Galileo’s Telescope: A European Story

Massimo Bucciantini; Michele Camerota; Franco Giudice

Published by Harvard University Press 2015

Galileo’s Telescope

A European Story

Massimo Bucciantini , Michele Camerota and Franco Giudice
Translated by: Catherine Bolton

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674425446

Overview
Contents

About this book

Between 1608 and 1610 the canopy of the night sky was ripped open by an object created almost by accident: a cylinder with lenses at both ends. Galileo’s Telescope tells how this ingenious device evolved into a precision instrument that would transcend the limits of human vision and transform humanity’s view of its place in the cosmos.

Author / Editor information

Bucciantini Massimo :

Massimo Bucciantini is Professor of the History of Science at the University of Siena.Camerota Michele :

Michele Camerota is Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cagliari.Giudice Franco :

Franco Giudice is Professor of the History of Science at the University of Bergamo.

Reviews

Makes available to the general reader one of the most fascinating stories in the history of science.
-- Mark Archer Wall Street Journal

A rich and complex story of how the Galilean telescope emerged from the Dutch spyglass. In Galileo’s Telescope, Massimo Bucciantini, Michele Camerota, and Franco Giudice—three distinguished historians of science who have written extensively on Galileo—retell this famous story in light of considerable new evidence and their own firm grasp of the twists and turns of [its] history. Fundamentally, they remind us that we need to stop looking only at Galileo… Surveying the entire European landscape in the years immediately before and after Galileo’s announcement, this book offers a comprehensive vision of how an entire world, rather than a single if singular individual, gave birth to the telescope.
-- Paula Findlen Los Angeles Review of Books

[A] hugely enjoyable book, by far the most lively and challenging book on Galileo to appear in decades…Everyone who’s ever looked up at the night sky and wondered should read it and re-make the acquaintance of the man who showed us all what we were really looking at.
-- Steve Donoghue Open Letters Monthly

Galileo’s Telescope opens the door to a whole society going through deep transformation…The book will be satisfying to anyone wanting a wider cultural perspective on this most unsettling time.
-- Brian Welter Catholic News Service

Project[s] a sense of how new ways of seeing, far from merely providing new tools, were—and are—complicated extensions of the way we understand our experience.
-- Philip Ball Nature

Galileo’s Telescope is a new account of this turning point in the history of western civilization, and its authors—three Italian history of science professors—give equal weight to the telescope’s scientific, cultural and political impacts. Translated into lucid English by Catherine Bolton, the book is full of entertaining insights and asides… Modern anxieties tend to focus on what science enables us to do, but Galileo’s Telescope reminds us that the truly subversive potential of science lies in what it enables us to imagine.
-- Marek Kukula The Spectator

Using letters, paintings and other contemporary documents, Massimo Bucciantini, Michele Camerata and Franco Giudice show, in meticulous detail, that the dissemination of Galileo’s discoveries was by no means linear and straightforward.
-- Robyn Arianrhod Times Higher Education

In broad outline, the story of Galileo and the first use of a telescope in astronomy is well known. Bucciantini, Camerota, and Giudice take a new look at this seminal event by focusing on how the news spread across Europe and how it was received. Their well-written narrative examines the central issues using papers, paintings, letters, and other contemporary documents… After four centuries [Galileo’s] reputation has been thoroughly vindicated.
-- D. E. Hogg Choice

Over six decades I have read many biographies of Galileo and his discoveries, but never have I encountered a more exciting presentation. Reading about the prompt pushback against Galileo in Florence itself was an eye-opener, to mention a special climax to this brilliantly researched and illustrated account.
-- Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Illustrations, Plates, and Maps Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Prologue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. From the Low Countries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
2. The Venetian Archipelago Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
3. Breaking News: Glass and Envelopes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
4. In a Flash Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
5. Peregrinations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
6. The Battle of Prague Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
7. Across the English Channel Poets, Philosophers, and Astronomers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
8. Conquering France Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
9. Milan: At the Court of “King” Federico Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
10. The Dark Skies of Florence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
11. The Roman Mission Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
12. In Motion: Portugal, India, China Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	305
Credits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	327
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	333

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Pilot project. eBook available to selected US libraries only
Audience: College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 352
Illustrations
- Other: 8 color illustrations, 25 halftones, 5 maps

eBook

Published: March 23, 2015
ISBN: 9780674425446