Scatter Brained

TYCHO BRAHE VERSUS MANDERUP PARSBJERG
In the Red Corner:
 Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), the Danish 
astronomer who coined the word 
nova
 and spent half his life 
living on an island observing the stars. His assistant, Jo-
hannes Kepler, later used Brahe’s data to fi gure out planetary 
motion.
In the Blue Corner:
 some math nerd named Manderup 
 Parsbjerg

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The Feud:
  Th
 e two had an argument about mathematics. 
Honestly. Back then people didn’t joke about numbers.
The Fallout:
 Th
  ey  dueled  with  swords  in  the  dead  of  night, 
and Parsbjerg came up the winner. Brahe didn’t die that 
night, but he did lose more than half his nose. For the rest of 
his life he wore a nasal prosthesis made of gold and  silver.