Galileo and the language of science

Galileo's observing notes for 1610 begin in Italian. Clearly he is writing little memos for his own interest. He discovered the moons of Jupiter on 7 January 1610 he switched to Latin after 12 January. Latin of course was the language used by all savants, natural philosophers, and mathematicians until the end of the 18th century. Copernicus, Mewton, and Descartes wrote in Latin in order to reach an international audience. Galileo wrote books in Italian and Latin. For example, the famous Dialogue of the Two World systems, published in 1632, and which directly led to his trial in 1633, was Italian because he wished to reach a wide lay audience in his home country. The Starry Message (Sidereus Nuncius) published in 1610 is in Latin because it contained revolutionary ideas, and he wanted to reach an international readership of natural philosophers. In terms of the history of science communication, Galileo is remarkable because he writes popular stuff in Italian and serious stuff in Latin

For a modern take on communicating the new astronomy to a variety of audiences see http://bit.ly/TOTast

Interested in Sidereus Nuncius? Buy it here