A must read for all educated people | Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Modern Library...

All the physics enthusiastic should read | Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Modern Library Science) | Galileo

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	• Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Modern Library Science) Galileo Modern Library, 2001 - 640 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A masterpiece written by a superb scientist

This is the famous book that got Galileo in trouble with the Inquisition. Galileo Galilei was one of the greatest scientists of all time. In Galileo's time the all powerful Catholic Church had decreed that the Earth was at the center of the Universe and that all celestial bodies orbited the Earth. The reasons given for this were Theological in nature, not scientific. According to the Church the Earth was a special place in the Universe, because God had chosen the Earth to be Man's home. By the sixteenth century Science had progressed to the point where this view of the Universe became increasingly untenable as it did not agree with observations about planetary motion. To resolve the difficulties created by these observations Copernicus had published from his deathbed a new theory proposing that the planets moved around the Sun in nearly circular orbits. Copernicus theory seemed to agree much better with what was known at the time about planetary motion. Galileo being perhaps the greatest scientist of his time immediately saw that the Copernican theory must be right, and debated the matter with people holding the opposite view at the University where he was a renowned professor, Mathematician and Scientist. For a while debates, arguments and counterarguments followed, until in July 1609 Galileo found the definitive proof that the Copernican theory was right. The story has been recounted in the "Starry Messenger" by Galileo. He had seen a toy sold by a Flemish spectacle maker in Venice which made distant objects look like they were near. Galileo bought the toy and did not rest until he had figured out how it worked. He then turned the toy into a scientific instrument, and the first telescope was born. Galileo soon turned his invention towards the heavens, and he almost immediately made a number of groundbreaking discoveries. When he observed Jupiter he noticed that Jupiter had Moons just like the Earth had, and by observing the Moons of Jupiter and Jupiter on successive nights he soon discovered that the Moons of Jupiter clearly orbited Jupiter, not the Earth, as they were supposed to by the Ptolomaic theory taught by the Church. This was the definitive proof that the Ptolomaic theory was just plain wrong. He started to teach this but trouble soon ensued. Galileo had been ordered by the Church that he could not discuss the Copernican theory except as a Hypothesis. When Pope Urban VIII became the Pope Galileo was greatly encouraged, because as Cardinal Maffeo Barberini prior to being elected Pope Urban VIII, he had been a great admirer of Galileo. When the new Pope was elected, Galileo had an interview with him and was told that he could teach the Copernican theory, but only as a Hypothesis, and he was not allowed to teach it as the "objective truth". In 1632 Galileo published this great book in which he debated the two systems between three protagonists. One of them called Simplicio (roughly simple-minded) was defending the Ptolomaic Theory and two others called Salviati and Sagredo defended the Copernican view. All the various arguments that had been offered by Simplicio for the Ptolomaic theory were demolished skillfully one by one by the clever Salviati and Sagredo. Unfortunately Urban VIII got furious, because some of his own arguments ended up in the mouth of Simplicio. He felt that Galileo had made a fool of him, and so he ordered the Inquisition to summon Galileo and he was tried and convicted of Heresy. Galileo protested that he followed the injunction he had been given, and only taught the Theory as a Hypothesis, but the Inquisition's powerful judges did not accept his argument and convicted him. He was placed under house arrest at his own home, and was forced under the threat of being burned alive, to renounce his theories, which he did. His book was banned, but it was too late. It had already become a best seller, and it soon would be published in translation in foreign lands where the Pope had no power. Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems thus changed History. It has also great relevance to today's World. The religious fanatics of today behave much the same way as the Inquisition had in Galileo's time. They bring forth Theological arguments where science is called for. An example of this is the debate about Darwin's theory of Evolution and natural Selection, the basis for most of modern Biology. In spite of absolutely overwhelming scientific evidence in favor of Darwin, ignorant people today still try to discredit Darwin's Theory on essentially Theological not scientific grounds. Evidently, just like the people opposing Galileo who did not succedd, similarly the ignorant Inquisitors of today will not succed. Another example in the modern World are the attempts of the Islamic fascists, who like the Inquisitors in Galileo's time try to force their despicable religious agenda on others by imposition and violence. They will not succeed either, for in the end Reason and Science always prevail.

