Galileo's Daughter (50 page)

1929     American astronomer Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) finds evidence for expanding universe.

1930     Roberto Cardinal Bellarmino is canonized as Saint Robert Bellarmine by Pope Pius XI.

1935     Pope Pius XI inaugurates Vatican Observatory and Astrophysical Laboratory at Castel Gandolfo.

1950    
Humani generis
of Pope Pius XII discusses the treatment of unproven scientific theories that may relate to Scripture; reaches same conclusion as Galileo’s
Letter to Grand Duchess
Cristina.

1959     Unmanned Russian
Luna 3
spacecraft radios first views of the Moon’s far side from lunar orbit.

1966     Index of Prohibited Books is abolished following the Second Vatican Council.

1969     American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon.

1971    
Apollo 15
commander David R. Scott drops a falcon feather and a hammer on the lunar surface; when they fall together he says, “This proves that Mr. Galileo was correct.”

1979     Pope John Paul II calls for theologians, scholars, historians, to reexamine Galileo’s case.

1982     Pope John Paul II establishes Galileo Commission with four formal study groups to reinvestigate the Galileo affair.

1986     Halley’s comet returns, observed by a waiting armada of spacecraft.

1989     National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches
Galileo
spacecraft to study the moons of Jupiter at close range.

1992     Pope John Paul II publicly endorses Galileo’s philosophy, noting how “intelligibility, attested to by the marvelous discoveries of science and technology, leads us, in the last analysis, to that transcendent and primordial thought imprinted on all things.”

1995    
Galileo
reaches Jupiter.

1999    
Galileo’s
successful reconnaissance of the Medicean stars, now better known as the Galilean satellites of Jupiter, continues to enlighten astronomers everywhere.

FLORENTINE

WEIGHTS, MEASURES,

CURRENCY

WEIGHT

libbra =
12
oncie
= .75 pound = .3 kilogram (plural is
libbre)

MEASURE

braccio =
about 23 inches (plural is
braccia)

CURRENCY

florin
= 3.54 grams of gold

scudo
= 7
lire

piastra =
22.42 grams of silver = about 5
lire

lira
(silver coin) = 12
crazie =
20
soldi
(Four
lire
could feed one person for a week.)

giulio
(silver coin) = slightly more than half a
lira

carlino =
.01
scudo

Notes

[I]
She
who was so precious to you

“I render . . . centuries" is adapted from Albert Van Helden’s translation of Galileo’s report to the Tuscan court, January 30, 1610
(Sidereus
Nuncius,
pp. 17-18).

“I have observed . . . upside down" is Stillman Drake’s translation of a letter dated September 23, 1624
(Galileo at Work,
p. 286).

“A woman of exquisite mind . . . to me" comes from Galileo’s letter to Elia Diodati, July 28,1634, translated by Maria Luisa Righini Bonelli and William R. Shea
(Galileo’s Florentine Residences,
p. 50).

“Whatever the course . . . divine" is taken from Galileo’s third letter on sunspots, December 1, 1612, translated by Drake
(Discoveries and
Opinions,
p. 128).

[II]
This grand book the universe

“Philosophy . . . labyrinth" is excerpted from Galileo’s
The Assayer,
as translated by Drake
(Galileo,
p. 70).

“Try, if you can . . . top of the tower" is taken from Drake’s translation of the
Dialogue
(p. 223), and “Imagine them . . . claimed?” is adapted from I. E. Drabkin’s translation of “De motu,” as quoted in James MacLachlan,
Galileo Galilei
(p. 24).

“Aristotle . . . mistake" comes from Drake’s translation of
Two New
Sciences
(p. 68).

The letter beginning “The present I am going to make Virginia” is translated by Righini Bonelli and Shea (p. 13).

[III]
Bright stars speak of your virtues

“If, Most Serene Prince . . . let alone all" is from Drake’s translation
of Operations of the Geometric and Military Compass
(p. 39).

“I have waited . . . reflected rays" is from a letter translated by Mario Biagioli in
Galileo, Courtier
(p. 20).

“Her Most Serene Highness . . . tomorrow" is translated in Righini Bonelli and Shea (p. 14).

“Regarding . . . such a position" is Biagioli’s translation (p. 29).

All quotes come from
Sidereus Nuncius.
“And it is like . . . valleys” is Van Helden’s translation (p. 40), and “Planets show . . . a very great deal” is Drake’s
(Telescopes, Tides, and Tactics,
p. 49). The sentence fragments are from Van Helden (p. 13 and p. 64, respectively).

The long passage “Your Highness . . . power and authority” is taken from Van Helden (pp. 30-32).

Kepler’s statement is taken from Van Helden (p. 94).

[IV]
To have the truth seen and recogniged

Madonna Giulia’s letter translated by Olaf Pedersen in “Galileo’s Religion” (p. 86). Description of Galileo’s new house is from Righini Bonelli and Shea (pp. 17-19); as is the letter about his poor health (p. 19).

Galileo’s description of Saturn from Drake
(Galileo at Work,
p. 163); Kepler’s reaction to telescope from I. Bernard Cohen
(Birth of a New
Physics,
p.
76).
“In order . . . possible” is from Van Helden (p. 92).

Galileo’s letter to Salviati, “I have been . . . gardens, etc.,” translated by Giorgio de Santillana
(Crime of Galileo,
p. 23).

