Galileo’s Two New Sciences as a Model of Reading Practice

Galileo’s 1638 Two New Sciences, a canonical text of early modern science, is analyzed as a window into period practices of mixed-mathematical reading. Galileo’s depiction of reading reflects common scholarly practices, including those of summarizing, commenting, repeated study, and an interest in m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the history of ideas 2016-10, Vol.77 (4), p.539-565
Main Author: Raphael, Renée
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambiguity
Authorship
Classrooms
Cognition
Culture
Epistolography
Galilei, Galileo
Historians
Lectures
Literary criticism
Literary devices
Literary translation
Logic
Mathematicians
Mathematics
Modern history
Morality
Narrative techniques
Natural history
Philosophy
Publishing
Publishing industry
Readers
Reading
Reading strategies
Science history
Writing
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Description
Summary:Galileo’s 1638 Two New Sciences, a canonical text of early modern science, is analyzed as a window into period practices of mixed-mathematical reading. Galileo’s depiction of reading reflects common scholarly practices, including those of summarizing, commenting, repeated study, and an interest in mathematical diagrams. With this text, Galileo also attempted to shape his readers’ practices, inciting them to approach topical-based reading strategies with care and to use experiment and experience to validate the written word. It is suggested that the concern with reading practices exhibited in the text derived from circumstances surrounding Galileo’s 1633 condemnation.
ISSN:0022-5037
1086-3222
1086-3222
DOI:10.1353/jhi.2016.0029