Tycho Brahe's hidden discovery: Tungsten found in ancient lab
Tycho Brahe was an alchemist who was reluctant to share his discoveries. In his laboratory, however, he worked with an element that humanity discovered nearly 200 years after his death.
Born in 1546 in the Swedish town of Svalöv and passing away in Prague, Czech Republic, in 1601, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe became renowned for creating the geoheliocentric model of the Solar System. This model combined elements of Copernicus's heliocentrism and Ptolemy's geocentrism. Additionally, Tycho Brahe was one of Johannes Kepler's primary teachers. A significant milestone in his career was the creation of the Uranienborg astronomical observatory on the present-day Swedish island of Ven.
A laboratory full of secrets
As we now know, the alchemist might have been concealing even more secrets. According to the portal Chemistry World, research in Brahe's laboratory revealed the presence of nine chemical elements on some vessels' external and internal surfaces. The most noteworthy substance identified was tungsten, discovered only 180 years after Brahe's death.
Scholars from the University of Southern Denmark, led by Kaare Lund Rasmussen, could thoroughly examine the items found because they were stored in the laboratory's basement. In this way (despite the alchemist's laboratory being demolished in 1601), scholars managed to identify an element unknown to science at that time.
Worked with various substances, including snake meat
Brahe worked on the orders of Emperor Rudolph II, for whom he developed elixirs for various ailments, including the plague, leprosy, and stomach pains. This intensive work required him to experiment with many elements and substances, including animals, as one of the medicine ingredients was supposed to be snake meat.
Therefore, it did not surprise scientists researching Brahe's work that tin, lead, or mercury were identified in his laboratory. However, discovering something theoretically unknown during the Danish astronomer's lifetime was a more excellent surprise. Tungsten.
Why did tungsten surprise scientists? Tungsten (in the form of tungstic acid) was discovered only in 1781 by K.W. Scheele. The pure element was isolated in 1783 by the brothers J.J. and F. d’Elhuyar, who named it as we know it today.
This means that science learnt about tungsten only 180 years after the alchemist's death, although he worked with it much earlier. Researchers from the Danish university explain that Tycho Brahe most likely separated tungsten during some chemical process, unaware that he had discovered a completely new and previously unknown element. This is the most likely scenario, given that tungsten is combined with other minerals, so its separation is possible for inappropriate reactions.
Today, tungsten is used as an additive in high-quality steel. Its high density is a desirable feature in the production of armour-piercing projectiles. Tungsten’s melting point is estimated at 3,420-3,465°C, while its boiling point is in the range of 5,555-5,900°C.
