"Moses must have looked, when he gazed out over the promised land."" The Man Who Sold the Moon is also the title of two collections of Heinlein's short stories. Both collections include ""Let There Be Light"", ""The Roads Must Roll"", and ""Requiem""; the first also includes ""Life-Line"" and ""Blowups Happen"". Although the science fiction film ""Destination Moon"" is generally described as being based on Heinlein's novel ""Rocket Ship Galileo"", the story in fact bears a much closer resemblance to ""The Man Who Sold the Moon"". However, the technology of ""The Man Who Sold the Moon"" is very different: its rocket"
"Bellini Observatory was completed on Mount Etna where Pietro believed that the high altitude would improve the spectroscopic observations of the sun, and potentially allow direct observations of the solar corona without an eclipse. He also recommended the construction of the Catania Observatory in 1885. The crater Tacchini on the Moon is named for him, as well as the asteroid 8006 Tacchini. Pietro Tacchini Pietro Tacchini (March 21, 1838 – March 24, 1905) was an Italian astronomer. He was born and raised in Modena, Italy. He studied engineering at the University of Padova. At the age of 21, he was"
"in the construction of the microscope. He was also a diligent and skillful observer, and busied himself not only with astronomical subjects, such as the double stars, the satellites of Jupiter and the measurement of the polar and equatorial diameters of the sun, but also with biological studies of the circulation of the sap in plants, the fructification of plants, infusoria etc. He was the first to observe the pollen tube. He invented the dipleidoscope and also the direct vision prism. The crater Amici on the Moon is named in his honour. Giovanni Battista Amici Giovanni Battista Amici (; 25"
"crater Manzinus on the Moon is named after him. Carlo Antonio Manzini Conte Carlo Antonio Manzini (1599–1677/1678) was an Italian astronomer and mathematician. (His last name is sometimes given as Mangini or Mansini.) He was a member of the local nobility of Bologna. In 1626 he published ""Tabulae primi mobilis: quibus nova dirigendi ars et praecipuè circuli positionis inventio, non minus facilis quam exacta ostenditur"". This volume presented tables for the construction of astrological charts. His 1660 work, ""L'occhiale all'occhio, dioptrica practica"", is one of the oldest accounts of the techniques for manufacturing lenses through grinding and polishing. Sources list"
"some years, continued his teaching until a few months before his death in that city. Giovanni Inghirami Giovanni Inghirami, Sch.P., (April 16, 1779 – August 15, 1851) was an Italian astronomer, as well as being a Catholic priest and Piarist. There is a valley on the moon named Vallis Inghirami after him as well as a crater. Inghirami was born in Volterra, Tuscany, in 1779. His family produced two other distinguished scholars, Tommaso (1470–1516) (a humanist scholar), and his brother, Francesco (1772–1846), an archaeologist. Inghirami's education was received in his native city at the College of Saint Michael. He joined"
"astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli, who gave the large naked-eye spots the names of seas and the telescopic spots (now called craters) the name of philosophers and astronomers. In 1753 the Croatian Jesuit and astronomer Roger Joseph Boscovich discovered the absence of atmosphere on the Moon. In 1824 Franz von Gruithuisen explained the formation of craters as a result of meteorite strikes. The possibility that the Moon contains vegetation and is inhabited by selenites was seriously considered by major astronomers even into the first decades of the 19th century. In 1834–1836, Wilhelm Beer and Johann Heinrich Mädler published their four-volume and"
"Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana (6 November 1781 – 20 January 1864) was an Italian astronomer and mathematician. He is considered one of the premiere Italian scientists of his age. The crater Plana on the Moon is named in his honor. Plana was born in Voghera, Italy to Antonio Maria Plana and Giovanna Giacoboni. At the age of 15 he was sent to live with his uncles in Grenoble to complete his education. In 1800 he entered the École Polytechnique, and was one of the students of Joseph-Louis Lagrange. Joseph Fourier, impressed by Plana's abilities, managed to"
"all records of this period of his life have been lost. A letter survives from 1682 recording a sighting of Halley's Comet. He also wrote on economics, observing that demand for a particular commodity was fixed, and making comments on coinage and the value of money (1683). A crater on the Moon, at 45.8S, 20.6W, is named after him. Geminiano Montanari Geminiano Montanari (1 June 1633 – 13 October 1687) was an Italian astronomer, lens-maker, and proponent of the experimental approach to science. He is best known for his observation, made around 1667, that the second-brightest star (called Algol as"
"an important principle of vision science. The crater Ricco on the Moon is named after him, as is the asteroid 18462 Ricco. Ricco was also awarded the Janssen Medal in 1906 by the French Academy of Sciences for his work in astrophysics. He was also awarded the Prix Jules Janssen of the Société astronomique de France (French Astronomical Society) in 1914. He died in Rome, Italy. Annibale Riccò Annibale Riccò (September 14, 1844 – September 23, 1919) was an Italian astronomer. He was born in Milan, Italy. In 1868 he was awarded a bachelor's degree from the ""Università di Modena"","
