Simple Life, Profound Impact
by C. BENEDETTI
Galileo Galilei, one of history’s most influential astronomers, may have started from humble beginnings, but by the end of his life he had produced some of science’s most significant discoveries.
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Men Who “See” Stars
by Piergiorgio ODIFREDDI
On January 7, 1610, Galileo wrote a letter to Antonio de’ Medici where he briefly reported on the results of his first observations of the sky through a telescope exactly 400 years ago, late in the summer of 1609. The letter concluded with some news of the day: “Only this evening I have seen Jupiter accompanied by three fixed stars totally invisible because of their smallness.” With understandable and justifiable pride, he also noticed: “We can believe to have been the first in the world to discover something about the heavenly bodies from so nearby and so distinctly.”
Proprietary Discovery: Secrecy and intellectual property, beginning with Galielo’s telescope
by Mario BIAGIOLI
Modern scientists have become increasingly aggressive in protecting their intellectual property by patenting their discoveries and, sometimes, by keeping them secret. Galileo anticipated this trend.
Galileo, Engineer: The astronomer’s experiments appeal to an engineer’s mind
by Matteo VALLIERIANI
The interested reader may have noticed how historians in recent decades have attempted to deconstruct the identity of Galileo Galilei. He is no longer just the great astronomer or even just the founder of the modern experimental method in science. Even the political value of his work and his life, systematically reconsidered in the frame of the debates about the relation between Church and research institutions or between religion and science, is no longer the single relevant perspective for approaching this kind of historical thread. Thanks to the work of historians of science of the last twenty years, readers are now used to very different interpretations. Galileo is now also a heretic, a revolutionary martyr, a mathematician, an Aristotelian natural philosopher, an artist – almost with brush and palette in his hand – and finally a gifted courtier. This, however, is only an apparent process of fragmentation. Historiographically speaking, a process of this kind tends to cancel categories such as “genius” from scientific activities and their histories. Such categories are used to justify the impossibility of explaining historical phenomena. In other terms, the actual history of science requires science and its history to remain rational activities. For this reason, it is relevant to undertake an investigation of Galileo in all of his contexts.
The Equisite Experimentalist: Galileo’s penchant for live “trials” of his ideas inspires the author to do the very same
by Paolo PALMIERI
When Galileo Galilei was a student at the University of Pisa in the 1580s, physics was a loose bundle of ideas inherited from the Greeks, mostly from the philosopher Aristotle, via the mediation of the Latin Middle Ages. Projectiles keep going after being released by their projectors because air keeps pushing them for a while, as the most in vogue theory of the time would have it (though there were variations). Theirs is a violent motion. Heavy things fall downwards because the centre of the earth is the natural place for them to achieve their natural state of rest. Theirs is a natural motion. Pendulums are constrained motions. Is the motion of a pendulum violent or natural? Why does it turn back after reaching a summit? Why do violent motions such as those of cannon balls cease? These were the questions a professor of physics would investigate at that time.
Reflections on Motivations and Durations of Ideas: Two revolutionary 16th-century thinkers both upended their contemporary scientific norms, an approach that could inspire innovative thinking even today
by Efthalia STAIKOS
Breakthroughs, progress, solutions, new theories, modern research… all of these words conjure up images of discovery and contribution in the scientific world. Grasping the natural world and understanding what we cannot see provides a sense of satisfaction, even comfort, to most. Science, however, is an example of a field where solutions and progress are actually driven by a certain dissatisfaction with what is already known. It is discomfort with the status quo that has motivated many scientists to push for new answers, alternative options; and to test and ponder persistently until they are satisfied with a new reality. Many scientists throughout history questioned the laws of nature that guide the movement of the stars and planets. It was previously believed that until Galileo, scientists never began to truly speculate on the theories put forth by Aristotle. It did not seem as though anyone had really questioned and researched into creation of the universal systems until Galileo came along. As everyone was frantically searching for an answer they could believe in, Galileo put forth solutions even though his research and his conclusions eventually led to his persecution.
Patrimony and Discovery: Since its beginning, science has been supported by a variety of patrons, from the popes and princes of the Renaissance to State funding, up to the new forms of social patronage of today
by Laura GIACALONE
The history of arts as we know it today wouldn’t be the same without the support provided by kings, popes and rich aristocratic families to musicians, painters and sculptors. This phenomenon, which is usually referred to as “patronage,” had its maximum development in Italy during Renaissance, when the major masterpieces in the history of art were conceived and came to life, mainly thanks to the influence of the House of Medici in Florence. Among the artists who benefited from their sponsorship were Brunelleschi, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
Medicean “Stars” of Scientific Patronage
by Laura GIACALONE
The Medici Granducal Archive (Mediceo del Principato)
For over two centuries, the Medici family ruled Tuscany as sovereign Grand Dukes. Their archival collection – called the Mediceo del Principato – has survived virtually intact in the State Archive in Florence (Archivio di Stato di Firenze). It covers the chronological span of their rule: from the moment Cosimo I became Duke of Florence in 1537 to the death in 1743 of Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, sister of Gian Gastone, the last of the Medici Grand Dukes. In other words, it begins with Michelangelo’s work on the Last Judgment and ends with the birth of Thomas Jefferson.
“And Yet It Moves…”: The film Galileo represents the neverending struggle for scientific freedom against all forms of censorship
by Laura GIACALONE
A yearly appointment not to be missed by film critics and moviegoers from all around the world, the 66th edition of the Venice Film Festival confirms itself as one of the most prestigious events in the film calendar, with a rich and variegated selection of international titles and the ever-present parade of stars and celebrities.
Live Building: Architect Renzo Piano’s design for a science museum is a (literally) living example of environmentally-aware architecture
by Efthalia STAIKOS
The California Academy of Sciences, guided by the mastermind architect Renzo Piano, has successfully created a self-sustaining, green structure. Its excellence was acknowledged by the U.S. Green Building Council that awarded it Platinum status. LEED Platinum (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the highest rating a building can achieve. The Academy, a design of Renzo Piano’s, is now the greenest museum in the world, and the largest Platinum-rated public building in the world. The science that went into creating the building did nothing to take away from the beauty of its design, which uniquely integrates it into the surrounding Golden Gate Park.