Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche by Galileo Galilei for modern readers
by
online
INAF - OAPD
Abstract: I made a study to make Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) accessible to modern readers by refashioning the great scientist's masterpiece “Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences”, coming from a work mostly done during his 18 years in Padua, 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 power and its desire to stifle any knowledge that may threaten it. Therefore, it is important that today's readers can 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. In particular, for Galilei the language of Nature was classical geometry, celebrating the culture of his Greek masters, while now it’s algebra. 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. My new rendition of Galilei’s work allows the non-specialist reader to follow the thread of Galileo's thought and in a way that was barely possible until now. As an additional bonus, it includes a new version of the original Galilei's drawings (Galilei was an artist: a painter, besides being a musician), for the first time digitally restored in collaboration with the Italian National Library in Florence.
Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82095139020?pwd=OWJBQUcvWkQzemdoQ2tSbDZNRW5Odz09
(in Italian, in the bookshops from March 24) https://www.lafeltrinelli.it/libri/alessandro-de-angelis/discorsi-e-dimostrazioni-matematiche/9788875789305
(in English, in the bookshops from May 2021): https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030719517
Alessandro De Angelis is a high-energy physicist and astrophysicist; he is a professor in Padua and Lisbon, and a member of INFN and INAF. He proposed several experiments in high-energy astrophysics, and is currently the PI of the proposed ASTROGAM space mission and the Italian PI of the SWGO gamma-ray observatory in the Andes.
Daniela Bettoni
