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Galileo’s second Latin edition of the

«Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems»

«the book that changed the idea of the universe»

definitively demonstrating

that the sun is the center of our constellation

a book forofferden by the Inquisition for heresy

«the Foundation of Modern Science»

Galilei, Galileo.Dialogus de Systemate Mundi, Auctore Galilaeo Galilaei Lynceo.Lugduni, Sumptibus Ioann. Antonij Huguetan, M. DC. XLI. [Lyon: Huguetan, 1641].

4to, 18th century sprinkled calf, spine with five raised bands and gilt title, gilt decorations at compartments, red edges, pp. [16], 378, [22].Complete, also witherrataleaf 3D4 and the portrait(often missing).

Engraved additional frontispiece, representing Copernicus, Aristotle andPtolemy; title printed in red and black with engraved publisher’s device, engraved Galileo’s portrait by Audran.

Woodcut illustrations and diagrams. woodcut illustrations including the renowned one with the solar system, several woodcut diagrams in the text.

Rare second Latin edition (printed 9 years after the first one) of celebrated Galileo’s Dialogue, «the book that changed the idea of the universe» definitively demonstrating that the sun is the center of our constellation and representing the foundation of the modern science.

The “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems”(Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo)regards the debate between the Copernican system and the traditional Ptolemaic system: in theCopernican system the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun, whilein the Ptolemaic system everything in the Universe circles around the Earth. TheDialoguewas published under a formal license from the Inquisition, but, in 1633, Galileo was convicted of “grave suspicion of heresy” based on the book, which was then placed on theIndex of Forofferden Books, from which it was not removed until 1835 (after the theories it discussed had been permitted in print in 1822). In an action that was not announced at the time, the publication of anything else he had written or ever might write was also banned.

While writing the book, Galileo referred to it as hisDialogue on the Tides, and when the manuscript went to the Inquisition for approval the title wasDialogue on the Ebb and Flow of the Sea. He was ordered to remove all mention of tides from the title and to change the preface, because granting approval to such a title would look like approval of his theory of the tides, which attempted to prove the motion of the Earth physically. As a result, the formal title on the title page isDialogue.

The book is presented as a series of discussions, over a span of four days, among two philosophers and a layman:

Salviatiargues for the Copernican position and presents some of Galileo’s views directly, calling him the “Academician” in honor of Galileo’s membership in the Accademia dei Lincei. He is named after Galileo’s friend Filippo Salviati (1582–1614);Sagredois an intelligent layman who is initially neutral. He is named after Galileo’s friend Giovanni Francesco Sagredo (1571–1620);Simplicio, a dedicated follower of Ptolemy and Aristotle, presents the traditional views and the arguments against the Copernican position. He is supposedly named after Simplicius of Cilicia, a sixth-century commentator on Aristotle, but it was suspected the name was a double entendre, as the Italian for “simple” (as in “simple minded”) is ‘semplice’. Simplicio is modeled on two contemporary conservative philosophers, Ludovico delle Colombe (1565-1616?), Galileo’s fiercest detractor, and Cesare Cremonini (1550–1631), a Paduan colleague who had refused to look through the telescope. Colombe was the leader of a group of Florentine opponents of Galileo’s, which some of the latter’s friends referred to as “the pigeon league”.

The discussion is not narrowly limited to astronomical topics, but ranges over much of contemporary science. Some of this is to show what Galileo considered good science, such as the discussion of William Gilbert’s work on magnetism. Other parts are important to the debate, answering erroneous arguments against the Earth’s motion.

A classic argument against earth motion is the lack of speed sensations of the earth surface, though it moves at 1600km/h. In this category there is a thought experiment in which a man is below decks on a ship and cannot tell whether the ship is docked or is moving smoothly through the water: he observes water dripping from a bottle, fish swimming in a tank, butterflies flying, and so on; and their behavior is just the same whether the ship is moving or not. This isa classic exposition of the Inertial frameof reference and refutes the objection that if we were moving hundreds of miles an hour as the Earth rotated, anything that one dropped would rapidly fall behind and drift to the west.

