{"id":9586,"date":"2021-10-15T14:43:27","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T14:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/22\/furman-acquires-a-landmark-in-human-history\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:43:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:43:59","slug":"furman-acquires-a-landmark-in-human-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/furman-acquires-a-landmark-in-human-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Furman acquires \u2018a landmark in human history\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a handful of astronomers in history whose contributions were so extraordinary that they became a household name.<\/p>\n

Galileo is one of them.<\/p>\n

And now Furman University has acquired a book written by the famed Italian astronomer and physicist that is being used in the classroom and admired by students and faculty alike.<\/p>\n

Published in 1699, \u201cDialogue Concerning the Two World Chief Systems\u201d is actually two works of Galileo bound together, said Jeffrey Makala, associate director for special collections and university archivist.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a complete fifth edition \u2013 the fourth in Latin \u2013 and Galileo\u2019s second work on mathematics, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a chance to pore through it,\u201d he said, \u201cand we don\u2019t have anything quite like it here in the collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Physics professor David Turner uses the Galileo text in class. \/ Jeffrey Makala<\/p><\/div>\n

Makala said he had been looking to acquire a rare Wordsworth volume when the pandemic hit and the deal fell through. Then Furman physics professor David Turner came across the Galileo tome, which was being offered by a bookbinder in the area.<\/p>\n

The two decided to go for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a real fun thing for me,\u201d said Turner. \u201cI\u2019ve been fond of old books for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make the purchase, Makala tapped the Wells Family Endowment for Special Collections, which was recently established by Robert Brabham \u201968, and his wife, Edla.<\/p>\n

Turner said he agreed to pay half as a gift to the library because it illustrates the liberal arts and sciences notion that he considers to be Furman\u2019s greatest strength.<\/p>\n

So far, he said, he\u2019s used the book in his Survey of Science for Non-Science Majors class and plans to use it in Physics 111 as well. A plan is underway\u00a0to make and bind five copies, one for Turner and four for the library. These copies will be available for check out, said Turner, who said that providing such access is in the spirit of Galileo: To put this work in the hands of the people.<\/p>\n

\u201cDialogue\u201d is the book that argues for the Copernican theory that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the solar system, Makala said. It\u2019s also the book that got him into trouble with the Pope, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 17th century, the (Catholic) Church was still trying to hold onto power and control,\u201d he said, \u201cand science and the printing press and Protestant reformers were trying to challenge the Church in print.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

A page from the newly acquired text. \/Jeffrey Makala<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition, Turner said, the original publication from 1642 included a drawing of three characters, one of whom was considered to be a fool and resembled the Pope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what really started the trouble between Galileo and the Pope,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Pope took this quite personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The men said that Galileo is often called the father of modern science because he used the telescope to prove that the solar system is heliocentric.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn many ways, this (book) is a landmark in human history,\u201d added Turner. \u201cIt begins the modern scientific age.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book, which was obtained in September, will be used in a variety of classes from science and history to religion, Makala said. People also can come to the Special Collections reading room at the library to study it, he said.<\/p>\n

But most of the time, it will be stored in a dark, climate-controlled closed stack equipped with alarms, Makala said. Meanwhile, Turner said he hopes to have some copies made to make the book more broadly accessible.<\/p>\n

Makala said he\u2019s been waiting to make a major acquisition using the three-year-old Wells Endowment, and that this was the first opportunity he had to get a volume the school normally wouldn\u2019t be able to acquire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a milestone text in the history of ideas, of science,\u201d said Makala, who collects materials for Furman from across about 1,000 years. \u201cIt\u2019s totally cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a handful of astronomers in history whose contributions were so extraordinary that they became a household name. Galileo is one of them. And now Furman University has acquired […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,52,49,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-library","category-physics","category-top-four-news-2nd-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9586\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}