Galileo

De: J. L. Heilbron

Narrado por: Victor Bevine

In 1610, Galileo published the Siderius nuncius, or Starry Messenger, a "hurried little masterpiece" in John Heilbron's words. Presenting to the world his remarkable observations using the recently invented telescope - the craters of the moon, the satellites of Jupiter - Galileo dramatically challenged our idea of the perfection of the heavens and the centrality of the Earth in the universe. Indeed, the appearance of the little book is regarded as one of the great moments in the history of science.

Planned to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Starry Messenger, this is a major new biography of Galileo, a fresh and much more rounded view of the great scientist than found in earlier works. Unlike previous biographers, Heilbron shows us that Galileo was far more than a mathematician: he was deeply knowledgeable in the arts, an expert on the epic poet Ariosto, and a fine lutenist.

More important, Heilbron notes that years of reading the poets and experimenting with literary forms were not mere sidebars - they enabled Galileo to write clearly and plausibly about the most implausible things. Indeed, Galileo changed the world not simply because he revolutionized astronomy, but because he conveyed his discoveries so clearly and crisply that they could not be avoided or denied. If ever a discoverer was perfectly prepared to make and exploit his discovery, it was the dexterous humanist Galileo aiming his first telescope at the sky.

In Galileo, John Heilbron captures not only the great scientist, but also the creative, artistic younger man who would ultimately become the champion of Copernicus, the bête noire of the Jesuits, and the best-known of all martyrs to academic freedom.

The title music in this audiobook is Ave Maris Stella by Claudio Monteverdi, which was published in the same year Galileo published Sidereus Nuncius (i.e. The Starry Messenger). Ave Maris Stella was performed using period instruments by the Green Mountain Project. We’re especially proud to note that a member of the Green Mountain Project, Hank Heijink, also works at Audible!

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2010 John Heilbron (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"[ Galileo] will no doubt become the standard, comprehensive biography." ( The New York Times Book Review)

"A masterpiece.... It far surpasses all previous biographies of Galileo. Impeccable scholarship." (Nick Jardine, Professor of the History and Philosophy of Sciences, Cambridge University)

"By far the best general reconstruction of Galileo's private and intellectual llife available in the English language." (Paolo Galluzzi, Professor and Director, Museo Galileo, Florence)

It's not exactly an audiobook...

because you'll need to spend plenty of time reading the download PDF. If you're not in a time and place where you can read the PDF, the audio will sometimes make no sense.

A Difficult Book for Audible

First, the book has a great deal of detail and is extremely informative. That is the good part. The bad part, for me at least, is that the book contains many mathematical formulas and all of them are read out loud. I'm not saying I could understand them even if I looked at them, but listening to them is incomprehensible to me. Also the author refers to drawings and points on the drawings have letters, so there is a great deal of "the lever at point 'h' is swung to 'l' " etc. It makes no sense without seeing the drawing. Also if you get the book, you must be prepared for a great deal of discussion about physics and mathematics. It's really more scientific history than just a biography. It's well done, but perhaps not a good choice for an audible book.

Stick to the printed version

This particular work is not well suited for an audio book because of the extensive references to formulas and diagrams apparently in the hard copy version. The narrarator actually reads from geometric diagrams by line segment notations. It's appeal is further limited by recitation of extensive passages from Galileo's dialogues and letters. There are some interesting insights into Galileo's broader interests and accomplishments. Galileo fans should stick to the bound version of this one.

Written By Copernicus?

An immensely bloated and boring book. The limited relevant information is merely peppered among superfluous mathematics poorly explained and not suited for an audiobook. The primary sources of Galileo (notably his dialogues) give a better representation of his personality than this dry audiobook. It reeks of Aristotelian scholasticism aka BOREDOM.

A + b = boring

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I wanted to hear the history of Galileo not a bunch of equations read out like I was in a Victorian arithmetic class. This book is not suitable for audible

I don't get it.

I read a lot of history and biography. I made it through the first hour before I gave up. It was like the reader dropped the pages on the street and didn't bother putting them back in order.

apologist

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

the book relies heavily in parts on the pdf with its diagrams, sketches etc- and I don't walk around listening to a book with a lot a paper to look at.

Any additional comments?

The author underplays the horror- and no other word properly conveys what the church did- of how Galileo was mistreated, lied to and denied medical treatment by the church.