Sidereus Nuncius, or The Sidereal Messenger

by Galileo Galilei

"This fine translation is a god-send. . . . Surely you want to read what Galileo wrote. If so buy this book. Van Helden's introduction is scholarly; no one knows more about Galileo's telescope; the translation is superb; Van Helden's review of the reception of the Sidereal Messenger is profound; the bibliography is extensive. What more can I say?"—David W. Hughes, The Observatory

"[ Sidereus nunclus ] has never before been made available in its entirety in a continuous form, with full notes and comment. The introduction, translation and notes by Van Helden are a splendid example of the best scholarship and fullest accessibility. . . . we can now truly get to grips with the phenomenon of Galileo and what his life and work should mean to us today."—Robert Temple, Nature

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, Astronomy, Classics, Physics

135 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1610

About the author

Galileo Galilei was a Tuscan (Italian) physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the "father of modern observational astronomy", the "father of modern physics", the "father of science", and "the Father of Modern Science." The motion of uniformly accelerated objects, taught in nearly all high school and introductory college physics courses, was studied by Galileo as the subject of kinematics. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, named the Galilean moons in his honour, and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, improving compass design.

Galileo's championing of Copernicanism was controversial within his lifetime. The geocentric view had been dominant since the time of Aristotle, and the controversy engendered by Galileo's presentation of heliocentrism as proven fact resulted in the Catholic Church's prohibiting its advocacy as empirically proven fact, because it was not empirically proven at the time and was contrary to the literal meaning of Scripture. Galileo was eventually forced to recant his heliocentrism and spent the last years of his life under house arrest on orders of the Roman Inquisition.

Reviews

[Roy Lotz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most excellent a kind service has been performed by those who defend from envy the great deeds of excellent men and have taken it upon themselves to preserve from oblivion and ruin names deserving of immortality.

This book (more of a pamphlet, really) is proof that you do not need to write many pages to make a lasting contribution to science. For it was in this little book that Galileo set forth his observations made through his newly improved telescope. In 50-odd pages, with some accompanying diagrams and etchings, Galileo quickly asserts the roughness of the Moon’s surface, avers the existence of many more stars than can be seen with the naked eye, and—the grand climax—announces the existence of the moons of Jupiter. Suddenly the universe seemed far bigger, and stranger, than it had before.

The actual text of Siderius Nuncius does not make for exciting reading. To establish his credibility, Galileo includes a blow-by-blow account of his observations of the moons of Jupiter, charting their nightly appearance. The section on our Moon is admittedly more compelling, as Galileo describes the irregularities he observed as the sun passed over its surface. Even so, this edition is immeasurably improved by the substantial commentary provided by Albert van Helden, who gives us the necessary historical background to understand why it was so controversial, and charts the aftermath of the publication.

Though Galileo is sometimes mistakenly credited with inventing the telescope, spyglasses were widely available at the time; what Galileo did was improve his telescope far beyond the magnification commonly available. The result was that, for a significant span of time, Galileo was the only person on the planet with the technology to closely and accurately observe the heavens. The advantage was not lost on him, and he made sure that he published before he got scooped. In another shrewd move, he named the newly-discovered moons of Jupiter after the Grand Duke Cosimo II and his brothers, for which they were known as the Medician Stars (back then, the term “star” meant any celestial object). This earned him patronage and protection.

Galileo’s findings were controversial because none of them aligned with the predictions of Aristotelian physics and Ptolemaic astronomy. According to the accepted view, the heavens were pure and incorruptible, devoid of change or imperfection. Thus it was jarring to find the moon’s surface bumpy, scarred, and mountainous, just like Earth’s. Even more troublesome were the Galilean moons. In the orthodox view the Earth was the only center of orbit; and one of the strongest objections against Copernicus’s system was that it included two centers, the Sun and the Earth (for the Moon). Galileo’s finding of an additional center of orbit meant that this objection ceased to carry any weight, since in any case we must posit multiple centers. Understandably there was a lot of skepticism at first, with some scholars doubting the efficacy of Galileo’s new instrument. But as other telescopes caught up with Galileo’s, and new anomalies were added to the mix—the phases of Venus and the odd shape of Saturn—his observations achieved widespread acceptance.

