Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius
or a Sidereal Message
Translated from the Latin by
William R. Shea
Introduction and notes by
William R. Shea and Tiziana Bascelli
An instrument can change the world and compel us to rethink our place in the universe. The telescope did just this, but only when it was used by Galileo, whose eye was prepared to see new things and whose hand was able to depict what he saw. It was not only because Galileo was a gifted and persistent observer, but also because he was an exceptional draughtsman that he was able to discover what others had failed to see or lacked the ability to record. The telescope, invented around 1590 in Italy, was a crude device that enlarged an object four or five times and was little more than a plaything. Galileo saw its potential. He also had the good fortune of having access to the best lenses in Europe, those that were made on the island of Murano near Venice, until the present day the capital of glasswork…From the Preface
Contents
Preface
Introduction
The invention of the telescope
Translation
Sidereus Nuncius or A Sidereal Message
Bibliography
September 2009, 132 pp., illustrated, paperback, ISBN 978-0-88135-375-4, $14.95
© 2010 Watson Publishing International LLC