy. The alchemist conducted his experiments inside the basement of his castle-like Uraniborg observatory on the island of Ven. A team of researchers collected five shards from the castle-like structure, which were later determined to be from the laboratory. The shards were examined to understand what kind of substances Brahe possibly used in his medicines. Experts from the University of Southern Denmark and the National Museum of Denmark analyzed them and found evidence of lead, mercury, gold, antimony, tin, copper, zinc, and nickel. The most noteworthy finding, though, turned out to be tungsten.
The discovery surprised researchers because, as per records, tungsten was isolated for the first time by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1781, according to Space. This event happened around two centuries after Brahe's death. The presence of this rare metal in his laboratory showcases how much of a pioneer Brahe was in alchemy. Though researchers are not sure that Brahe knew about the discovery or that there was any kind of pursuit for tungsten.
Researchers believe that there is a slight possibility that Brahe could be aware that something like tungsten could be out there. Georgius Agricola, another scholar of the Renaissance, had observed something odd in a tin ore from the German state of Saxony. Today, that oddity has been recognized as tungsten. The oddity was called "Wolfram" by Agricola and was said to have caused difficulty in the tin ore smelting. Study lead author Kaare Lund Rasmussen, professor emeritus specializing in a branch of archaeology known as archaeometry, thinks there is a chance Brahe heard about 'Wolfram' because of the issues it was causing to metallurgists worldwide. However, the speculation is not enough to claim that Brahe meant to use tungsten.
Experts are yet to figure out how Tungsten, as well as the other substances, made their way into Brahe's medicines, according to Phys.org. There are no records of the methodologies Brahe applied in the making of his medicines. This is primarily because alchemists of those times kept the recipes close to their hearts and shared them with only a few people. Brahe supposedly shared his plague cure only with Emperor Rudolph II, his patron.
Brahe was inspired by German physician Paracelsus and made medicines for ailments like plague, syphilis, leprosy, fever, and stomach aches. He focused on the diseases that were troubling the population of that time. Unlike many alchemists of his time, he did not invest his intellect in trying to extract gold from less valuable minerals and metals. His medicines were reportedly very hard to produce. The only thing experts are sure of is that it contained theriac, a standard item of that time in medicines, which could contain up to 60 ingredients.
Throughout his life, Brahe was dedicated to both astronomy and alchemy because he believed the subjects were connected. "It may seem strange that Tycho Brahe was involved in both astronomy and alchemy, but when one understands his worldview, it makes sense. He believed that there were obvious connections between the heavenly bodies, earthly substances, and the body's organs," Senior researcher and museum curator Poul Grinder-Hansen from the National Museum of Denmark explained.