Reviews
...Christianson provides a double share of fascinating insights into one era and the career of perhaps the greatest astronomer of the pre-telescope era. A gold mine for anyone interested in one of the giants of Renaissance science. Kirkus Reviews|9780521101066|, From the hardback review: 'Nothing is more attractive to amateur and professional alike than scholarship lightly worn. Professor Christianson has written a charming book that illuminates the first great scientific research center of the modern era.' Michael Hoskin, Journal for the History of Astronomy, From the hardback review: 'The glory of Hven is told with admirable zest by Christianson.' The Sunday Telegraph, From the hardback review: 'Anyone with an interest in astronomy of the history of science will enjoy this tale, thanks to Christianson's lively style and thorough research.' Dan Falk, The Globe and Mail, On Tycho's Island allows us to appreciate Uraniborg as the site of enormous practical and theoretical advances in astronomy and as a model for many later scientific institutions." Nicholas Jardine, Science, "...explains how Brahe built Uraniborg with labor from Hven's farm village of Tuna; what exalted friendships Brahe established, and what his Latin verse says about that extended familia; how Brahe's complex household, observatory, printing press, map-making projects and chemistry labs operated; and how the Uraniborg group disseminated its methods, ideas and students across northern Europe....Christianson's narrative combines the intrigue of Reformation courts with the excitement of early modern science." Publisher's Weekly, "...Christianson has resotred the noble Dane - idiosyncratic, brilliantly determined, sometimes ruthless, and humanly vulnerable - to his late-sixteenth- century environment. It is worth much more than a sentence, but it must be added that, in addition to the monographic account just sketched, Christianson also offers a great service to scholarship by presenting in the book's second part of a lengthy set of bio-bibliographies for almost all of the principal players." Sixteenth Century Journal, From the hardback review: 'Christianshon's On Tycho's Island is a perfect complement to Victor Thoren's Lord of Uraniborg. It fills in the courtly heritage and ambiance so important for understanding the noble Dane's idiosyncratic life. And the biographical notices of Tycho's many assistants and associates will become the standard, indispensable reference.' Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Review of the hardback: 'Christianson's engaging portrait of Tycho Brahe as an iconoclastic Danish nobleman and scientific entrepreneur provides a vibrant depiction of life at Uraniborg, Europe's first scientific research institute. His investigation of the many people of all classes who contributed to this enterprise reveals a richly textured web of connections among Tycho's assosiates and employees. On Tycho's Island is a first-rate contribution to Tychonic scholarship and a valuable study in the social history of early modern science.' James R. Voelkel, Johns Hopkins University, "...Christianson's catalogue provides younger scholars with a treasure chest of nuggets they can use to expand our knowledge of early modern astronomy and its intricate social nexus. I have no doubt that Christianson's book will serve as a reference point for future historians of astronomy." Nature, '... a valuable book in the scientist Tycho Brahe and his associates and coworkers. This book illuminates the rise of the new scientific ideas in Europe and the persons behind the ideas at the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century.' Scandinavian Economic History Review, 'Christianson brings Uraniborg to life, in a way that has never been done quite so well before. And he has written what is a sourcebook twice over, for the final third of his text is given over to a biographical dictionary.' John North, Times Literary Supplement, Review of the hardback: 'Nothing is more attractive to amateur and professional alike than scholarship lightly worn. Professor Christianson has written a charming book that illuminates the first great scientific research center of the modern era.' Michael Hoskin, Journal for the History of Astronomy, "A well-rounded portrait of Brahe...is presented in a study which includes intriguing facts on his contemporaries." The Midwest Book Review, Review of the hardback: 'Christianshon's On Tycho's Island is a perfect complement to Victor Thoren's Lord of Uraniborg. It fills in the courtly heritage and ambiance so important for understanding the noble Dane's idiosyncratic life. And the biographical notices of Tycho's many assistants and associates will become the standard, indispensable reference.' Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, "Anyone with an interest in astronomy or the history of science will enjoy this tale, thanks to Christianson's lively style and thorough research." Dan Falk, Toronto Globe & Mail, From the hardback review: 'Christianson's engaging portrait of Tycho Brahe as an iconoclastic Danish nobleman and scientific entrepreneur provides a vibrant depiction of life at Uraniborg, Europe's first scientific research institute. His investigation of the many people of all classes who contributed to this enterprise reveals a richly textured web of connections among Tycho's assosiates and employees. On Tycho's Island is a first-rate contribution to Tychonic scholarship and a valuable study in the social history of early modern science.' James R. Voelkel, Johns Hopkins University, ' ... it is likely to be seen as an authoritative treatment by an acknowledged expert on this material. It certainly deserves to be.' Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Review of the hardback: 'The glory of Hven is told with admirable zest by Christianson.' The Sunday Telegraph
