STRUCTURE

The Galileo 2001 EuroSymposium will include three main programmatic themes: Galileo's Science, Galileo and the Church, and the Century of Galileo.

1) Galileo's Science.

We will consider the scientific work of Galileo under three section headings: Mechanics, Laws of Motion, and Cosmology.

a) Mechanics.The symposium will look at the subjects synthesized by Galileo in his "Discourses and Demonstrations in Two New Sciences".One of the key themes will be the De Motu a manuscript which Galileo never published, and which modern experts consider of high importance.

b) Laws of Motion. We will consider the application of mathematics to phenomena of motion -the pendulum, the inclined plane, falling weights, parabolic flight, hydrostatics of floating bodies etc.- and the way which led to the geometrization of nature, and thereby initiated the modern scientific outlook.

c) Cosmology. This section will be devoted to the astronomical work of Galileo, his rejection of the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system, his defence of Copernicanism, his polemics with Tycho Brahe's cosmology and the question of the comets.

2) Galileo and the Church.

We will analyze the relations between the Pisan scientist and the Roman Catholic Church in three sections: The Galileo affair, Galileo and Theology, and Historical Revisions of the Galileo Case.

a) The Galileo Affair. We will take a fresh look at the sentence of Galileo in 1616, and of his trial in 1633, which led to his condemnation; at the historico-cultural contexts, such as the relation of Galileo with the Jesuits, the politics of the Church after the Council of Trent, the practices and the jurisprudence of the Holy Office, political struggles among the various religious Orders etc.

b) Galileo and Theology. We will study the theological problems raised by Galileo's scientific theories: comets, sunspots, and the immutability of the heavens; the motion of the Earth, as presented in Holy Scripture; atomism, its specific forms, and trans-substantiation in the Eucharist; the theological differences between the religious Orders.

c) Historical revisions of the Galileo case. We will see how public opinion about the relations between Galileo and the Church has varied, using the historical studies about the Affair, which have confronted the defenders of Science and those of the Church, since the 18th century to the recent revision by the Church under the Papacy of John Paul II.

3) The Century of Galileo.

Under this heading we will consider those aspects of European XVIIth century culture most closely associated with the life and work of Galileo, under three section headings: Galileo and European Culture, The diffusion of Galileo's work, Galileo and Scientific Institutions.

a) Galileo and European culture. We will analyze the situations of Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy between the middle of the XVIth and the end of the XVIIth centuries, in the context of the historical factors with deepest influence on the era: the Reformation and the Counter-reformation, the Thirty Years' War, and also the relations between the new spirit of modern science and the philosophy,literature and art of the era.

b) The diffusion of Galileo's Work. We will document the influence of Galileo's work on other European Scientists, the effect he produced on his Italian disciples, the polemics between Galileo and his followers and other authors, the successive editions of his books, and their translation into other European languages.

c) Galileo and Scientific Institutions. We will consider the relations between Galileo and Italian Universities, as well as the Academia dei Lincei, and with the Roman College of the Jesuits. We will look at the reception of Galileo's work by European universities, and by the scientific institutions created after his death, such as the Royal Society and l'Académie des Sciences.

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