Though philosophers and historians of science often emphasize the advance of theory, I find this text a compelling example of the power of pure observation. For Galileo’s breakthrough relied, not on any new theory, but on new technology, extending the reach of his senses. He had no optical theory to guide him as he tinkered with his telescope, relying instead on simple trial-and-error. And though theory plays a role in any observation, some of Galileo’s findings—such as that the Milky Way is made of many small stars clustered together—are as close to simple acts of vision as possible. Even if Copernicus’s theory was not available as an alternative paradigm, it seems likely to me that advances in the power of telescopes would have thrown the old worldview into a crisis. This goes to show that observational technology is integral to scientific progress.

It is also curious to note the moral dimension of Galileo’s discovery. Now, the Ptolemaic system is commonly lambasted as narcissistically anthropocentric, placing humans at the center of it all. Yet it is worth pointing out that, in the Ptolemaic system, the heavens are regarded as pure and perfect, and everything below the moon as corruptible and imperfect (from which we get the term “sublunary”). Indeed, Dante placed the circles of paradise on the moon and the planets. So arguably, by making Earth the equal of the other planets, the new astronomy actually raised the dignity of our humble abode. In any case, I think that it is simplistic to characterize the switch from geocentricity to heliocentricity as a tale of declining hubris. The medieval Christians were hardly swollen with pride by their cosmic importance.

As you can see, this is a fascinating little volume that amply rewards the little time spent reading it. Van Helden has done a terrific job in making this scientific classic accessible.

[Vaishali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! How excited Galileo was of his findings - really makes you quite appreciative of how ground-breaking the first telescopic observations were. Includes his dedication to patron Cosimo Medici in a lovely prose.

**Note : I read Edward Stafford Carlos’ 1880 translation

Quotes
----------

“… Of the Muses' guardianship and the imperishable mon­uments of literature… she well understood that all human monuments do perish at last by violence, by weath­er or by age, she took a wider view, and invented more imperishable signs, over which destroying Time and envious Age could claim no rights; so, betaking herself to the sky..”

“For who can doubt that you will not only maintain and preserve the expectations about yourself which you have aroused by the very happy beginning of your government, high though they be, but also that you will far surpass them, so that when you have conquered others like yourself, you may still vie with yourself, and become day by day greater than yourself and your greatness?”

“… the diameter of this same Moon appears about thirty times larger, its surface about nine hundred times, and its solid mass nearly 27,000 times larger than when it is viewed only with the naked eye.”

“… I have discovered Four Erratic Stars, neither known nor observed by any one of the astronomers before my time, which have their revolutions…”

“… spots, smaller in size, but so thickly scattered that they sprinkle the whole surface of the Moon... and from my observations of them… I feel sure that the surface of the Moon is not perfectly smooth… just like the surface of the Earth itself, which is varied everywhere by lofty mountains and deep valleys.”

“There is one other point which I must on no account forget, which I have noticed and rather wondered at: the middle of the Moon seems to be occupied by a certain cavity larger than all the rest, and in shape perfectly round.”

“… in the case of the other smaller spots occupying the brighter portion of the Moon… day by day they change, increase, decrease, or disappear…”

“… there is around the body of the Moon, just as around the Earth, an envelope of some substance… which is sufficient to receive and reflect the Sun's rays… That envelope, when illuminated by the Sun's rays, renders the body of the Moon apparently larger than it really is…”

“The entire face of the Moon, that side, that is, which does not feel the Sun's glare, is illumi­nated with a pale light of considerable brightness. … if this kind of light were the Moon's own, or were contributed by the stars, the Moon would retain it, par­ticularly in eclipses… The Earth, with fair and grateful exchange, pays back to the Moon an illu­mination like that which it receives from the Moon…”

“… for I will prove that the Earth has motion, and surpasses the Moon in brightness, and is not the place where the dull refuse of the universe has settled down; I will demonstrate this, and I will confirm it with six hundred arguments taken from natural phenomena.”

