Dialogue on the Two Greatest World Systems

'The truth which we arrive at by means of mathematical proofs is the same truth that is known to divine wisdom.'

Galileo's Dialogue on the Two Greatest World Systems, the most brilliant and persuasive defence of the Copernican theory that the Earth goes around the Sun to have been written in the seventeenth century, is one of the foundation texts of modern science. This new translation renders Galileo's lively Italian prose in clear modern English, making the whole of Galileo's text readily accessible to modern readers, while William Shea's introduction and notes give a clear overview of Galileo's career and draw on the most recent scholarship to explain the scientific and philosophical background to the text. This volume provides everything necessary for an informed reading of Galileo's masterpiece.