Year | Book | Subject | Contribution |
---|---|---|---|
1610 | Sidereus nuncius [Sidereal Messenger] | Telescopic observations. | Qualitative observations of the stars, moon, Venus, moons of Jupiter, and the 'handles' on Saturn were polemical ammunition for Copernicanism. |
1613 | Lettere sulle macchie solari [Letters on sun spots] | Telescopic observations and mathematical analysis of sunspots. | Demonstration of solar 'imperfections', axial rotation, and contiguous nature of sunspots. |
1615 | Lettera a Madama Cristina [Letters to the Grand Duchess Christina] | Science and religion; philosophy of science. | Attempt to seperate scientific concerns from theological dogma; the strengths and limits of scientific inquiry. |
1623 | Il saggiatore [The Assayer] | Philosophy of science; wide discussion of troublesome physical phenomena. | Polemic on the nature of scientific investigation, particularly astronomical phenomena, based on observation & descriptive mathematics. |
1632 | Dialogo [Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World] | Cosmology in the broadest sense; Copernicanism; kinematics. | Brilliant literary polemic against Aristotelians in favor of Copernicus and the physics of a moving earth: inertia, relativity, and conservation of motion. |
1638 | Discorsi [Discourse on the Two New Sciences] | Terrestrial kinematics; theory of matter, strength of materials. | Mathematical (kinematic) demonstration and systematization of the science of motion and a discussion of the strength of materials. |