Re: [Phys-l] readings for general public

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

> 1) Galileo's two "Dialogues" (Chief World Systems and New Sciences).
> You may object that these were not written for the general public,

Au contraire, they were written for the general public.

> ... I put it in
> this category as he wrote in Italian and not Latin.

Right.

According to Stillman Drake, who is the expert on such things, the 
fact that Galileo wrote in Italian -- in an easy-to-read style -- 
was a big deal.  If he had written in the polite, obscure, scholarly 
Latin, the authorities would have been more inclined to tolerate 
heretical notions.  There was a notion of academic freedom, provided
the discussions remained academic.

Remember there was a Reformation going on at the time, and the 
idea that Galileo would invoke the power of public opinion
against the power of the church was as annoying as the physics
ideas themselves.  The medium was part of the message.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message_(phrase)