Galileo in a exhibit in Florence

by S. C.

A sweeping exhibition of art, scientific instruments, star maps and ancient artefacts opened in Florence, celebrating conceptions of the cosmos and the groundbreaking discoveries of Galileo Galilei.
"Images of the Universe from Antiquity to the Telescope" promises a dazzling array of exhibits, carrying visitors on a voyage through centuries of ideas about the universe and the cosmos.

More than 250 precious objects are on display from an array of fields, with paintings, drawings, telescopes, star charts, archaeological finds, mosaics, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts and functioning cosmological models.

The exhibition, a key event in international celebrations marking 400 years since Galileo's first observations of the night sky, is divided into eight sections. The first looks back to the dawn of astronomy, focusing on Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and the Biblical cosmos. The second and third parts explore Ancient Greek conceptions of the cosmos, the spherical model developed by Plato and Aristotle and the geometrical vision of Ptolemy. The fourth, fifth and six parts respectively spotlight Islamic visions of the universe, their Christianization and the rebirth of astronomy with Copernicus and his sun-centred theory. The seventh section focuses on Galileo, featuring one of his two surviving telescopes, while the exhibition concludes with progress made by Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton in legitimising his theories.

by S. C.
16 March 2009 Teatro Naturale International n. 2 Year 1

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