Overview
- Presents Galileo’s demonstrations translated for the first time from geometry into algebra, a much easier language for modern readers to understand
- Addresses anyone who would like really to know Galileo without engaging in a lengthy study: scientists, physicists, philosophers, historians of science, curious readers, technicians/engineers, even hobbyists
- Presents a new version of the original Galilei's drawings, digitally restored in collaboration with the Italian National Library in Florence
- Is timed to anticipate the 2022 800th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Padua, for which a revival of Galileo can be expected
Part of the book series: History of Physics (HIPHY)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations
- Galileo's Two New Sciences
- principle of inertia
- Two New Sciences translation
- science of construction
- Galilei’s demonstrations translation
- isochronism of pendulum oscillations
- acceleration of the fall of bodies
- origins of musical theory
- parabolic motion of projectiles
- paradox of infinity
- Galileo's writing in modern English
About this book
This book aims to make Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) accessible to the modern reader by refashioning the great scientist's masterpiece "Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences" in today's language.
Galileo Galilei stands as one of the most important figures in history, not simply for his achievements in astronomy, physics, and engineering and for revolutionizing science and the scientific method in general, but also for the role that he played in the (still ongoing) drama concerning entrenched power and its desire to stifle any knowledge that may threaten it. Therefore, it is important that today's readers come to understand and appreciate what Galilei accomplished and wrote. But the mindset that shapes how we see the world today is quite different from the mindset -- and language -- of Galilei and his contemporaries. Another obstacle to a full understanding of Galilei's writings is posed by the countless historical, philosophical, geometrical, and linguistic references he made, along with his often florid prose, with its blend of Italian and Latin. De Angelis' new rendition of the work includes translations of the original geometrical figures into algebraic formulae in modern notation and allows the non-specialist reader to follow the thread of Galileo's thought and in a way that was barely possible until now.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Alessandro De Angelis is a high energy physicist and an astrophysicist. A professor at the Universities of Padua and Lisbon, he is Principal Investigator for the proposed space mission ASTROGAM and, for many years, has been Director of research at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics, and Scientific Coordinator and Chairman of the board managing the MAGIC gamma-ray telescopes on the Canary Island of La Palma. His main research interest is in fundamental physics, especially astrophysics and elementary particle physics in accelerators. He graduated from Padua, was employed at CERN for seven years in the 1990s, ending as a staff member, and was later among the founding members of NASA's Fermi gamma-ray telescope project. His original scientific contributions have mostly been related to quantum chromodynamics, artificial neural networks, and the study of the cosmological propagation of photons. He has taught astro-particle physics in Italy and Portugal and has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Paris VI, and at the the Max-Planck Institute in Munich. He has been author of books, scientific publications in journals including Science and Nature, popularization articles, and essays in the history and philosophy of science.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Galileo Galilei’s “Two New Sciences”
Book Subtitle: for Modern Readers
Authors: Alessandro De Angelis
Series Title: History of Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71952-4
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-71951-7Published: 06 January 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-71954-8Published: 07 January 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-71952-4Published: 04 January 2022
Series ISSN: 2730-7549
Series E-ISSN: 2730-7557
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXVIII, 163
Number of Illustrations: 53 b/w illustrations
Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, History of Science, History of Technology