This is a past event
Join Professor Mario Biagioli from Harvard Universirty to gain an insight into the obvious links between Galileo鈥檚 name and the telescope.
As obvious as the link between Galileo鈥檚 name and the telescope may be today, it is the result of strategic historical narratives initiated by Galileo himself. By the time he started to develop his instrument in Padua in the summer of 1609, telescopes built by different artisans were common throughout Europe. Even Galileo (who was not best known for his modesty) acknowledged that others had produced telescopes before he did. Still, he claimed to have invented his telescope without copying anybody鈥檚 example, but by relying on 鈥榯he science of refraction鈥�. His instrument, Galileo intimated, was different from all others because of the way it had been invented and because of the unprecedented astronomical discoveries it made possible. But new evidence indicates that there may have been substantially less independent invention and more 鈥榯echnology transfer鈥� than Galileo cared to admit.
Admission free and all welcome.