"from variations of temperature. Campani published in 1678 a work on horology, and on the manufacture of lenses for telescopes. His younger brother Giuseppe was also an ingenious optician (indeed the attempt to correct chromatic aberration has been ascribed to him instead of to Matteo), and is, besides, noteworthy as an astronomer, especially for his discovery, by the aid of a telescope of his own construction, of the spots in Jupiter, the credit of which was, however, also claimed by Eustachio Divini. Matteo Campani-Alimenis Matteo or Mathieu Campani-Alimenis (born in Spoleto, Italy) was a mechanician and natural philosopher of the"
"Johannes Kepler, the German mathematician and astronomer. Kepler encouraged Zucchi’s interest in astronomy. Zucchi maintained correspondence with Kepler after returning to Rome. At one point when Kepler was in financial difficulties, Zucchi, at the urging of the Jesuit scientist Father Paul Guldin, gave a telescope of his own design to Kepler, who mentioned the gift in his book “The Dream”. Zucchi along with fellow Jesuit Daniello Bartoli may have been the first to see the belts on the planet Jupiter on May 17, 1630, and Zucchi reported spots on Mars in 1640. The crater Zucchius on the Moon is named"
"focus, results in a non-inverted and upright image. Galileo’s best telescope magnified objects about 30 times. Because of flaws in its design, such as the shape of the lens and the narrow field of view, the images were blurry and distorted. Despite these flaws, the telescope was still good enough for Galileo to explore the sky. The Galilean telescope could view the phases of Venus, and was able to see craters on the Moon and four moons orbiting Jupiter. Parallel rays of light from a distant object (y) would be brought to a focus in the focal plane of the"
"observations made by Galileo Galilei (such as that Jupiter has moons) called into question some of the tenets of geocentrism but did not seriously threaten it. Because he observed dark ""spots"" on the moon, craters, he remarked that the moon was not a perfect celestial body as had been previously conceived. This was the first time someone could see imperfections on a celestial body that was supposed to be composed of perfect aether. As such, because the moon's imperfections could now be related to those seen on Earth, one could argue that neither was unique: rather, they were both just"
"this theft actually occurred (see Antonio Favaro, ""Documenti inediti per la Storia dei MSS. Galileiani"", Rome, 1886, pp. 8–14). The crater Reiner on the Moon is named after him. Vincentio Reinieri Vincentio (Vincenzio, Vincenzo) Reinieri (Renieri, Reiner) (March 30, 1606 – November 5, 1647) was an Italian mathematician and astronomer. He was a friend and disciple of Galileo Galilei. Born at Genoa, he was a member of the Olivetan order. His order sent him to Rome in 1623. He met Galileo at Siena in 1633. Galileo had Reinieri update and attempt to improve his astronomical tables of the motions of"
"Aloysius Lilius Aloysius Lilius (c. 1510 – 1576), also variously referred to as Luigi Lilio, Luigi Giglio, was an Italian doctor, astronomer, philosopher and chronologist, and also the ""primary author"" who provided the proposal that (after modifications) became the basis of the Gregorian Calendar reform of 1582. The crater Lilius on the Moon is named after him, as is the asteroid 2346 Lilio. In computer science, the Lilian date is the number of days since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar on 15 October 1582. Not much is known about the early life of Lilius/Lilio/Giglio. It is known that he"
"estimates of the density and mass of the Earth. He died in Milan. The crater Carlini on the Moon is named after him. Francesco Carlini Francesco Carlini (January 7, 1783 – August 29, 1862) was an Italian astronomer. Born in Milan, he became director of the Brera Astronomical Observatory there in 1832. He published ""Nuove tavole de moti apparenti del sole"" in 1832. In 1810, he had already published ""Esposizione di un nuovo metodo di construire le tavole astronomiche applicato alle tavole del sole"". Together with Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana, he participated in a geodetic project in Austria and Italy."
"Galileo's objective lens Galileo's objective lens is a specific objective lens held in the Museo Galileo, Florence, Italy. It was used by Galileo Galilei in the Galilean telescope with which he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter in 1610. The lens has a diameter of 38mm and a gilt brass housing. The frame is made of ebony and ivory and has dimensions of 410mm x 300mm. In 1677, the Medici commissioned Vittorio Crosten to build the ebony and ivory frame in which the lens has since been preserved. The frame is carved with floral motifs, images of scientific instruments"
"probably a crater, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope on Ceres, has been informally named ""Piazzi"". Giuseppe Piazzi Giuseppe Piazzi (; 16 July 1746 – 22 July 1826) was an Italian Catholic priest of the Theatine order, mathematician, and astronomer. He was born in Ponte in Valtellina, and died in Naples. He established an observatory at Palermo, now the ""Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo – Giuseppe S. Vaiana"". Perhaps his most famous discovery was the first dwarf planet, Ceres. No documented account of Piazzi's scientific education is available in any of the biographies of the astronomer, even in the oldest ones."
