Copernicus placed the Earth around the Sun and the Sun at the center of the then known solar system; Ptolemy instead, by developing the geocentric system of Aristotle and Hipparchus, had placed the Earth at the center of the system.
What came later was determined by centuries of scientific darkness.
The Church, in the period of Galileo, was very careful to avoid any flaw in its power. His action was constant, day after day, year after year, in censuring and judging heretical thoughts, words and works even of great minds recognized by the whole world.
Galileo was a great scientist and his work was a revolution in Italy and in the world and as such it could be dangerous.
The dialogue of the highest systems, written following the style of the philosophers of the past, sees three friends spend a few days together to discuss, study, deepen, philosophize; these are Salviati, Simplicio and Sagredo and, from time to time, the three refer directly to a friend who is none other than Galileo himself.
In effect, on many occasions, Galileo himself appears to be an acute scientist, a deep and attentive thinker, sometimes subtly ironic towards those who have always accepted without any proof what was said by ancient thinkers, mainly Aristotle; is clear that Salviati if you take it mainly with those who did not know how to understand Aristotle and who does the parrot without understanding or rejecting new ideas just because they are contrary to the old ones, without scientific verification, without carrying out tests, only and exclusively for the party taken.
Simplicio represents exactly the opposite figure to the scientist, represents the Aristotelian convinced beyond the reasonable doubt. One who defends Aristotle by the sword, even in the face of evidence, the philosopher who has only scratched the surface of nature and its language, but has never gone beyond.
Sagredo is an intelligent person, gifted with an open mind and eager to understand, improve, learn, ask questions, experiments, new experiences. In truth Salviati and Sagredo really existed, they were two friends and fellow students of Galileo. The first, Filippo Salviati, was a Florentine and academic of the Lincei and of the Crusca, a friend and disciple of Galileo. The Second, Giovan Francesco Sagredo, was instead a Venetian gentleman, a friend and disciple of Galileo, intelligent and curious, a scholar of all that was linked to magnetism, he devoted his life to studies. Perhaps Simplicius also existed, probably it was the Pope.
One question: why read the dialogue of the highest systems?
I do not know if you'll ever do it, nor do I know the reasons that will push you to do it, but I can tell you why I did it.
In the first place to learn more about a great man from the past, a man who created the future thanks to his studies. Moreover, as you well know who has already read some of my other articles, I am simply curious and curiosity gives me the strength and the desire to explore the past in search of lessons to be used to build the future.
Are not these reasons enough?
For me, yes, now you get the book and read it ... study it, understand it, spread its ideas and philosophy.
Alessandro Rugolo
