galileo

Dialogue on the Two Greatest World Systems

Galileo Dialogue Two World Systems cover

When it comes to books that not only upset the metaphorical apple cart but felled the entire orchard of toleration on the part of those able to wield raw and unmitigated power at a truly global level, few can be said to have accomplished this more so than Galileo Galilei’s “Dialogue on the Two Greatest World Systems,” of which a fresh translation by Mark Davie and William R. Shea will be published by Oxford University Press in February of this very year as an addition to their superb Oxford World’s Classics series.

The Ghost of Galileo

Ghost Galileo cover

Toward the end of 1643, or perhaps at the beginning of 1644, a then somewhat famous but now little remembered painter committed to canvas the image of a young man and his tutor – neither of wide notoriety to history outside of their own respective families. The painting itself, a respectable rendering to be sure, subsequently hung largely neglected for centuries.

The Galileo Observations 2

Sidereus Nuncius cover

My dear Galileo,

Each evening for weeks now I have carried my telescope to the top of a nearby hill and pointed its 70mm objective lens toward the clearly visible bright dot in the sky that I have learned to identify as Jupiter. Bringing it into focus, its 17.5x magnification – more than your early 8x model but less than your eventual 20x one – shows me clearly that what I am seeing is not a star but a planet; a planet with tiny illuminated dots seemingly nearby it.

The Galileo Observations 1

Inspire 70AZ

My dear Galileo,

After many years of observing and investigating things on the Earth, I have taken it into my mind also now to begin looking at the heavens to learn what is to be seen there as well. As I am but a novice in this, I knew I must find a teacher. I hope you will not mind if I look to you and your discoveries as such.

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