“… when stars rise just at sunset, in the beginning of twilight, they appear very small… even the planet Venus itself… is so small to see that it scarcely seems to equal a star of the last magnitude… the fixed stars do not look to the naked eye bounded by a circular circumference, but rather like blazes of light, shooting out beams on all sides and very sparkling…

“I have observed the essence or substance of the Milky Way circle… the galaxy is nothing else but a mass of innumerable stars planted together in clusters.”

“They revolve in unequal circles, which is evidently the conclusion to be drawn from the fact that I have never been permitted to see two planets in conjunction…”

“… we have a notable and splendid argument to remove the scruples of those who can tolerate the revolution of the planets round the Sun in the Copernican system, yet are so disturbed by the motion of one Moon about the Earth, while both travel around the Sun in an orb over the course of a year, that they consider that this theory of the constitution of the universe must be… impossible.”

“…I gladly publish the explanation which has occurred to me upon this subject, and sub­mit it to the judgment and criticism of all true philosophers.”


.

[Bihter İyidir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bu kitaba rastlamış olmaktan dolayı müthiş bir memnuniyet içindeyim.
Galileo’nun 1610’da yazdığı, ilk kez ay gözlemini kraterlerini görebilecek kadar detaylı şekilde yaptığını, ayın pürüzsüz olmadığını açıkladığı kitap bu! Jüpiter’in uydularının hareketlerini gözlemleyip çizerek açıkladığı kitap! Güneş merkezli sistem fikrinin kanıtlandığı kitap!

Kırmızı Kedi Yayınevi harika bir iş çıkartmış, çevirisi, dipnotları ve önsözüyle gerçekten dört dörtlük olmuş.

Zamanda yolculuk yapmak gibi. Takdim kısmında Galileo’nun kendisini bir nevi astrolog olarak ortaya koyması, Medicilere yönelik sözleri döneme dair arka planı netleştiriyor. Kitabın başlangıcında bir tasdik kısmı var. Onlar Konseyi ve Dine Hakaret Karşıtı Cemaat Yardımcısının onayıyla basılmış bir kitap olduğu gerçeğinin farkına varmak gerçekten afallatıcı.

Nadide bir kitap, çok beğendim.

[Jamie Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

0 star for writing: in translation.
1 star for research quality: um, this should make you laugh.
1 star for premise: as should this.
1 star for impact: and...
1 star for personal taste: All jokes aside, this is a beautiful read.

[David Boyce]

400 year s on this book still reads well. In fact it has a feel very similar to my astronomy notebook that I made years ago when I first looked through a telescope. You can almost feel Galileo’s excitement as he noted his findings all those years ago.

The notes provided also help the reader understand how Galileo became famous and how this work was received. I found the conversations with Kepler extremely interesting. I found it interesting how a jealous scientist attempted to darken Galileo’s reputation, how Kepler saw through this and what then happened to the guy. Fascinating. It also explains well how we came up with the idea of Mars having two moons before they were ever observed, knowledge that according to Van Daneken must have been told to us by extraterrestrials!

I recommend this book to all those interested in ‘how we know, what we know’. Its significantly easier to read than discussions and dialogues and quicker. I would read it first and then go onto the more in depth findings afterward if you like this one.

[Marie-aimée · Rating 3 out of 5]

L'édition points science dispose d'une très longue introduction de Fernand Hallyn, 130 pages. Si la longueur est au début décourageante, elle se révèle très intéressante. Il y explique la genèse de lunette, le rôle des artisans et des astrologues et la place que Galilée cherche à occuper dans le monde scientifique en Italie. On trouve aussi un bon développement sur le style de l'ouvrage et une explication des principales découvertes. Le texte en lui-même est intriguant : Galilée y présente de façon méthodique toutes ses observations, de la Lune aux satellites de Jupiter. Très concis, très déroutant pour l'époque.

