Before scientists had subtweets and call - out office , raw philosopher had treatises where they could still bemock each other ’s idea and opinions . It turn out thatGalileo Galilei – begetter of the modern scientific method – convey a few using pseudonyms . Now , researcher Matteo Cosci has encounter grounds to attribute another one to the iconic Italian scientist .
To translate the setting of the find , we need to metaphorically move back in meter about 418 years . For over 17 hundred , thanks to the influence and superpower of the Catholic Church , hoi polloi believed the Aristotelian - Ptolemaic panorama of the universe of discourse : Earth is at its center and the stars are fixed to the vault of heaven . But in 1604 , astella nova(new star ) – what we now call asupernova – was seen .
The physical object is name after Johannes Kepler , who wrote about the observations in his Good Book , De Stella nova in pede Serpentarii(On the new star in Ophiuchus ’s foot ) .
Composite view (X-ray and visible light) of Kepler’s supernova. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/D.Patnaude, Optical: DSS
But the first soul to record the watching in Europe was philosopher Lodovico delle Colombe , a staunch Aristotelian who believed that the supernova was not new , it had always been there but was n’t always visible . Galileo did not believe that to be the case and adjudicate to take delle Colombe to task with a treatise call “ Le Considerazioni Astronomiche di Alimberto Mauri ” – The Astronomical Reflection of Alimberto Mauri .
Who is Alimberto Mauri ? But of course , it ’s Galileo . The attribution has been suspected for a farsighted time but the clearest link between this treatise and the scientist was a letter signed by Galileo himself talking about the piece . Unfortunately , thatturned out to be a counterfeit , create in the 1900s by serial forger Tobia Nicotra . So while it appeared obvious the piece of work was by Galileo , it could n’t be proven , until now .
Cosci , from theUniversità Ca ' Foscari Venezia , expect at notes that Galileo write around the time and was strike by a exceptional one where the scientist complains that delle Colombe talk with contempt of him . Cosci searched the text by delle Colombe and take note that Galileo is never identify . Alimberto Mauri , however , is named , as is a certain Cecco ( another pseudonym used by Galileo was Cecco da Ronchitti ) , as well a reference to " a certain doctor in Padua " – where Galileo was teach and working . Cosci concluded the note is Galileo himself confirming that he was the author .
So why use a pseudonym ? It was certainly not to avoid the scrutiny of the Church , which will happen later . It was really to look for a new patron , no longer in the Venetian Republic but in Rome itself . Venice and the Papal state were at war and Galileo could n’t be too assailable about job hunting with the enemy … but he did dedicate the discussion to the treasurer of the pope himself .
The Considerazioni Astronomiche adds to the already vast literature by Galileo . In it , he talk about the new star , mountains on the Moon , and attempts to explain the motion of bodies in space . These are some of the foundations from where his astronomic observation would go forth to challenge the persuasion of the universe that has been take for almost 2,000 years .
