11 December 2003

Speaker: Mario Biagioli (Harvard University)

Title: History of Astronomy Talk
Distance and authority in early telescopic astronomy

Abstract: This paper is based on Galileo material (in this case his introduction of the telescope and his discoveries of 1610). Kepler is also a player in this paper. I argue that, in this case and maybe in others, the distance between the person who made new scientific claims and those who were supposed to judge, endorse, or support them was not just an obstacle to the establishment of that scientist's (Galileo's) authority but actually helped it. The argument is that, in certain cases, the limitation on the information available may help the endorsement of scientific claims.

References for students: