Galileo's Moon View

Courtesy of Richard Lan

HEAVENLY: Galileo's sketches in a proof of Sidereus Nuncius (1610) reveal an Earthlike moon

For those with a passion for rare books, delving into an original work of Galileo has always offered unparalleled insight. There is no more immediate way to bring his inquisitive spirit to life than to view an original printing of Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger, 1610), in which he describes the contours of the moon as seen through his newly invented telescope, or to marvel at a first edition of Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), his challenge to the Ptolemaic view of an Earth-centered universe.

But what if we could actually see this founding father of...

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