Just over 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' 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.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This is a fine book, well written and fully researched, with excellent colour plates showing mostly contemporary portraits of the principal players * F.W Taylor, University of Oxford, Contemporary Science * The book is perhaps most impressive for Heilbrons deep immersion in the rich context of his story, particularly the personal, social, and intellectual relations among lesser actors who are often treated as mere names while the spotlight shines on Galileo. * Michael H. Shank, Science & Education * Heilbron has produced that rare marvel, a splendid new view of a familiar figure, a witty, absorbing, and convincing account of the man and his epoch, destined for the wide readership Galileo himself once had. * Eileen Reeves, ISIS *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Produkt-Hinweis
Broschur/Paperback
Klebebindung
Illustrationen
60 black and white line drawings and 1 16pp plate section
Maße
Höhe: 235 mm
Breite: 156 mm
Dicke: 43 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-19-965598-4 (9780199655984)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Professor John Heilbron of the University of California at Berkeley is one of the most distinguished scholars on the Scientific Revolution. He is the author of Geometry Civilized (OUP, 1998) and The Sun in the Church (Harvard, 1999), on science and religion during the 17th century.
Autor*in
Department of History, University of California Berkeley
1. A Florentine Education ; 2. A Tuscan Archimedes ; 3. Life in the Serenissima ; 4. Galilean Science ; 5. Calculated Risks ; 6. Miscalculated Risks ; 7. Vainglory ; 8. End Games ; Afterword