[la poesie a fleur de peau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um brevíssimo livro onde Galileu dá a conhecer as suas descobertas em relação à superfície da Lua e aos movimentos de quatro corpos em torno de Júpiter (na altura apelidados de "planetas Mediceus", hoje Luas galileanas), descobertas essas tornadas possíveis pelo uso de um telescópio (que era, também em si mesmo, uma novidade). Escrito num tom de celebração, enaltecimento e panfletário, nesta pequeníssima obra Galileu apresenta os seus feitos ao mundo e dedica-os a Cosme II de Medici (e sim, os planetas "Mediceus" são assim baptizados por causa do Grão-Duque), incluindo ainda considerações sobre a Via Láctea (nebulosas e a imensidão de estrelas que existem e que não são visíveis a olho nu).

Fico sempre rendida às edições facsimiles da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian: desde a qualidade do papel à consistência do objecto (livros de capa dura), passando pela reprodução integral da obra no seu original, tradução, introdução e notas que permitem qualquer leitor aprofundar os seus conhecimentos da obra (situando-a, explicando-a, ilustrando-a sempre e quando necessário). No presente caso apraz-me ser um documento com relevância histórica e ligado a uma área de saber que tenho procurado estudar nos últimos quatro anos - mesmo reconhecendo a dificuldade em manter a atenção durante as anotações rigorosas e minuciosas das posições das luas galileanas, não nego o lado apelativo de testemunhar o processo e a aplicação do método de observação.

[Riley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the science stuff can go over my head, but the stuff about Jupiter was interesting. There's no denying the major impact this short work made on science and history

[S©aP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno dei testi che ha cambiato l’umanità. Una passeggiata serena, da effettuare in qualche ora e tante buone pause di riflessione. A fine lettura restano in mente due bei sentimenti, confusi in un unica malinconia: l’ammirazione per l'entusiasmo puro dell’osservatore; per la naturalezza con cui sostiene il raziocinio, di fronte a ciò che una Logica retta, e onesta, non può più negare a priori. E la rappresentazione implicita di un’umanità che, pur possedendo tutti i propri difetti e la propria malafede, non aveva tutto scoperto e tutto misurato; e che, almeno intimamente, ancora lasciava spazio a una sana titubanza; a un dubbio sul quale, a volte, era disposta a giocarsi l’Onore.
Ho chiuso il libro domandandomi quale virtuosa serie di sillogismi riuscirebbe mai, oggi, a smentire il devastante relativismo; l’assenza di metrica; il vuoto pieno di chiasso…

(PS: grazie all'amica Roberta, per il prezioso suggerimento)

[Emma-Jane Down · Rating 3 out of 5]

On my mind in a good way and a bad way. Like you were wrong, but you were wrong in a nice way. From now on I’ll refer to the moons as Medicean Stars.

[Grace RS · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative read, where Galileo presents his many astronomical observations after having improved the telescope's design. He informs the world of the moon's irregularities, bulges, and crevices, which was a shock to everyone, since people believed celestial objects to be perfect and spherical. Next, he writes of Jupiter as having four satellites (moons); readers again struggled to accept this discovery, for they had until then questioned the heliocentric view, wondering why there would be two centers of rotation, and why the earth would be the only planet to have a moon. Nevertheless, with this information, Galileo could further confirm Copernicus' theory. In this short essay, he elaborated on stars that had never been seen before to the naked eye, along with Saturn's ears.

I found both the introduction and conclusion to be rather insightful and enjoyable: the editor explains in more detail how revolutionary Galileo's discoveries were and the manner in which people reacted to his findings. I love the addition of Kepler's correspondence to Galileo-- this information caused his imagination to soar, confirming his idea of there being life on other planets. The editor says of this little essay, "With Sidereus Nuncius we enter the modern world."

