The Ears of Saturn - Objectivity 279

We're back at the Royal Astronomical Society looking at some groundbreaking observations by Galileo. More links below ↓↓↓
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[@nicholashylton6857]

Even In Galileo's time, "publish or perish" was a mantra.

[@masheroz]

Or in his case, publish and perish.

[@nodakamakadon]

I like the hint of super early ASCII art with his depictions of orbits.

[@hebl47]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one wondering how he got the printer to make those special symbols just for that one publication.

[@unvergebeneid]

Love those inline figures of Saturn! 😄

[@Enoch-Root]

When she said 1653, I immediately thought "oh, not a first edition". Galileo is one of my favourite scientists. He was stubborn and difficult, mocked those who he considered to be stupid and was ultimately punished for it. His book a discourse on the system of two worlds (or something along those lines) is also a classic example of how science is not merely about presenting facts, you need to make a convincing argument too in order to change minds. It's also I think the first example of a popular science book, written by the then worlds leading astronomer and meant to be read by the common educated person.

[@IntuitivelyCurious]

Thank you so much for these videos. As a long time viewer of Nunberphile, I just learned of the channel. These are awesome vids that itch the scientific historian in me.

[@euromicelli5970]

It’s very remarkable that the second book was published in Italian. Most academic documents throughout Europe at the time were published in Latin, like “Sidereus Nuncius” here. Clearly Galileo had a different audience in mind for it. I understand that Galileo was one of the first - if not the first - to publish scientific documents in the Italian language.

[@nicksamek12]

I find it interesting that the asterisks around Jupiter were both 5 and 6 pointed

[@wertperch]

Thanks to Galileo and Brady!

[@465maltbie]

I also have to think how many others saw the rings and tried to publish about being the first only to have someone else mention they saw Galileo's notes about it in the introduction to his book years before. How crushed you might feel at that time. Charles

[@whoeveriam0iam14222]

a book with pages stuck together everybody just wants to look at pictures

[@Infinitegrowth-zt1mh]

Awesome! Thanks for this

[@IrishEye]

In another reality Galileo would have had his own Objectivity YT channel.

[@rays5163]

lookin good brady

[@abigailcooling6604]

As someone who loves reading, especially science books, I find it a little sad that such an important book as that seems to not have been ever fully read, judging by the fact that some pages are still stuck together.

[@Enoch-Root]

The particular book is 400 years old, if you wanted to read it then it'd be more sensible to get a more recent publication and keep this one archived even if it's not a first edition.

[@michaelwright2986]

@@Enoch-Root For sure, now. But in the 17th century? Suggests that Galileo was eager to publish, but maybe his impact wasn't all he would have wished?

[@KonradTheWizzard]

@@michaelwright2986 I'd suggest this copy was bought for the archive specifically and several other copies were circulating among the british astronomers. Also, the text is in Latin, so there were probably translations floating around for those less proficient in Latin and less affluent to buy their own copy (i.e. students).

[@michaelwright2986]

@@KonradTheWizzard As for copy for the archive, maybe, maybe not, but it doesn't sound like early modern library practice to me. And we're looking back with a modern, and perhaps inflated, idea of the importance of Galileo. As for Latin: people get the role of Latin wrong. It wasn't an impediment to communication, it facilitated learning going across national boundaries. Every male of solid middle class standing and upwards, throughout Europe had Latin as a fundemental part of his education, and males of middle class and above social status is the demographic for scientists; so as long as the Latin wasn't fancy, anybody could read it. Think of the English language today. I chased down a reference to an article for somebody, that was published as late as the early 19th century in Latin. It was in the proceedings of the Royal Hungarian Academy: if you're a Hungarian, and you want to speak to the world, are you going to publish in Hungarian, or Latin?

[@Enoch-Root]

@@michaelwright2986 Well his impact on astronomy and science or Natural Philosophy in general was huge. That the original owner didn't read his Discourse on Pigeons perhaps suggests that it was already well known that his impact on astronomy was what was really worth reading.

[@michaelwright2986]

Both those books are in superb condition. Which means the fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society didn't actually read their books very much, as confirmed by the uncut pages.

[@bigsarge2085]

Cool!

[@skybluskyblueify]

What were the reactions to sun spots? Were people offended?

[@lukasdon0007]

Well obviously other people observed the moon before Thomas Harriot. Would be surprising if just nobody had ever noticed the moon until this one guy comes along and goes like "hey what's that thing up there?"

[@peterfireflylund]

“With a telescope”.

[@Camroc37]

The first guy to see it was named Thomas moon actually

[@Yupppi]

Did Galileo look in the sun and damage his eyes or was he aware and figured a roundabout way to observe the sun without damaging his eyes?

[@roberttelarket4934]

Excellent question!

[@subjectline]

He projected it on the wall if I remember correctly, I think I've seen a drawing of the setup.

[@465maltbie]

So you had to separate the pages of your book after you bought it? Are you sure this isnt a mistake or possibly sold as a second because the printer didnt want to pay someone to separate the pages? Charles

[@Erkynar]

This was common for books. My grandparents had quite a few books where pages needed seperating before reading - that's how they came from the printer.

[@merseyviking]

You usually would get the unbound block from the book shop, then take it to your favourite bindery to get it bound to match your library or whatever, and the binder would guillotine the edges to fit. Back then (and still sometimes today), they would print four pages per side of paper and fold it in such a way that the pages would be in order, but you would end up with folds like we see here on two of the sides.

[@klausolekristiansen2960]

I have cut open books. New books. Do they not still publish books like this?

[@merseyviking]

@@klausolekristiansen2960 It depends on the printers and the final binding technique. I don't know any statistics, but it's not as common as it once was.

[@framegrace1]

I'd never thougth I would live in a time on where this fact is a surprise for anyone. No one buys soft cover pocket editions anymore? Like 60 or 70% of them have at least one of this joined pages. If not 4 or a full booklet. I've even seen folded ones and cut sideways.

[@davidioanhedges]

When an Uncut volume means it has never been read, rather than is has not been edited ... ..a lesson Isaac Asimov taught me many years ago...

[@lundysden6781]

What is that book worth?

[@--Za]

"I have no ears, but I have rings !"

[@AngryKittens]

The Ears of Saturn. The first emoji. 😅

[@Moerasgeest]

Discourse against doves?!

[@RFC3514]

They've been getting away with it for too long.

[@benrice2793]

2:31 I noticed that “Ori.” (east) Is on the left side of the page, and “Occ.” (west) is on the right. That layout struck me as odd based on how modern maps are read, but now I’m thinking Galileo isn’t referring to cardinal directions at all here because this is a diagram of celestial bodies. I know very little about astronomy-can anyone explain that notation?

[@--Za]

It depends on where in the sky the planet is located ! And as it happens, if you live at this latitude, the planets lie nearly always on the south side of the sky (like the Sun). Now, if you turn to the south, east will be on your right, and west on your left ! (But in fact, when you look into telescopes, what you see always undergoes lenses and mirrors reversals... left and right, top and bottom don't have much sense, unlike cardinal points. And... sorry for my broken English ^^)

[@roberttelarket4934]

Why aren't they wearing gloves?!

[@subjectline]

It's dangerous to the books to wear gloves as it messes up the sensitivity of your fingers and you can tear the pages. Clean, thoroughly dry hands are considered best practice for old and valuable books.

[@toolbaggers]

The Church thought Galileo said Ears of SATAN. 👿

[@roberttelarket4934]

Very clever!

[@willemvandebeek]

first