Galileo, title page from Le Operazione del Compasso Geometrico et Militare (The Operation of the Geometric and Military Compass), Padua, 1606, 1606

Item

Identifier: RB-GG1606-1

Staff Only

Galileo, title page from Le Operazione del Compasso Geometrico et Militare (The Operation of the Geometric and Military Compass), Padua, 1606 still image

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

Caltech Images is a collection of over ten thousand images representing Caltech's history and the people who have contributed to the Caltech story. It includes historic and contemporary photographs of people and places, reproductions of historic scientific artifacts and art, and illustrations drawn from Caltech's rare book collection in the history of science and technology.

Dates

Creation: 1606

Conditions Governing Access

For more information consult the Caltech Archives Reproduction and Permissions.

Extent

1 photographs (negative)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Compasso was Galileo’s first published book and was printed in Padua, where he had taught mathematics at the University since 1592. Written in the vernacular, the book was directed to a wide audience. It was dedicated to Cosimo II de’ Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had been one of Galileo’s students and who would hire him as his philosopher and mathematician a few years later.