Galileo was acutely conscious of the importance of speedy publication to claim priority for his discoveries. In order to ensure this without prematurely revealing what he had found he sometimes resorted to the device of publishing an anagram. Then, when he had established the new result without doubt, he could reveal the meaning of the anagram. He wrote many books describing his work, some in reply to attacks on his ideas, or wrote formal letters to persons of distinction with a view to eventual publication. Finally there are longer, carefully-considered treatises that deal with a much wider range of material. It may be useful to list his principal writings in order of publication, together with references to available translations.

1. De Motu (On Motion) 1592. Considers the application of Archimedes' principle to motion in a medium. Summarises Aristotle's ideas on motion, with some critical comments. Translated with introduction and notes by I.E. Drabkin in Galileo Galilei on Motion and Mechanics. University of Wisconsin Press, 1960.

2. Le Meccaniche (On Mechanics) 1600. Summary of the statics of simple machines. Translated with introduction and notes by Stillman Drake in Galileo Galilei on Motion and Dynamics. University of Wisconsin Press, 1960.

3. Sidereus Nuncius (The Starry Messenger) 1610. An account of his discovery of the satellites of Jupiter and other astronomical discoveries. Translated with introduction and notes by Stillman Drake in Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo. Doubleday, Anchor Books, 1957.

4. Discorso . . . (Discourse on Bodies in Water) 1612. Describes experiments on floating bodies, with additional remarks on natural philosophy.

5. Letters on Sunspots, 1612. Critique of the views of Christopher Scheiner and a dispute over priority. Partly translated by Stillman Drake (see item 3).

6. Lettero alla Granduchessa di Toscana, Crestina di Lorena 1615. Summary of his view on the relation of theology to science. Translated by Stillman Drake. (see item 3). Finocchiaro, 1989, p. 87.

7. Discourse on the Tides, 1616. Finocchiaro, 1989, p. 119.

8. Il Saggiatore (The Assayer) 1623. Discussion of the nature of comets, and a general defense of scientific investigation. Partly translated by Stillman Drake (see item 3).

9. Dialogo . . . sopra i due Massimi Sistemi del Mondo, Tolemaico e Copernicano. (The Two Chief World Systems)1632. Full discussion of the arguments for and against the Copernican system. Abridged translation and guide, Finocchiaro, 1997.

10. Discorsi a dimonstrazioni . . . (The Two New Sciences) 1638. Comprehensive discussion of the properties of materials and of terrestrial motions.

11. Dialogues concerning Two New Sciences. By Galileo Galilei. Translated by Henry Crew and Alfonso de Savio. Northwestern University Press, 1968.

12. Many letters and other documents are published by Finocchiaro, 1989.

The most complete recent history of the encounter between Galileo and the Inquisition is the work of Fantoli. For a good account both of Galileo the scientist and his encounter with the Inquisition, see Sharratt.

Professor Albert Van Helden of Rice University has established a world-wide web site on Galileo: http://galileo.rice.edu/; students should examine its offerings. In addition, students should consult the web site of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence (now the Museo Galileo):  http://www.museogalileo.it/en

From time to time throughout the lectures we will be using references from the works listed below.

Brief Essays

Blackwell, Richard J. "Galileo Galilei," in The History of Science and Religion in the Western Tradition: An Encyclopedia, edited by Gary B. Fergren, pp. 85-89 (New York: Garland, 2000).

Fantoli, Annibale. "Galileo and the Church," in Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution: From Copernicus to Newton, edited by Wilbur Applebaum, pp. 252-255 (New York: Garland, 2000).

Settle, Thomas B. "Galilei, Galileo," in Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution: From Copernicus to Newton, edited by Wilbur Applebaum, pp. 245-252 (New York: Garland, 2000).  

General Works

Blackwell, Richard J. Galileo, Bellarmine, and the Bible. University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.

Blackwell, Richard J. Science, Religion, and Authority: Lessons from the Galileo Affair. Marquette University Press, 1998.

Drake, Stillman (ed.) Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1957.

Fantoli, Annibale. Galileo: for Copernicanism and for the Church. (translated by George Coyne), second edition. Vatican Observatory Publications, 1996.

Finocchiaro, Maurice A. (ed.) The Galileo Affair: A Documentary History. The University of California Press, 1989.

Langford, Jerome. Galileo, Science, and the Church. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1966

Sharratt, Michael. Galileo: Decisive Innovator. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.

More Specialized Studies

Ariew, Roger. "Galileo's Lunar Observations in the Context of Medieval Lunar Theory," Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 15, no. 3 (1984), pp. 212-227.

Brooke, John Hedley. Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives. Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Carroll, William E. "Galileo and the Interpretation of the Bible," Science & Education 8:2 (1999), pp. 151-187.

Feldhay, Rivka. Galileo and the Church: Political Inquisition or Critical Dialogue? Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Pederson, Olaf. Galileo and the Council of Trent. Vatican Observatory Publications, 1983. (Second edition, 1991)

Redondi, Pietro. Galileo Heretic. (trans. by R. Rosenthal). Princeton University Press, 1987 [Galileo eretico, Einaudi, 1983].

Van Helden, Albert (trans./ed.). Sidereus Nuncius or The Sidereal Messenger. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Wallace, William A. Galileo and His Sources. Princeton University Press, 1984.