[Stetson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sidereal Messenger by Galileo Galilei is a classic work of astronomy, remaining classic largely because of a confluence of accidents rather than its insights or brilliance. This isn't a jab at Glaileo, he was certainly a genius that history is right to remember. Let me sketch a couple examples of what I mean. The poetic title that has undoubtedly seduced a number of Romantic intellectuals (just like the work itself inspired artists of the time) is less the intention of the author and more a peculiarity of translation. Additionally, the instigating role that this pamphlet played historically in the infamous trial of Galileo by the Church is another reason it is still read today. There is also the fact the is the first written record of telescopic observation.

The Sidereal Messenger was assigned reading in the only undergraduate history course I took. The course covered the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, and the syllabus was stacked with Galileo. Given that I read this at 19, I have been eager to return to a lot of the texts from this era. This isn't necessarily one that I am most eager to page through again, but it is short and easy to ingest.

Going with this review theme of accidents, The Sidereal Messenger was a bit of groundbreaking empirical science that was interpreted as an incidental scientific polemic - a treatise, as they'd call it back in the day, against Papal dogma. It revolutionized the understanding of the heavens so shocking (despite seeming mundane today) that Galileo's claim remained unsupported by other astronomers for nearly five months (this was Johannes Kepler coming to his Galileo's aid of course).

In The Sidereal Messenger, Galileo details his careful observations of the Moon (especially its topology). stars of the Milky Way not visible to the naked eye, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter. These observations were the product of evenings spent gazing through his self-constructed telescope in 1609. And, as most readers are aware before picking this book up, these findings challenged the prevailing Aristotelian and Ptolemaic understandings of the cosmos and provided further confirmatory evidence for the Copernican heliocentric system, the basic model of our solar system every child is taught in their elementary school science classes today.

The book is divided into three sections: the first one describes the telescope and its construction, the second one presents the lunar observations and their implications, and the third one reveals the discovery of the Medicean Stars (later named Galilean moons) and their motions around Jupiter. The book is written in a clear and lively style, with many illustrations and diagrams to accompany the text. Galileo is also a rhetorically gifted player in his text, wielding many techniques to persuade readings beyond a simple presentation of the science itself.

One of the most remarkable aspects of The Sidereal Messenger is the way Galileo transforms the act of seeing into a scientific method. He invites his readers to verify his observations with their own eyes, and to judge for themselves the validity of his claims. He also emphasizes the importance of accurate measurement, calculation, and experimentation in astronomy, and shows how these tools can reveal new phenomena that are invisible to the naked eye. He writes:

I should disclose and publish to the world the occasion of discovering and observing four Planets, never seen from the beginning of the world up to our own times, their positions, and the observations made during the last two months about their movements and their changes of magnitude; and I summon all astronomers to apply themselves to examine and determine their periodic times, which it has not been permitted me to achieve up to this day [...] On this account I have thought it well to publish everything which I have been able to observe by me during these two months in which I have been viewing them.

As I suggested, The Sidereal Messenger is more than a scientific treatise. It is, for its time, a literary accomplishment, conveying Galileo's passion, curiosity, and wonder for the natural world. He describes his lunar observations with details, such as:

I noticed that whereas on Earth we have a very large variety of mountains and valleys, on the Moon there are much greater differences; some of her prominences are almost five times as high as those on Earth [...] The boundary between light and shadow [...] does not present an even line but is marked by an irregular series of peaks with intervening valleys [...] The surface of the Moon is not smooth, uniform, and precisely spherical as a great number of philosophers believe it (and other heavenly bodies) to be.

He also expresses his astonishment at discovering the Medicean Stars, which he named after his patrons, the Medici family (the wealthy today have to settle for their names on college dorms and hospitals):

I therefore concluded and decided unhesitatingly, that there are three stars in the heavens moving about Jupiter, as Venus and Mercury around the Sun; which at length was established as clear as daylight by numerous other subsequent observations.

