Galileo's Idol: Gianfrancesco Sagredo and the Politics of Knowledge [Hardcover]

Galileos Idoloffers a vivid depiction of Galileos friend, student, and patron, Gianfrancesco Sagredo (15711620). Sagredos life, which has never before been studied in depth, brings to light the inextricable relationship between the production, distribution, and reception of political information and scientific knowledge.
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Nick Wilding uses as wide a variety of sources as possiblepaintings, ornamental woodcuts, epistolary hoaxes, intercepted letters, murder case files, and othersto challenge the picture of early modern science as pious, serious, and ecumenical. Through his analysis of the figure of Sagredo, Wilding offers a fresh perspective on Galileo as well as new questions and techniques for the study of science. The result is a book that turns our attention from actors as individuals to shifting collective subjects, often operating under false identities; from a world made of sturdy print to one of frail instruments and mistranscribed manuscripts; from a complacent Europe to an emerging system of complex geopolitics and globalizing information systems; and from an epistemology based on the stolid problem of eternal truths to one generated through and in the service of playful, politically engaged, and cunning schemes.

Nick Wildingis assistant professor in the Department of History at Georgia State University.

Introduction

1 The Generation and Dissolution of Images
2 Becoming a “Great Magneticall Man”
3 Drawing Weapons
4 Interceptions
5 Interconnections
6 Transalpine Messengers
7 Masks

Conclusion: Science, Intercepted

Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index

"Brilliant, thoughtful, and an absolute pleasure to read."

"This slim volume is one of the most intriguing books to appear on Galileo in recent years. It is refreshing to read an account that moves forwardlS.