Quoting from my dad's old college General Physics book written
in the early 1900s, "What we may properly call the birth of
modern physics, however, dates from Galileo (1564-1642), one
of the most remarkable men who ever lived. More than any one
of his predecessors or contemporaries he introduced
'controlled experiment' as a means of gaining knowledge of
nature".
Galileo Galilei
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei#toc
http://galileo.rice.edu/galileo.html
Episode 4: Inertia - The Mechanical Universe 28+ min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2NtOYrLeFo
Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences
by Galileo Galilei and Stephen Hawking
Running Press, January 2005
ISBN-13: 9780762420155
ISBN-10: 0762420154
https://www.amazon.com/Dialogues-Concerning-Sciences-Shoulders-Giants/dp/0762420154
This installment in our On the Shoulders of Giants series
presents the provocative essay by Galileo Galilei
(1564-1642) in its entirety. Famed for its unapologetic
support of Copernicus's theory and subsequent proof that the
earth did indeed revolve around the sun (and not vice
versa), Galileo's essay engendered great controversy when it
was published, as well as heated opposition from the Church.
The first work to outwardly challenge the established
authority of religion, Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences
set the standard for all future scientists faced with the
conflict of science and religion. In this text, readers will
also find an illuminating biography of the father of modern
physics, and an introduction by modern-day physics superstar
Stephen Hawking.
Starry Messenger
by Galileo Galilei
https://www.amazon.com/Galileo-Starry-Messenger-Galilei/dp/1929154496
On a beautiful and clear evening in the early winter of
1609, Galileo Galilei trained his telescope on the
illuminated surface of the moon and recognized something
that no man had ever noted before... So begins this
fascinating and authoritative account of the little book
that Galileo published in 1610, and that caused such a great
clamor. (It still does, even today.) For here was something
so revolutionary, it was scary: actual proof, thanks to
Galileo's nightly notes of what he saw through his
newfangled telescope, that the earth was not the center of
the universe.
Thanks to the Library of Congress, Levenger Press brings you
a full-size and true-color facsimile of that book, The
Starry Messenger, from one of the rare copies with fully
intact pages. Along with it is the definitive translation,
plus essays from six of the world's great Galileo scholars:
Owen Gingerich, John W. Hessler, Peter Machamer, David
Marshall Miller, Paul Needham and Eileen Reeves. This
Levenger Press limited edition of The Starry Messenger (in
Latin, the title is Sidereus nuncius) gives you fascinating
back stories not found anywhere else. Not only is there the
story of Galileo's eventual house arrest for writing such
heresy, but there's also the modern-day story of how the
Library of Congress came to find--and then authenticate--the
rare untrimmed version of the book whose pages you will see.
What Galileo did in his little book of moons and stars was
to bring science out of the shadows and into the clear and
rational light of modern day.
sam.wormley@gmail.com