Although the capacity for the The Sidereal Messenger to inspire awe has long been outrun by the latest of modern science, it was a foundational text that forged that modern science. In looking into his telescope and recording what he saw carefully, Galileo demonstrated the illuminating power of the basic steps of empiricism to open new vista in the world and the mind.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume, subtitled “From Doubt to Astonishment,” includes a facsimile copy of Galileo’s Sidereus nuncius from the Library of Congress’s Rare Books and Special Collections. Accompanying the discourse are the proceedings from the Library of Congress’s November 2010 symposium celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of Galileo’s treatise. Also included in this amazing volume is the Albert Van Helden translation of Galileo’s scientific text.

Highly recommended.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Galileo’s account of how he discovered Jupiter’s moons made me realize how little attention I pay to the celestial bodies, but it’s amazing how much we can know about them through careful, sustained observation.

[Yann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Céleste

[Luca Sambo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il primo paper moderno praticamente

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

mario biagioli you will always be my hero

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved. so poetic 🌗

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super short, accessible work of absolutely groundbreaking discovery? Sign me up.

[Alfredo Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

En esta traducción de los textos de Galileo Galilei encontramos sus observaciones con respecto a la superficie irregular de la luna y los satélites (que el llama estrellas) que rodean a Júpiter como la luna rodea a nuestra tierra, siendo este su mayor descubrimiento a través de un telescopio que él mismo construyó y que detalla al inicio de este ensayo.

Es reconfortante leer la emoción que se transmite en sus palabras desde hace tanto tiempo, cuando hacer ciencia se podía limitar a las personas que simplemente tenían la capacidad y la curiosidad de observar lo que sucede a su alrededor. Los meses pasaron, y a través de su telescopio, sus observaciones y sus representaciones gráficas del movimiento de los satélites, nos abre la puerta a los cimientos de algo que hoy en día damos por hecho.

Un libro para curiosos, no tiene muchas representaciones gráficas pero es un sincero manifiesto de las bases del universo como lo conocemos y a la forma en que el ser humano lo descubre gradualmente, al igual que las notas de Kepler sobre los descubrimientos que le transmitió Galilei.

[Stefano Amadei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo libro è fuori parametro, non ci sono abbastanza stelle per Galileo Galilei.
Stelle Medicee, Stelle Fisse, Stelle Erranti o Pianeti che dir si voglia, fa accapponare la pelle vedere come un uomo secoli fa potesse avere avuto queste intuizioni e visioni di un nostro contemporaneo.
Leggere la spiegazione della luce riflessa della Terra che illumina il la Luna nella fase "nuova" è entusiasmate, così come scoprire assieme a lui, in una sorta di cronaca giornaliera, le orbite delle lune di Giove che chiama carinamente "stelline".
E' una esperienza unica, che consiglio vivamente anche ai non appassionati di astronomia.
La prefazione poi cala il Sidereus Nuncius nelle convinzioni dell'epoca e ne fa risaltare ancora di più la potenza e la novità che ancora oggi, dopo centinaia di anni, si può ancora sentire forte e chiara.
Mi ha fatto venire voglia, così come fece secolo or sono, di ripetere le osservazioni di Galileo e di vedere con i miei occhi la meraviglia delle meravigliose fasi delle lune di Giove.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, which felt more like two in one. The first was Galileo's observational work, where he used a telescope he built to describe the Moon's surface, stars invisible to the naked eye and the moons of Jupiter. This breakthrough piece was sandwiched between an introduction and conclusion by Albert Van Helden.

To hear Galileo's work through Van Helden's translation was thrilling, but the best parts of this work were the introduction and conclusion. In an easily readable style, he fills in the backstory, context and impact of Galileo's work when it was published. The telescope itself was controversial: did it really show what was in the heavens or did it only create illusions and distortions? Van Helden briefly explores the philosophical, religious and secular impact of the device and its discoveries. It was a fascinating read and well worth the short time required to engage with this book.

