Caption: A statue of Tycho Brahe (1546--1601) and Johannes Kepler (1571--1630), Prague, Czech Republic.

Toward the end of his life, Tycho left Denmark and eventually became Imperial Mathematician to Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II (1552--1612; reigned 1576--1612), in Prague.

Imperial Mathematician was essentially court astronomer and court astrologer. It was certainly the most prestigious job an astronomer could have at that time in Europe---the Emperor of China had his own chief astronomer/astrologer (see Chinese Astronomy: Astronomy during Ming China).

Kepler succeeded Tycho as Imperial Mathematician on the latter's death in 1601 and was given freedom to pursue novel research.

Luckily, Kepler got hold of Tycho's data---Tycho's astronomically worthless heirs would have sat on it dog-in-the-manger style, and thus have rendered much of Tycho's work barren.

Credit/Permission: User:Mohylek, 2006 / Public domain.
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