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Galileo’s Open Vistas:“Chi mira più alto …” Alfonso Procaccini (bio) Most narratives that contain a personal meaning or hold a special place in our hearts are peopled by mythic figures. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) is one of those figures, as his life and his ideas have certainly been read in mythic terms. In the pages of cultural history and certainly in the annals of modern science he has always been viewed as the herald of adventure.1 Described as the “new Columbus” in his own day, Galileo proudly made claim to his own discoveries by announcing his new astronomicus nuncius, or “astronomical message,” so cleverly encoded in the very title of his momentous volume, Sidereus Nuncius (1610): SIDEREAL MESSENGER Unfolding great and most marvelous sights And displaying to the gaze of everyone, but especially philosophers and astronomers, the things that were observed by GALILEO GALILEI2 [End Page S73] Reminiscent of epic heroes such as Jason and Ulysses, Galileo has in many ways come to symbolize the figure of the restless and resourceful seeker; the archetypal thinker whose overarching vision so impressed Italo Calvino that he would bestow on him the high honor of comparing him to Dante: In the same way, though in a different cultural context, Dante created an encyclopedic and cosmological work, [Galileo] too, tried to construct an image of the universe by means of the written word. This is a deep-rooted vocation in Italian literature, handed on from Dante to Galileo: the notion of the literary work as a map of the world and of the knowable, of writing driven on by a thirst for knowledge that may by turns be theological, speculative, magical, encyclopedic, or may be concerned with natural philosophy or with transfiguring, visionary observations. (Calvino, The Uses of Literature 32) As an acknowledged pioneer of the Scientific Revolution, Galileo continues to hold fascination as well as provoke controversy. His iconic image and his enduring fame are due no less to his genius than to his relentless defense of scientific truth against any form of dogma, along with his unflagging pursuit of the idea that the mathematical method is the most appropriate means for uncovering the laws of nature. Galileo’s interests and works cover such a wide spectrum of inquiries that it is not surprising how many titles have been attributed to him: discoverer, inventor, mathematician, astronomer, physicist, polemicist, rhetorician, courtier, heretic and martyr! To these titles there remains one, however, which Galileo himself took pains to secure when he was negotiating his appointment at the court of the Medici in Florence in the spring of 1610—namely, that of Filosofo. The fact that Galileo would demand that this title be added to his official-academic title of Matematico, and that it likewise appear on the title-page of all his subsequent published works, remains a rather elusive and perplexing question, all the more so because by Galileo’s times the title and the status of philosopher had drastically lost its ancient, traditional aura associated with both Platonic and Christian metaphysics.3 [End Page S74] In this essay I wish to re-examine the possible motivations that might have spurred Galileo to claim for himself the title of “Filosofo,” and suggest that the greater contribution he made in the field of scientific inquiry is ultimately philosophical in nature, especially when reviewed from a contemporary perspective. During the period of negotiating his position at the court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II de’ Medici, Galileo wrote a letter to the Grand Duke’s secretary, Belisario Vinta. The letter was sent on 7 May 1610, less than a month after Galileo had published in Venice his epoch-making bestseller, Sidereus Nuncius. This letter was a follow-up to a previous one sent on 13 March, only one day after the publication of that sensational, slim volume of barely twenty-four pages, including illustrations! In the March letter Galileo informs Vinta that he would be sending the Grand Duke a special dedication copy, along with his personal telescope, in order that Cosimo might see with his own eyes the four satellites revolving around new stars he had observed through the instrument; namely...
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