[Diem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've reached the era of the Scientific Revolution in my course of self-education. I've generally ignored science and math both in my studies and in my life. Science is not, as the kids say, my boo (alternately: my jam).

But I do try to select one work from the science and maths realm for every 6-to-8-hundred year period of history, literature and philosophy that I read.

The Sidereal Messenger was an obvious choice for both its importance to the scientific community and its slim spine which suggested a certain, um, economy of content.

It proved a satisfactory selection on both counts.

It should be noted that I skipped over the several pages in which GG documents 30 days worth of observations about Jupiter.

Spoiler alert: Kepler was a weird, wacky dude.

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interessante per conoscere come è nata l'osservazione e le deduzioni basate su di essa.
La puntigliosità, la curiosità, l'attenzione minuziosa, la cura nel dettaglio.
Le spiegazioni semplici esaurienti.
Un gioiello.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Variously rendered The Starry Messenger or The Sidereal Messenger (Pronounced ‘sigh - DEER - ee – uhl’ NOT ‘side real’!
First, some historical context. In 1609, Galileo was the Professor of Mathematics at Padua, Italy. He had heard a report of the invention of a telescope, and wanted one for himself. Now, he couldn’t just pop down to the 5 and Dime and pick up this modern wonder, so he determined to build his own, which he did. With such a tool now at his disposal, he, of course, pointed it skyward to see what wonders might await. Sidereus Nuncius is his report to his patron, Cosmo De’ Medici II, Fourth Grand-Duke of Tuscany, of his observations of the night sky, including many illustrations by Galileo himself.
What Galileo saw was nothing short of revolutionary, shaking the very foundations of the then-accepted Ptolemaic model of the universe. In this slim volume, he details, first, his observations of the Moon. Far from being the perfectly smooth, celestial sphere mandated by Aristotelian cosmology, Galileo revealed the Moon to be a rugged world, replete with mountains and valleys, much like Earth. His astonishing drawings, based on the play of shadows, not only presented a new physical reality but also introduced a new way of seeing: the telescopic image.
But the real bombshell was his discovery of four satellites orbiting Jupiter. Naming them the "Medicean Stars" (in honor of his patron, naturally), these four tiny points of light offered the first concrete proof that not everything in the heavens orbited the Earth. Here was a miniature planetary system with an undeniable center of motion other than our own planet. This was a profound, seismic shift that lent powerful, observable evidence to the then-controversial Copernican theory and set the stage for centuries of astronomical discovery. Sidereus Nuncius is, therefore, more than a report; it’s an intellectual grenade thrown into the heart of established science and theology, marking a watershed moment in the history of science.
Available to read for free on archive dot org

[Jukka Särkijärvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A splendid version.

To be clear, this review applies solely to the edition I read. The pamphlet that is Galileo Galilei's Sidereus Nuncius does not, in itself, make for a riveting read. It is certainly important, one of the most significant texts in the development of what now understand as science, but it also contains inaccuracies that the process of said science has since debunked. And let's face it, the man was famous for stuff other than his prose style.

To credit Professor Raimo Lehti as merely the editor does him a disservice, since he also translated Galilei's text and wrote a history of the pamphlet, of Galilei, and of the discourse around the discovery of Jupiter's moons and the early development of the telescope. It is erudite, informative, and even if a bit dry, exacting. It gives an excellent picture of what people were saying around Italy and the rest of Europe after Galilei published his work.

It also confines itself to the pertinent, and does not go into the circumstances of Galilei's famous trial and conviction. It is assumed the reader knows this. At one moment in the narrative, Galilei is looking up at the stars in Tuscany – the next, he is in house arrest. This is an interesting editorial decision, and one I approve of. Anyone reading this will know the deets, and they have been hashed and rehashed and reinterpreted over and over again elsewhere. This is a book about Galilei and the telescope, and it is content to remain such.

