 Title page of the first edition. | |
| Author | Galileo Galilei |
|---|---|
| Language | Neo-Latin |
| Subject | Astronomy |
| Publisher | Thomas Baglioni |
Publication date | March 13, 1610 |
| Publication place | Republic of Venice (now Italy) |
Sidereus Nuncius (usually Sidereal Messenger, also Starry Messenger or Sidereal Message) is a short astronomical treatise (or pamphlet) published in Neo-Latin by Galileo Galilei on March 13, 1610.[1] It was the first published scientific work based on observations made through a telescope, and it contains the results of Galileo's early observations of the imperfect and mountainous Moon, of hundreds of stars not visible to the naked eye in the Milky Way and in certain constellations, and of the Medicean Stars (later Galilean moons) that appeared to be circling Jupiter.[2][3]
The Latin word nuncius was typically used during this time period to denote messenger; however, it was also (though less frequently) rendered as message. Though the title Sidereus Nuncius is usually translated into English as Sidereal Messenger, many of Galileo's early drafts of the book and later related writings indicate that the intended purpose of the book was "simply to report the news about recent developments in astronomy, not to pass himself off solemnly as an ambassador from heaven."[4]
- ^ "A Very Rare Book". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
- ^ Raphael, Renée. Sidereus nuncius; or, A Sidereal Message, by Galileo Galilei. Isis, Vol. 101, No. 3 (September 2010), pp. 644-645. Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society.
- ^ Mazzotti, Massimo (25 June 2014). "Faking Galileo". LARB Quarterly Journal: Spring 2014. Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- ^ Rosen, Edward. The Title of Galileo's Sidereus nuncius. Isis, Vol. 41, No. 3/4 (Dec., 1950), pp. 287-289. Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society.