Galileo Galilei's "Two New Sciences"

This book aims to make GalileoGalilei (1564-1642) accessible to the modern readerby refashioning the great scientist's masterpiece "Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences"in today's language. GalileoGalilei stands as one of the most important figures in history, not simply for his achievements in astronomy, physics, and engineering and for revolutionizing science and the scientific method in general, but also for the role that he played in the (still ongoing) drama concerning entrenched power and its desire to stifle any knowledge that may threaten it. Therefore, it is important that today's readerscome to understand and appreciate what Galilei accomplished and wrote. But the mindset that shapes how we see the world today is quite different from the mindset -- and language -- of Galilei and his contemporaries. Another obstacle to a fullunderstanding of Galilei's writings is posed bythe countless historical, philosophical, geometrical, and linguistic references he made, along with his often florid prose, with its blendof Italian and Latin. De Angelis'newrendition of the workincludes translations of the originalgeometrical figures into algebraic formulae in modern notation andallows the non-specialist reader to follow the thread of Galileo's thought and in a way that was barely possible until now.