What language did Brahe talk with Kepler?
Upvote:23
To expand on Ed's answer: In speaking about astronomy or mathematics the two scholars would inevitably have done so in Latin. It is not only that both wrote all their books in Latin; at the time in question neither German nor Danish had the specialised technical vocabulary needed to talk about scientific matters. Latin was definitely still the language of science in Western Europe. It is obviously possible that they might have engaged in polite small-talk in some other language, but there is no evidence that they did. In the absence of evidence there is no ground for assuming that to be the case.
Upvote:36
I have struggled to find a contemporary account of the meeting between Brahe and Kepler that mentions the languages used, though with further research I may be able to come up with something.
The facts we do know:
Brahe obviously spoke Danish, and he also spoke Latin very well, and wrote De Nova Stelle in Latin (quite good Latin actually) Brahe also spoke German from his 8 years of Maths and Astronomy training in Germany so he was at least proficient in German. And 8 years speaking a language tends to make on fully proficient, especially in speakers that are already polyglots.
"In 1562 he travelled to Leipzig to study law, but Tycho was more interested in astronomy. He discovered large discrepancies between his own observations of the positions of the planets and the positions noted by astronomers before him. Tycho Brahe returned home from Leipzig in 1565 and between 1566 and 1570 he studied astronomy in Rostock, Wittenberg, Basel and Augsburg." link
Kepler, a German native, spoke High German. As he was on a theological tract, he wrote and spoke Latin extremely well, in fact some have said his mastery of Latin as second to none. I havent found any proof Kepler spoke Danish.
"He was educated in Swabia; firstly, at the schools Leonberg (1576), Adelberg (1584) and Maulbronn (1586); later, thanks to support for a place in the famous Tübinger Stift, at the University of Tübingen. Here, Kepler became Magister Artium (1591) before he began his studies in the Theological Faculty. At Tübingen, where he received a solid education in languages and in science" link
I would also like to note one other possibility, as both were in the Court of Prague, there would be a slim chance they learned Bohemian, but I find this the least likely of the 2, the Court in Prague also spoke Latin and German, so it would be odd to conduct highly technical scientific business in a language one is just learning, when they are already are mutually proficient in Latin and German.
"In 1597 Tycho Brahe left Denmark, and in 1598 he accepted a proposal from Emperor Rudolf II that he come to Prague, where he was to work with Johannes Kepler. Tycho Brahe died in 1601, possibly of ureamia, possibly because of mercury poisoning." link
I know this isnt the exact answer you want, but I think it is safe to assume the conversations were in either Latin or German, but I would sort of lean towards Latin as it was the language of science at the time.
"Latin was the language of international communication, scholarship and science until well into the 18th century, when vernaculars (including the Romance languages) supplanted it." link
More post
- 📝 Was simply addressing the English monarch wrongly ever a punishable crime?
- 📝 When did the American War of 1812 actually end?
- 📝 Is there any way to get a list of Germans who were interned in American camps during WWII?
- 📝 How were concussions treated in late 19th-century America?
- 📝 Why was a gold standard not stipulated in the U.S. Constitution?
- 📝 What were John Profumo's responsibilities as the Secretary of State for War in Macmillan's government?
- 📝 Why didn't early modern Christians object to pagan symbolism in art?
- 📝 When and why did round coins become a practical standard?
- 📝 Why didn't USSR "bust a move" to veto the Korean War?
- 📝 What specific changes were made to political ideologies around during and before World War I?
- 📝 How did laborers travel from China to Malaya in the early 19th century?
- 📝 Why wasn't the 1953 Iranian coup d’état considered to be a violation of United Nations Charter?
- 📝 Was Kamehameha I unique in elevating so many foreigners?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Dutch attack on Venezuela in 1908?
- 📝 How and why did trade unions in America become influenced by organised crime, but unions in Britain didn't?
- 📝 What oath did medical students take in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945?
- 📝 Percentage of Christians (Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians) in Asia Minor/Anatolia in the early 19th century
- 📝 Was payment on Louisiana Bonds suspended during the War of 1812?
- 📝 Which parts of the Townshend Act were repealed in 1770?
- 📝 Gregorian dating in the Julian time period?
- 📝 Was there a movement for "humane" slavery?
- 📝 What was the status of travelling perfomers in the Middle Ages (specifically, 13th century Germany)?
- 📝 What methods were used for onboard ship communication during WW2?
- 📝 What factors prevented the legality of secession being pursued via the courts prior to the outbreak of the Civil War?
- 📝 Why was a convicted Nazi war criminal buried with military honours?
- 📝 Why did Gandhi give the violent "Do or Die" slogan to the Quit India movement?
- 📝 Why did Americans give up meat resembling animals?
- 📝 Can you identify this ship of 1922?
- 📝 Were there more robberies of "commercial" or "personal" nature in 19th century in USA?
- 📝 What was the content of Solzhenitsyn's critique of the West?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What language did Brahe talk with Kepler?
- 📝 What language did Gaius Julius Caesar speak with Cleopatra?
- 📝 What goods did Germany trade during World War II, and with whom?
- 📝 What did Hitler mean with the following statement about Franco?
- 📝 In what language did Caractacus deliver his speech to the emperor Claudius?
- 📝 To what extent did the CPC avoid fighting with the Japanese?
- 📝 At what point, and why, did snuff tobacco fall out of favor with European nobility?
- 📝 What goods did Germany trade during the Weimar Republic, and with whom?
- 📝 At what point did Soviet armored units have qualitative parity with Wehrmacht armored units?
- 📝 What specifically did Caesar believe he would be charged with had he disbanded his army?
- 📝 How did the US "Greek" fraternity system at universities arise and what is its relationship with ancient Greece?
- 📝 What language did Petlura speak casually?
- 📝 What did Golden Horde get out of the alliance with Mamluks?
- 📝 How did the helmsman know what he was sailing towards with a big mast in his face?
- 📝 What did sectionalism have to do with the American civil war?
- 📝 When, where and with what propagation through Europe did the idea of gypsies stealing children occur?
- 📝 What did early humans do with their long hair?
- 📝 What did Sweden do with all the wrong-sided steering wheels after Högertrafikomläggningen?
- 📝 What title did the merchants permitted to deal with Canton's 13 Factories carry?
- 📝 What Insubordination Did Colonel Sanders Do With Prudential Life Insurance?
- 📝 What did the Nazis do with proselytes to Judaism?
- 📝 What did Japanese architecture look like with heavy materials such as stone, mortar and clay?
- 📝 What did Europeans do with captured war elephants?
- 📝 What involvement did Jonathan Edwards have with the Conspiracy of 1741?
- 📝 What influence did Benjamin Franklin's association with Freemasonry have on his success in France?
- 📝 What language did Nazi German occupying forces speak in France?
- 📝 What did Dr. Peter Smith do with his windfall?
- 📝 Did Nazi Germany conduct systematic experiments on prisoners on what it takes to kill/injure a human with electricity?
- 📝 What did modern China do with food sold to the state?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?