In 1643/4 the once-famous Francis Cleyn painted the unhappy young heir of Corfe Castle, John Bankes, and his tutor, Dr Maurice Williams. The painter is now almost forgotten,the painting much neglected, and the sitters themselves have left little to mark their lives, but on the table of the painting lies a book, open to an immediately identifiable and very significant page. The representation omits the author's name and the book's title; it sits there as a code, as only viewers who had encountered the original and the characteristic figures on its frontispiece would have known its significance. The book is Galileo's Dialogue on the two chief world systems (1632), the defence of Copernican cosmology that incited the infamous clash between its author and the Church, and its presence in this painting is no accident, but instead a statement of learning, attitudes, and cosmopolitan engagement in European discourse by the painting's English subjects. Grasping hold of the clue, John Helibron deciphers the significance of this contentious book's appearance in a painting from Stuart England to unravel the interlocking threads of art history, political and religious history, and the history of science. Drawing on unexploited archival material and a wide range of printed works, he weaves together English court culture and Italian connections, as well as the astronomical and astrological knowledge propagated in contemporary almanacs and deployed in art, architecture, plays, masques, and political discourse. Heilbron also explores the biographies of Sir John Bankes (father of the sitter), Sir Maurice, and the painter, Francis Cleyn, setting them into the narrative of their rich and cultured history.

Since the dawn of time, man has been fascinated by the night sky and the heavenly bodies that inhabit it. In 1609, Galileo Galilei created an instrument that would change the way the world looked at the heavens forever - the telescope. Galileo: Images of the Universe is a magnificently illustrated volume that takes readers on a journey via the works of artists great and small, known and unknown, from the mystical and poetic visions of the heavens held in Egypt and Mesopotamia, through the Greek cosmogonies and the planetary architecture of Ptolemy, to the heliocentric theories of Copernicus that inspired the likes of Galileo, Kepler, and Newton to create the modern concept of the universe.

In this lively and stimulating account of Galileo’s life, which captures all the excitement of scientific and astronomical discovery, the author looks behind the legend of the man to discover the true story of this Italian colossus. Based on the most recent scholarly research and including translations of important contemporary documents and letters, many of them Galileo’s own, this is the first historical novel about the acknowledged Father of Modern Science for fifty years.

Gottlieb paints a canvas of hope as people begin to look deeper into this event called global warming. He takes readers into a world that could easily be the story of their lives.

Half a billion miles away, a swirling mass of hurricanes and clouds, the king of the planets presides over a little group of worlds that has long dazzled astronomers. This volume tells the story of the American space probe, Galileo, which has been studying Jupiter and its moons. It features first-hand testimonies from the men and women who were involved in making Galileo's odyssey happen, and it goes behind the scenes to learn how many times the project was saved from disaster before its ultimate triumph.