[Silvia Kuna Ballero · Rating 3 out of 5]

NB. La valutazione riguarda la specifica edizione e non (ovviamente) l'opera in sé. La prefazione di Palmarini farebbe di per sé un degno, per quanto sintetico, lavoro di inquadramento storico; il grosso problema di questa edizione è l'introduzione di Battistini, che vorrebbe fornire una più ampia analisi multidisciplinare ma finisce per parlarsi addosso e risultare impenetrabile anche a chi, come me, è dotato della miglior volontà e di qualche elemento culturale, ma non di un'erudizione illimitata che permetta di cogliere i minuti riferimenti a questo o quell'autore non antologico o di tradurre così su due piedi le citazioni in latino. Questa edizione non è dunque consigliabile a lettori con formazione scientifica che vogliano approcciarsi ai risvolti umanistici, artistici e letterari dell'opera galileiana, nonostante l'introduzione tratti proprio di quelli, dato che di fatto parla a chi ne sa già. La traduzione poi ricalca le strutture lessicali latine, il che è senz'altro una scelta legittima, ma non la più adatta per la leggibilità, con un effetto vagamente cannarsiano.

[SeaShore]

This little book, more like a pamphlet (a treatise) was written in 1610. Galileo Galilei was the first modern astronomer. Inventor of the telescope and the first to use it. He discovered the first 4 moons of Jupiter. Galileo was a contemporary of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Born 1564. Grew up in a skeptical and educated atmosphere, and given the freedom to explore. He lived in Florence around the powerful Medici family.
According to various reviews:
Galileo was arrogant, certainly, but by the end of 1610 he seemed to have reason to be. Sidereus Nuncius had gained fame as the wonder of Europe, as philosophers and scientists marveled at the new vistas opened by Galileo's telescope, and kings and princes clamored to have the Italian astronomer name his ever-increasing discoveries after them. And the discoveries kept coming. In July 1610, the scientist had glimpsed the rings of Saturn–although he mistakenly believed them to prove Saturn's existence as in fact three stars in a row, rather than a planet. Then, in December of the same year, he found that Venus, like the moon, went through phases; this provided key evidence for the Copernican system, since it suggested the Venus orbited the sun just as the moon orbited the earth.

This is not Neil deGrasse Tyson's Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization published Sep 2022. I am currently reading deGrasse Tyson's book as well.
I'm not sure how I feel about this new book of his. I suppose all authors have to broaden their horizons and fit their perspectives in to the current times and consequently apply their opinions.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the more readable of the two English translations I've used, this one is highly accessible to modern undergraduates. One gets the feeling that Galileo is the Carl Sagan of his time, sharing his excitement of his discoveries with anyone who can read (which admittedly is not half as accessible as a public television program, but never-the-less this translation puts across the same giddy wonder at the universe).

I recommend this for any student of science, not only for the meticulous way Galileo plots his observations and builds his proof that his newly discovered moons of Jupiter orbit it, and not the Earth, but for the insight into the development of our modern scientific method. Translator and historian of science Van Helden has added a very nice introduction and conclusion to Galileo's work that places it in the context of history on the cusp of the paradigm shift from the geocentric universe to one where we base our understanding of the universe on observation, peer review and repeatability of experiment.

[Avesta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Est liber impar, qui poetico stilo in astrorum studium incurrit.

A rather fascinating series of treatises on the telescopy of the moon as well as stars such as the Medicean Stars (now regarded as Jupiter's moons or the 'Galilean moons'). Galileo adopts such a remarkably poetic style throughout the text, that makes the study even more beautiful.

It's quite fascinating how the naked eye sees only a handful of stars - but upon the usage of a telescope, that amount can triple! Really makes me wonder just how much is invisible to us without the usage of telescopy.

His observation of the four moons is also quite interesting - I hope to potentially recreate his methodology as it is incredibly simple compared to today's standards wherein there's no density spectroscopy or anything of the sort.

Top notch read. Will re-read afore I head out for some similarly academic stargazing.