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A must read for all educated people

A scientist who can write! Galileo writes with the intent that his readers understand, he meets you more than half way. There is a wonderful forward by Albert Einstein that is worth the price of the book by itself. And the fascinating introduction places Galileo's writing in its historical context.

If you have any interest in the history of science, this is an essential book to read.

All the physics enthusiastic should read

I think one cannot be called "physicist" if never read this book. It is a classic that show how the foundations of the newtonian physics did were created.

And the good thing is this is a suitable book for everyone from the layman to the PHD, easy to read, requires nothing more than basic mathematical concepts and imagination.

The price, already low, is nothing compared to the pleasure of reading such piece of art.

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The Dialogues of Galileo - with Modern Solutions

This edition of the Dialogues of Galileo Galilei includes mathematical solutions to the problems Galileo treats in plain language and an introduction describing a new cannon-ball experiment of the type used by Galileo that may be used to distinguish between the predictions of General Relativity and the editor's unified field theory. The Dialogues are then more interesting to the modern physics student, as it begins to resemble a review of contemporary mechanics in addition to being a grand old piece of history. Additional forwarding material by Albert Einstein and historical background by translator Stillman Drake make this edition a supurb introduction to the history of physics in which now the correct solutions may be read from the margins in modern physical notation. In addition, a number of illustrations have been added to illustrate old terminology for describing heavenly bodies and to provide portraits of Copernicus, Galileo, and his contemporaries Tycho and Kepler.

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Feels like it should required reading for everyone...

During the [in]famous controversy of Galileo and the Church, the actual point of contention was this very work which Galileo published. In the Dialogue, he was supposed to set forth arguments for and agains the Ptolemaic worldview (the unmoving earth in the centre of the universe) and the Copernican (the earth and other planets going around the sun). This book does that, and brilliantly, showing Galileo's resourcefulness as a scientist, philosopher (at least to an extent!) and writer. The charge against him was that rather than being even-handed, the book was clear support of Copernicanism. This is a non-obvious topic but what is obvious is the importance and magnificence of the work in terms of both the subject matter (the importance of the structure of the universe) and method (a colourful dialogue containing heated debate which spans literally dozens of arguments for and against each system).

The work has 3 characters: Salviati who is a Copernican, Simplicio who is an Aristotelian and follower of the Ptolemaic system, and Sagredo, a non-affiliated but intelligent person. They meet and debate over 4 days. The first deals with the question of whether the substance of the heavens is fundamentally different to the earth as well as some other fundamental assertions of Aristotelianism. The second deals with the earth's daily rotation. The third is about the alleged yearly orbit of the earth around the sun. The fourth (considered by Galileo to be the crown of his argument - which is all the more endearing as it is wrong) is about the cause of the tides.

Reading this is especially interesting because [almost!] all of us believe that the earth goes around the sun, so it's easy to just approach this simplistically. But the reality is, it was an actual matter of debate, as the book shows. And no, Galileo does not *prove* the earth moves (contrary to the blurb at the back of the book), rather he proposes some very good arguments. Reading them critically was great at making me question things I consider fundamental.

As per the edition, it contains a very good, readable translation along with Galileo's margin notes and good footnotes which unfortunately aren't matched to the body text so you have to flip forward and back. The only other disappointment was Einstein's simplistic yay-Galileo-boo-obviously-stupid-Church-and-Aristotelianism introduction. Other than that, it's great great great! An absolute milestone in human thought.

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Galileo?s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in Florence in 1632, was the most proximate cause of his being brought to trial before the Inquisition. Using the dialogue form, a genre common in classical philosophical works, Galileo masterfully demonstrates the truth of the Copernican system over the Ptolemaic one, proving, for the first time, that the earth revolves around the sun. Its influence is incalculable. The Dialogue is not only one of the most important scientific treatises ever written, but a work of supreme clarity and accessibility, remaining as readable now as when it was first published. This edition uses the definitive text established by the University of California Press, in Stillman Drake?s translation, and includes a Foreword by Albert Einstein and a new Introduction by J. L. Heilbron.

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