On Sunspots

by Galilei, Galileo

• ISBN13: 9780226707167
• ISBN10: 0226707164
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-10-30
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Galileo's telescopic discoveries, and especially his observation of sunspots, caused great debate in an age when the heavens were thought to be perfect and unchanging. Christoph Scheiner, a Jesuit mathematician, argued that sunspots were planets or moons crossing in front of the Sun. Galileo, on the other hand, countered that the spots were on or near the surface of the Sun itself, and he supported his position with a series of meticulous observations and mathematical demonstrations that eventually convinced even his rival. On Sunspotscollects the correspondence that constituted the public debate, including the first English translation of Scheiner's two tracts as well as Galileo's three letters, which have previously appeared only in abridged form. In addition, Albert Van Helden and Eileen Reeves have supplemented the correspondence with lengthy introductions, extensive notes, and a bibliography. The result will become the standard work on the subject, essential for students and historians of astronomy, the telescope, and early modern Catholicism.

Author Biography

Eileen Reeves is professor of comparative literature at Princeton University. Albert Van Helden is professor of the history of science at the University of Utrecht and the translator of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Table of Contents

List of abbreviations	p. vii
Preface	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Sunspots before the telescope	p. 9
Turning the telescope to the Sun: Thomas Harriot and Johannes and David Fabricius	p. 25
Christoph Scheiner	p. 37
Tres Epistolae	p. 59
Galileo answers Apelles	p. 75
Galileo's first letter	p. 87
Galileo's second letter	p. 107
A more accurate inquiry from Ingolstadt	p. 171
Accuratior Disquisitio	p. 183
Galileo responds and goes into print	p. 233
Galileo's third letter	p. 251
Rematch, 1630-1632	p. 307
Appendixes
Scheiner and Galileo on the nature of the Moon	p. 331
Galileo to Maffeo Cardinal Barberini	p. 337
Carlo Cardinal Conti to Galileo on Scripture	p. 349
Scheiner's calculation of the transit of Venus	p. 353
Galileo's demonstrations	p. 357
Front matter of Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari e loro accidenti	p. 371
Bibliography	p. 381
Index	p. 401
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.