Essays on Galileo and the History and Philosophy of Science

For forty years, beginning with the publication of the first modern English translation of the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Stillman Drake was the most original and productive scholar of Galileo’s scientific work. During those years, Drake published sixteen books on Galileo, including translations of almost all the major writings, and Galileo at Work, the most comprehensive study of Galileo’s life and works ever written. Drake also published about 130 papers, of which nearly 100 are on Galileo and the rest on related aspects of the history and philosophy of science. The three-volume collection Essays on Galileo and the History and Philosophy of Science includes 80 of those papers. In the papers included in Volume III, Drake explores some of the more technical and practical aspects of Galileo’s work, focusing on his contributions to scientific instrumentation. The essays then turn to the history of science, demonstrating the breadth of Drake’s interests both beyond and relating to the work of Galileo. These interests are again evident in the final papers in the collection, in which Drake writes on the philosophy of science and language.This collection draws to conclusion Drake’s writings on Galileo, capturing the influences and themes in Galileo’s life and work.