Center for Italian Studies Conference to Honor 450th Anniversary of Galileo’s Birth

Stony Brook University’s Center for Italian Studies, in collaboration with the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics and the Office of International Academic Programs, is hosting a one-day conference on Friday, October 17, from 8:30 am to 6 pm, “Celebrating the 450th Anniversary Year of Galileo Galilei’s Birth.”

The conference, which will be held at the Simons Center, includes a variety of presentations by internationally renowned scholars:

Mark A. Peterson, Professor of Physics and Mathematics, Mt. Holyoke College, “Galileo’s Evolving Sense of What Mathematics Is”

Crystal Hall, Visiting Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities at Bowdoin College, “Galileo’s Library and the Computational Lens”

Nick Wilding, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Georgia State University, “Underground Astronomy: Publishing Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius

Wolf Schӓfer, Professor, Department of History and Director, Center for Global and Local History, Stony Brook University, and Dean of Fellows, American Academy in Berlin, “Galileo: The Great Tuscan as the First Star Professor: How He Managed To Get His Genius Properly Recognized in Florence”

Robert Crease, Chair, Department of Philosophy, Stony Brook University and Co-Editor-in-Chief, Physics in Perspective, “Galileo and the Humanities”

Richard Gambino, Professor Emeritus, CUNY/Queens College and Visiting Professor, Center for Italian Studies at Stony Brook (1994-1997), “Galileo: Mathematics and Nature”

Reverend George V. Coyne, S.J., Director of Vatican Observatory (1978-2006), Director Emeritus and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation (2006-2012), and McDevitt Chair of Religious Philosophy, Le Moyne College, “Galileo and His Times”

Luigi Fontanella, Professor, European Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Stony Brook University, with Lutenist Christopher Morrongiello, Music Department, Hofstra University, “Galileo: Poetry and Music”

The program will also include a staged reading by students from the Stony Brook University Department of Theatre Arts, Selections from Berthold Brecht’s Play, “Galileo,” directed by Steve Marsh. Closing remarks and a Wine and Cheese Reception will follow the reading.

The conference is free and open to the public. For more information visit the Center for Italian Studies website or call (631) 632-7444.

sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/happenings/oncampus/center-for-italian-studies-conference-to-honor-450th-anniversary-of-galileos-birth/