Social bulletin translated by Biagioli (p. 253). Lyncean Academy charter taken from Drake’s article in
Science
(p. 1195).

Comment on Galileo’s debating style is from Biagioli (p.
yy),
as is Cardinal Barberini’s praise (p. 332, n. 89).

Letter from Cigoli of December 16, 1611, translated by Drake
(Discoveries
and Opinions,
p. 146).

Cardinal del Monte’s letter from Righini Bonelli and Shea (pp. 20 and 23).

Excerpt from
Bodies in Water
translated by Drake
(Cause, Experiment,
and Science,
pp. 18-20).

Comment on Italian language, “I wrote . . . them,” from a letter to Paolo Gualdo, translated by Drake
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p-84).

[V]
In the very face of the sun

“In that part of the sky . . . brief periods" is from Drake’s translation of Galileo’s second letter on sunspots
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 119). “They wish . . . posterity” is taken from the third letter on sunspots, translated by Drake
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 127).

Welser’s invitation to the discussion is also Drake’s translation
(Discoveries
and Opinions,
p. 89).

Galileo’s reference to his indisposition and indecision, “The difficulty . . . proved it,” is from his first letter on sunspots
(Discoveries and
Opinions,
p. 90). “With absolute necessity . . . the universe” is also from Drake’s translation of the first letter on sunspots
(Discoveries and
Opinions,
p. 94). “Sunspots . . . at all” appears further on in Galileo’s first letter on sunspots
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 98).

“I do . . . by us" continues Drake’s translation
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 100). “If I may . . . recognize them” is from the first letter on sunspots
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 102). “And forgive me . . . in perfect tune” is from the closing of the first letter on sunspots
(Discoveries
and Opinions,
p. 103).

Welser’s thanks, “You . . . lines” and his suggestion, “It would be . . . however strong,” appears in his second letter to Galileo, translated by Drake
(Discoveries and Opinions,
pp. 104-105).

Welser’s opening to his second letter, “I have read . . . Thy sight,” continues Drake’s translation
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 105).

[VI]
Observant executrix of God ‘s commands

“Thursday morning . . . the telescope" blends two of Drake’s translations of Castelli’s letter to Galileo
(Galileo at Work,
p. 222, and
Discoveries
and Opinions,
p. 151).

“After many things . . . that view" and “Now, getting back . . . never a word” continue Drake’s translation of this letter
(Galileo at
Work,
pp. 222-23).

Galileo’s reply to Castelli, “As to the first . . . of the future,” blends Drake’s translation
(Galileo at Work,
pp. 224-25) with others by Olney (quoted in James Brodrick, pp.
y6-yy)
and Pedersen (Trent, p. 23).

“Holy Scripture . . . God’s commands" also combines elements of the translations mentioned immediately above, along with an earlier one by Drake
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 182).

Continuing Galileo’s reply to Castelli, “I believe . . . so completely,” is again an amalgamation (see Brodrick, pp. 78-79; Drake’s
Galileo at
Work,
p. 226, and
Discoveries and Opinions,
pp. 183-84).

The opening of Galileo’s letter to Madama Cristina, “Some years ago . . . their purposes,” comes from Drake’s translation
(Discoveries
and Opinions,
p. 175).

Continuing the letter, “Possibly because . . . the Bible,” still from Drake
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 177); “Let us grant . . . his edifices”
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 193); and “To ban Copernicus . . . thousands of years”
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 196).

[VII]
The malico of my persecutors

From Galileo’s “Treatise on the Tides,” “To hold . . . reflections,” translated by Drake, as the passage later appeared in the
Dialogue
(p.419).

Bellarmino’s letter combines translations that appear in Jerome J. Langford (p. 61), Brodrick (pp. 95-96), and Richard J. Blackwell (pp.265-67).

Galileo’s letter, “I told His Holiness . . . on all occasions,” appears in Brodrick (pp. 106-7).

Bellarmino’s letter supporting Galileo, “We, Roberto . . . May 1616,” is Sturge’s 1879 translation quoted in De Santillana
(Crime of Galileo,
P-132).

Galileo’s letter to Leopold, “I send you . . . this chimera,” combines translations by Drake
(Galileo at Work,
p. 262) and De Santillana (p. 151).

[VIII]
Conjecture here among shadows

“As a result . . . by perfect eyes" is from Drake’s translation of
The
Assayer (Controversy,
p. 319). “I shall . . . among the graves” is from a letter translated by Righini Bonelli and Shea (p. 19).

“During . . . this matter" comes from Drake’s translation of
The
Assayer (Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 236).

“Hence . . . imperfect" is taken from Drake’s translation of the
Discourse on the Comets (Controversy,
p. 57).

The gold quip, “If their . . . my house,” is from Drake’s translation of
The Assayer (Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 253;
Controversy,
p. 229), as is “That reply . . . duplicity”
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 241).

“I cannot . . . dray horses" is still from
The Assayer (Discoveries
and Opinions,
p. 271;
Controversy,
p. 301).

From the opening of
The Assayer,
“I have . . . its intention,” is Drake’s
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 231).

[IX]
How our father is favored

Urban’s remark about Rome is taken from his bull inaugurating the visitation, quoted in Nussdorfer (p. 21 and n. 1); the “ordinary Pope" comment is De Santillana’s translation (p. 161).

The two short passages from
The Assayer
are both taken from Drake’s translation
(Discoveries and Opinions,
p. 239).