The bulk of Galileo’s arguments may be divided into three classes:

1.Rebuttals to the objections raised by traditional philosophers; for example, the thought experiment on the ship.

2.Observations that are incompatible with the Ptolemaic model:the phases of Venus, for instance, which simply couldn’t happen, orthe apparent motions of sunspots, which could only be explained in the Ptolemaic or Tychonic systems as resulting from an implausibly complicated precession of the Sun’s axis of rotation.

3.Arguments showing that the elegant unified theory of the Heavensthat the philosophers held,which was believed to prove that the Earth was stationary, was incorrect; for instance,the mountains of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter, and the very existence of sunspots, none of which was part of the old astronomy (though these are of somewhat doubtful relevance, as none of these phenomena dealt directly with the question of the motion of the earth or sun).

Generally, these arguments have held up well in terms of the knowledge of the next four centuries. Just how convincing they ought to have been to an impartial reader in 1632 remains a contentious issue.

Galileo attempted a fourth class of argument:

4.Direct physical argument for the Earth’s motion, by means of an explanation of tides.

As an account of the causation of tides or a proof of the Earth’s motion, it is a failure. In fact, the fundamental argument is internally inconsistent, and actually leads to the conclusion that tides do not exist. But Galileo was fond of the argument and devoted the “Fourth Day” of the discussion to it. The degree of its failure is, like nearly anything having to do with Galileo, a matter of controversy. On the one hand, the whole thing has recently been described in print as “cockamamie”. On the other hand, Einstein used a rather different description:

It was Galileo’s longing for a mechanical proof of the motion of the earth which misled him into formulating a wrong theory of the tides. The fascinating arguments in the last conversation would hardly have been accepted as proof by Galileo, had his temperament not got the better of him.

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«The Dialogo was designed both as an appeal to the great public and as an escape from silence. In the form of an open discussion between three friends —intellectually speaking, a radical, a conservative, and an agnostic—it is a masterly polemic for the new science. It displaysall the great discoveries in the heavens which the ancients had ignored; it inveighs against the sterility, wilfulness, and ignorance of those who defend their systems; it revels in the simplicity of Copernican thought and, above all, it teaches that the movement of the earth makes sense in philosophy, that is, in physics. Astronomy and the science of motion, rightly understood, says Galileo, are hand in glove. There is no need to fear that the earth’s rotation will cause it to fly to pieces. So Galileo picked up one thread that led straight to Newton.The Dialogo, far more than any other work, made the heliocentric system a commonplace».

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Galileo Galilei(1564–1642),was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who playeda major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has beencalledthe «father of modern observational astronomy», the «father of modern physics», the «father of science»,and «the Father of Modern Science».

His contributions to observational astronomy includethe telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus,the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter(named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments.

Galileo’s championing of heliocentrism was controversial within his lifetime, when most subscribed to either geocentrism or the Tychonic system. He met with opposition from astronomers, who doubted heliocentrism due to the absence of an observed stellar parallax. The matter was investigated by the Roman Inquisition in 1615, and they concluded that it could only be supported as a possibility, not as an established fact. Galileo later defended his views inDialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which appeared to attack Pope Urban VIII and thus alienated him and the Jesuits, who had both supported Galileo up until this point. He was tried by the Inquisition, found “vehemently suspect of heresy”, forced to recant, and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It was while Galileo was under house arrest that he wrote one of his finest works,Two New Sciences. Here he summarized the work he had done some forty years earlier, on the two sciences now called kinematics and strength of materials.

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Condition: Light usual foxing, but a very fine copy.

Provenance: Paper ex-librisBibliothèque du Docteur Robert Aubin.

References:RiccardiI, 513.Cinti,109.Carli & Favaro, 180. Honeyman IV-1410.Dibner,Heralds of Science, 8.Sparrow,Milestones of Science, 74.

Note: We are pleased to offer a new copy of renowned Galileo’s «Dialogue». This copy is better than the other one that we recently sold on , so offer in confidence.

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