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Danish Renaissance astronomer and alchemist Tycho Brahe worked in secrecy at his Uraniborg laboratory, where recent findings suggest he handled materials containing uncommon elements like tungsten. These discoveries align with Brahe’s interest in medical alchemy, primarily aimed at treating diseases with complex remedies. Credit: Wikipedia
Only a few of his alchemical recipes have survived and there are very few remnants of his laboratory. Uraniborg was demolished after he died in 1601, and the building materials were scattered for reuse. Only a few of his alchemical recipes have survived and there are very few remnants of his laboratory.During an excavation in 1988-1990, some pottery and glass shards were found in Uraniborg’s old garden. These shards were believed to originate from the basement’s alchemical laboratory.
The enriched elements are nickel, copper, zinc, tin, antimony, tungsten, gold, mercury, and lead, and they have been found inside or outside the shards.Most of the elements are not surprising for an alchemist’s laboratory. Gold and mercury were – at least among the upper echelons of society – commonly known and used against a wide range of diseases.
“Maybe Tycho Brahe had heard about this and thus knew of tungsten’s existence. But this is not something we know or can say based on the analyses I have done. It is merely a possible theoretical explanation for why we find tungsten in the samples,” said Rasmussen.Tycho Brahe belonged to the branch of alchemists who, inspired by the German physician Paracelsus, tried to develop medicine for various diseases of the time: plague, syphilis, leprosy, fever, stomach aches, etc.
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