Galileo / J. L. Heilbron.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Heilbron, J. L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronomers--Italy--Biography.

Astronomers.

Scientists--Italy--Biography.

Scientists.

Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642.

Galilei, Galileo.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 508 p., [16] p. of chiefly col. plates ) ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Galileo is aptly known as 'the father of modern science'. But there is much more to him than his well-known discoveries in physics and astronomy, and his infamous clash with the Catholic church. John Heilbron's biography presents a multi-talented but difficult man - writer, philosopher, scientist, musician, and artist.

Four hundred years ago, in 1610, Galileo published the Siderius nuncius, or Starry Messenger, a 'hurried little masterpiece' in John Heilbron's words. Presenting to the world his remarkable observations using the recently invented telescope - of the craters of the moon, and the satellites of Jupiter, observations that forced changes to perceptions of the perfection of the heavens and the centrality of the Earth - the appearance of the little book is regarded as one of the greatest moments in the history of science. It was also a point of change in the life of Galileo himself, propelling him from professor to prophet. But this is not the biography of a mathematician. Certainly he spent the first half of his career as a professor of mathematics and has been called 'the divine mathematician'. Yet he was no more (or less) a mathematician than he was a musician, artist, writer, philosopher, or gadgeteer. This fresh lively new biography of the 'father of science', planned to coincide with the 400th anniversary of publication of the Starry Messenger, paints a rounded picture of Galileo, and places him firmly within the rich texture of late Renaissance Florence, Pisa, and Padua, amid debates on the merits of Ariosto and Tasso, and the geometry of Dante's Inferno - debates in which the young Galileo played an active role. Galileo's character and career followed complex paths, moving from the creative but cautious humanist professor to a 'knight errant, quixotic and fearless', with increasing enemies, and leading ultimately and inevitably to a clash with a pope who was a former friend.

Contents:

A Florentine education. Upbringing ; Gap years ; Character analysis

A Tuscan Archimedes. Hell and mathematics ; Barycentric exercises ; De motu ; Galileo at 25

Life in the Serenissima. Settling in ; Steady state

Galilean science. Reluctant astronomer ; Mover and shaker

Calculated risks. Starry message ; Celestial messenger ; More rabbits from the hat ; Family affairs and former friends

Miscalculated risks. Freelance exegetes ; Poetical interlude ; Ill omens

Vainglory. The Pope ; The knight ; The windmill ; The tilt

End games. Dramatis personae ; Winding up ; Last days ; The end of the affair?

Notes:

Formerly CIP.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-280-59336-9

9786613623195

0-19-161295-2

0-19-162502-7