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Directing his polemics against the pedantry of his time, Galileo, as his own popularizer, addressed his writings to contemporary laymen. His support of Copernican cosmology, against the Church's strong opposition, his development of a telescope, and his unorthodox opinions as a philosopher of science were the central concerns of his career and the subjects of four of his most important writings. Drake's introductory essay place them in their biographical and historical context.… (more)
Galileo's wit and sarcasm made this interesting book absolutely fun. Except for all the bits about prejudice and really stubborn people who wouldn't look at ideas in a clear light. ( )
This is a fascinating collection of Gailileo's writings on his discovery of Jupiter's moons and his observation and speculations on the nature of sunspots, as well as his defense of the veracity of his observations in the face of heavy censure from the Church. Any amateur astronomer who remembers seeing Jupiter's moons for the first time through a telescope and witnessing the change in their configuration from night to night will get a thrill out of reading this first account and Galileo's extraordinary reasoning as to why they must be satellites of the planet Jupiter and why this confirms the heliocentric model. Galileo was an excellent rhetorician who also surprisingly had a sense of humor when dealing with the absurdity of his critics' claims. I thoroughly loved this book and recommend it to anyone even mildly interested in the history of astronomy. ( )
Edition: // Descr: viii, 301 p. 20.5 cm. // Series: Call No. { } Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Stillman Drake Contains Appendices and Index. // //
To Frank de Bellis dauntless in the cause of Italian culture
First words
Intro: A century ago Giacomo Leopardi, in an essay of fame, remarked that continual progress in science obscures the achievements of men who have devoted the lives to it.
Surely a distinguished public service has been rendered by those who have protected from envy the noble achievements of men who had excelled in virtue, and have thus preserved from oblivion and neglect those names which deserve immortality.
By that time he was seventy-five years old and totally blind, but four more years went by before, in January, 1642, his indomitable spirit succumbed to death.
Directing his polemics against the pedantry of his time, Galileo, as his own popularizer, addressed his writings to contemporary laymen. His support of Copernican cosmology, against the Church's strong opposition, his development of a telescope, and his unorthodox opinions as a philosopher of science were the central concerns of his career and the subjects of four of his most important writings. Drake's introductory essay place them in their biographical and historical context.
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Galileo introduced the world to the two most significant aspects of modern science - its method of inquiry and its criterion of truth - for he was the first major figure to champion the right of the scientists to purchase his research through observation and experiment, uninfluenced by such non-scientific considerations as politics and theology. Direction g his polemics against the pedantry of his time, Galileo, as his own popularizer, addressed his writings to contemporary laymen. His support of Copernican cosmology against the Church's strong opposition, his development of a telescope and observation of such phenomena as comets and sunspots, his unorthodox opinions as a philosopher of science - these were the central concerns of his career and the subjects of four of his most important writings. These appear here in new, definitive translations by Stillman Drake, with an introductory essay placing them in their biographical and historical context.
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Legacy Library: Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
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