Both of Penn's copies of Galileo's Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems) are currently on loan to the Franklin Institute for their new exhibition, "Galileo, The Medici and The Age of Astronomy," featuring one of the two surviving telescopes made by Galileo. The majority of scientific instruments and artifacts on exhibit are from the Istitutio e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence, Italy, which is presently undergoing renovations. This is the first (and probably the last) time this important collection will leave Italy. The exhibition runs through September 7, 2009.

The Dialogo, published in Florence in 1632 under formal license from the Inquisition and shortly thereafter condemned by the same, is Galileo's formal argument for the Copernican view of the solar system, and is considered one of the landmark books in the history of science. It consists of a series of discussions between two philosophers--Salviati, a Copernican who presents some of Galileo's views directly, and Simplicio, a dedicated follower of Ptolemy and Aristotle--and a layman, Sagredo, who comes to be convinced by the arguments presented for the Copernican system.

For more information on the Franklin Institute exhibition.

Read Edward Rothstein's review of the exhibition in the April 3, 2009 edition of The New York Times.

For more information:
Lynne Farrington