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Alla conquista di Galileo
February 21 @ 18:00 - 19:30
Join us for the presentation of Prof. Massimo Bucciantini‘s new book. The author will discuss his work in conversation with Gerardo Tocchini, with an introduction by Giovanni Sordini.
The event will be enriched by readings from the celebrated Italian actress Ottavia Piccolo.
A journey through myth, politics, and Italian history
To whom does Galileo belong? This book explores the political and cultural battles fought over Galileo's legacy for more than two centuries. Bucciantini investigates how Galileo's image has been transformed throughout history: from a revolutionary republican symbol and a martyr of the Italian Risorgimento to a "pious scientist" claimed by the Catholic Church in the 20th century. A fascinating journey through myths, politics, and the history of Italy.
"What intrigues us here is the political use of his myth. A use that was vast and was so at different latitudes, in which at a certain point the events that saw him as a protagonist transformed into instruments of ideological and cultural struggle."
Massimo Bucciantini
Massimo Bucciantini taught History of Science and Contemporary Italian Literature at the University of Siena and was a visiting professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and at ETH Zurich. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Museo Galileo in Florence.
His publications include: Galileo e Keplero. Filosofia, cosmologia e teologia nell’Età della Controriforma (Einaudi 2003, Louis Liard Prize from the Institut de France); Esperimento Auschwitz (Einaudi 2011, Mario Di Nola Prize from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei); Il telescopio di Galileo. Una storia europea (with M. Camerota and F. Giudice, Einaudi 2012); Campo dei Fiori. Storia di un monumento maledetto (Einaudi 2015, Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize); Un Galileo a Milano (Einaudi 2017); Addio Lugano bella. Storie di ribelli, anarchici e lombrosiani (Einaudi 2020, Pozzale Luigi Russo Prize); Pensare l’universo. Italo Calvino e la scienza (Donzelli 2023); In un altro mondo. Galileo Galilei, Vincent van Gogh, Primo Levi (il Saggiatore 2023); and Siamo tutti galileiani (Einaudi 2023).
Free entry subject to availability.