 Institute and Museum of the History of Science | |
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| Location | Piazza dei Giudici 1, Florence, Italy |
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Museo Galileo (formerly Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza; Institute and Museum of the History of Science) is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. The museum, dedicated to astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei, is housed in Palazzo Castellani, an 11th-century building which was then known as the Castello d'Altafronte.
Museo Galileo owns one of the world's major collection of scientific instruments, which bears evidence of the role that the Medici and Lorraine Grand Dukes attached to science and scientists.
The Museo di Storia della Scienza has re-opened to the public under the new name Museo Galileo since June 10, 2010, after a two-year closure due to redesigning and renovation work. Its name change celebrates the 400-year anniversary of Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius (The Starry Messenger), first published in March of 1610.