Natural philosophers had treatises where they could still make fun of each other’s theories and viewpoints before scientists had subtweets and call-out blogs. It turns out that Galileo Galilei, the inventor of the modern scientific method, carried out some experiments under false names. Recently, researcher Matteo Cosci discovered proof linking yet another to the famous Italian scientist.
We must metaphorically go back around 418 years in order to comprehend the background of the finding. The Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view of the universe, according to which the Earth is at its center and the stars are fixed to the vault of heaven, was widely held for more than 17 centuries thanks to the influence and authority of the Catholic Church. The first supernova, or “new star,” was observed in 1604, however.
The object bears Johannes Kepler’s name because he published a book titled De Stella nova in pede Serpentarii (On the New Star in Ophiuchus’s Foot) in which he described the findings.
But philosopher Lodovico delle Colombe, an ardent Aristotelian who thought the supernova was not new and had always been around but wasn’t always visible, was the first person to document the observations in Europe. Galileo disagreed and chose to challenge delle Colombe in a dissertation titled “Le Considerazioni Astronomiche di Alimberto Mauri” (The Astronomical Reflection of Alimberto Mauri), which translates as “The Astronomical Reflection of Alimberto Mauri.”
Alimberto Mauri: Who is He? Galileo, of course, is the issue. Although the authorship of this treatise has long been questioned, the strongest proof came from a letter discussing the work that Galileo himself signed. Unfortunately, it proved to be a fake, produced in the 1900s by Tobia Nicotra, a prolific forger. Although it was evident that Galileo created the painting, this couldn’t be established until now.
Galileo penned some notes around this time, and Cosci from the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia was particularly moved by one where the scientist bemoans the way delle Colombe spoke about him. Galileo is never mentioned in the work of Delle Colombe, as Cosci discovered it after searching for it. However, Alberto Mauri is mentioned, along with a certain Cecco (Galileo used Cecco da Ronchitti as a pseudonym) and a reference to “a certain doctor in Padua”—the city where Galileo taught and worked. Galileo himself confirmed in the message that he was the author, according to Cosci.
So why use a fictitious name? Without a doubt, it wasn’t done to get out of the Church’s later investigation. Actually, the purpose was to search for a new patron in Rome rather than the Venetian Republic. Galileo couldn’t be too open about job seeking with the enemy because Venice and the Papal state were at war, but he did devote the conversation to the pope’s personal finance.
The Considerazioni Astronomiche contribute to Galileo’s already extensive body of writing. He talked about the new star, and the mountains on the Moon, and made an attempt to explain how objects move in space. These are a few of the pillars upon which his astronomical observations would build to challenge the nearly 2,000-year-old paradigm of the cosmos.
