- -Commentary by Albert van Helden, director of the Center for the Study of Science and Technology, Rice University
-Searchable, cross-linked English translation of the Latin text
-Searchable live text
-Supplementary essay on Latin abbreviations
-Magnify up to 800%
- -Digital images of every page of this rare book, cover to cover, in full color, presented as uncropped spreads
-Print and Thumbnails files for creating printed references
-Adobe Reader 4.0 with Search software
-PDF file on CD-ROM with all of Adobe Reader’s viewing, navigation, and search features
-Octavo Digital Guide and Help files
-
- Adobe Reader 5.0 or later (available free from Adobe)
- Windows PC with Pentium processor running Windows 95 or later
- Macintosh Power Mac running OS 9.2, or OS X 10.1 or later. Linux 2.2 kernel on X86 computer
- Color Monitor (15" or larger, capable of displaying millions of colors recommended)
- CD-ROM drive
Galileo Galilei’s earthshaking Sidereus nuncius marked a definitive moment in the Renaissance departure from ancient cosmology and its assumptions. While his contemporaries labored for lifetimes over ponderous folios, Galileo blithely contrived his sensibly scaled Starry Messenger. Hefting more intellectual freight within its mere fifty-six pages than was borne by many a blackletter behemoth of the day, Galileo’s slim volume comprises a list of some of the most important scientific discoveries ever made.
Using his own version of the newly invented telescope (capable of magnifying by thirty times), he discovered and here described a multitude of stars in constellations and in the Milky Way, invisible to the naked eye; mountains, valleys, and craters on the surface of the Moon (previously considered ideally smooth and polished); and four unknown moons of Jupiter, powerful evidence for the heliocentric system of Copernicus. Sidereus nuncius is the foundation of modern observational astronomy.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
8 1/8 x 6 1/4 inches (206 x 159 mm)
Using his own version of the newly invented telescope (capable of magnifying by thirty times), he discovered and here described a multitude of stars in constellations and in the Milky Way, invisible to the naked eye; mountains, valleys, and craters on the surface of the Moon (previously considered ideally smooth and polished); and four unknown moons of Jupiter, powerful evidence for the heliocentric system of Copernicus. Sidereus nuncius is the foundation of modern observational astronomy.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
8 1/8 x 6 1/4 inches (206 x 159 mm)
Aspiring Astronomer
Born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564, Galileo was educated at Pisa University where he made observations related to the pendulum as well as studies of falling bodies, showing that all objects would fall at the same rate if air resistance were not present. Galileo taught at the University of Padua, creating his own telescopes and making astronomical discoveries detailed in his Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger, 1610), including the moons of Jupiter and the craters and mountains of the Moon. Further studies led to discoveries of sunspots and the phases of the planet Venus. Galileo confirmed Copernicus’ assertion that the Sun is at the center of a system around which the planets, including the Earth, revolve. The Inquisition exiled him to Florence in 1633 for his controversial world view, but Galileo was still able to smuggle out his last book, Discourse on Two New Sciences, to be published in 1638 to great acclaim. The Inquisition’s sentence was rescinded by Pope John Paul II in 1992.
Born in Pisa, Italy on February 15, 1564, Galileo was educated at Pisa University where he made observations related to the pendulum as well as studies of falling bodies, showing that all objects would fall at the same rate if air resistance were not present. Galileo taught at the University of Padua, creating his own telescopes and making astronomical discoveries detailed in his Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger, 1610), including the moons of Jupiter and the craters and mountains of the Moon. Further studies led to discoveries of sunspots and the phases of the planet Venus. Galileo confirmed Copernicus’ assertion that the Sun is at the center of a system around which the planets, including the Earth, revolve. The Inquisition exiled him to Florence in 1633 for his controversial world view, but Galileo was still able to smuggle out his last book, Discourse on Two New Sciences, to be published in 1638 to great acclaim. The Inquisition’s sentence was rescinded by Pope John Paul II in 1992.
Exiled Expositor
As Galileo attained international recognition for the discoveries he published in Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger, 1610), the Catholic Church and the Inquisition attempted to make him anonymous. Exiled to his family estate (Arcetri) near Florence in 1633, Galileo was not allowed to have visitors, to attend public Mass, or to travel to Florence to consult with his physicians about his deteriorating health. In 1638 he smuggled his last book, Discourse on Two New Sciences, to Leyden where it was published to great acclaim. The Church immediately denounced this book, including it in the Index of forbidden works where it remained until the mid-19th century. When he died in 1642, Pope Urban VIII, Galileo’s one-time friend and patron, denied his family’s request to erect a monument over his grave in the church of Santo Croce. Several centuries later, Galileo’s body was exhumed and reburied opposite Michelangelo’s.
As Galileo attained international recognition for the discoveries he published in Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger, 1610), the Catholic Church and the Inquisition attempted to make him anonymous. Exiled to his family estate (Arcetri) near Florence in 1633, Galileo was not allowed to have visitors, to attend public Mass, or to travel to Florence to consult with his physicians about his deteriorating health. In 1638 he smuggled his last book, Discourse on Two New Sciences, to Leyden where it was published to great acclaim. The Church immediately denounced this book, including it in the Index of forbidden works where it remained until the mid-19th century. When he died in 1642, Pope Urban VIII, Galileo’s one-time friend and patron, denied his family’s request to erect a monument over his grave in the church of Santo Croce. Several centuries later, Galileo’s body was exhumed and reburied opposite Michelangelo’s.
Mountainous Moon
Galileo’s unprecedented astronomical discoveries made with his own hand-built telescope propelled him from an academic life to one of international renown. The surface of the Moon had previously been presumed to be smooth and perfect, as would befit any heavenly body. Spots visible on the surface were explained away in Aristotelian terms of “rarity and density” – one could claim that the inside of the Moon’s crystalline body was composed of some parts that were denser than others. Galileo’s observations changed this view entirely when he showed in his Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger, 1610) that not only were the spots shadows cast by mountains on the Moon, but that the shadows changed with its phases. When the Moon is a thin crescent in the evening near the western horizon, the Sun’s light rakes the visible part of its surface and the mountains cast long shadows. As the crescent waxes, on successive days, these shadows grow thinner and thinner until at full Moon they disappear and very little contrast can be seen on the lunar surface. Then the shadows lengthen again until the Moon disappears in the morning in the east. Galileo described the play of light and shadow on the lunar surface in prose and illustrated his argument with copper engravings (seen on views 11 and 13).
Galileo’s unprecedented astronomical discoveries made with his own hand-built telescope propelled him from an academic life to one of international renown. The surface of the Moon had previously been presumed to be smooth and perfect, as would befit any heavenly body. Spots visible on the surface were explained away in Aristotelian terms of “rarity and density” – one could claim that the inside of the Moon’s crystalline body was composed of some parts that were denser than others. Galileo’s observations changed this view entirely when he showed in his Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger, 1610) that not only were the spots shadows cast by mountains on the Moon, but that the shadows changed with its phases. When the Moon is a thin crescent in the evening near the western horizon, the Sun’s light rakes the visible part of its surface and the mountains cast long shadows. As the crescent waxes, on successive days, these shadows grow thinner and thinner until at full Moon they disappear and very little contrast can be seen on the lunar surface. Then the shadows lengthen again until the Moon disappears in the morning in the east. Galileo described the play of light and shadow on the lunar surface in prose and illustrated his argument with copper engravings (seen on views 11 and 13).
Copyright © 1998-2005 Octavo. All rights reserved.
Send us your comments and questions.
Send us your comments and questions.