"Giovanni Inghirami Giovanni Inghirami, Sch.P., (April 16, 1779 – August 15, 1851) was an Italian astronomer, as well as being a Catholic priest and Piarist. There is a valley on the moon named Vallis Inghirami after him as well as a crater. Inghirami was born in Volterra, Tuscany, in 1779. His family produced two other distinguished scholars, Tommaso (1470–1516) (a humanist scholar), and his brother, Francesco (1772–1846), an archaeologist. Inghirami's education was received in his native city at the College of Saint Michael. He joined the religious Order of the Piarist Fathers at the age of 17, and later became"
"the ""Law of Signs"". He was probably the father of the instrument maker Antonio Bianchino. The crater Blanchinus on the Moon is named after him. Giovanni Bianchini should not be confused with two similarly-named Italians with their own lunar craters: Francesco Bianchini (1662–1729) (and the Bianchini crater), and Giuseppe Biancani (1566–1624) (and the Blancanus crater). Giovanni Bianchini Giovanni Bianchini (in Latin, Johannes Blanchinus) (1410 – c. 1469) was a professor of mathematics and astronomy at the University of Ferrara and court astrologer of Leonello d'Este. He was an associate of Georg Purbach and Regiomontanus. The letters exchanged with Regiomontanus in"
"his pulpit because some of his teaching was considered as unacceptable. From then on he was a teacher in the Plymouth Brethren assemblies in Belgium. Information from his grandson whom I knew in Switzerland in the 1970s. T C F Stunt Casimir Marie Gaudibert Casimir Marie Gaudibert (4 March 1823 – 9 June 1901) was a French amateur astronomer and selenographer. Gaudibert produced a map of the Moon in 1887. Under the direction of Camille Flammarion, Emile Bertaux subsequently produced a globe of the moon based on Gaudibert's lunar map. The crater Gaudibert on the Moon is named after him."
"Niccolò Zucchi Niccolò Zucchi (; December 6, 1586 – May 21, 1670) was an Italian Jesuit, astronomer, and physicist. As an astronomer he may have been the first to see the belts on the planet Jupiter (on May 17, 1630), and reported spots on Mars in 1640. His """"Optica philosophia experimentis et ratione a fundamentis constituta"""", published in 1652–56, described his 1616 experiments using a curved mirror instead of a lens as a telescope objective, which may be the earliest known description of a reflecting telescope. In his book he also demonstrated that phosphors generate rather than store light. He"
"Francesco Fontana Francesco Fontana (1580–) was an Italian lawyer (University of Naples) and an astronomer. He created woodcuts showing the Moon and the planets as he saw them through a self-constructed telescope. In 1646 he published most of them in the book ""Novae coelestium terrestriumq[ue] rerum observationes, et fortasse hactenus non vulgatae."" In 1645, he claimed to have observed a satellite of Venus (Paul Stroobant demonstrated in 1887 that all similar observations were not related to a putative satellite of Venus). The lunar crater Fontana and the crater Fontana on Mars are named in his honor. Note: See Donato Creti"
"of Siena. His comedy ""Alessandro"" was adapted by George Chapman into ""May Day"" (printed 1611). The lunar crater Piccolomini is named after him. Alessandro Piccolomini Alessandro Piccolomini (13 June 1508 – 12 March 1579) was an Italian astronomer and philosopher from Siena, who promoted the popularization in the vernacular of Latin and Greek scientific and philosophical treatises. His early works include ""Il Dialogo della bella creanza delle donne, o Raffaella"" (1539) and the comedies ""Amor costante"", and ""Alessandro"", (other titles are erroneously attributed to him) which were sponsored and produced by the Sienese Accademia degl'Intronati, of which he was a"
"forced to recant and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. The contributions that Galileo made to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus; his discovery, in 1609, of Jupiter's four largest moons (subsequently given the collective name of the ""Galilean moons""); and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also pursued applied science and technology, inventing, among other instruments, a military compass. His discovery of the Jovian moons was published in 1610 and enabled him to obtain the position of mathematician and philosopher to the Medici court. As such, he was expected to"
"Tycho Brahe, Galileo, Descartes and Newton, it became generally accepted that Aristotelian physics was neither correct nor viable. Despite this, it survived as a scholastic pursuit well into the seventeenth century, until universities amended their curricula. In Europe, Aristotle's theory was first convincingly discredited by Galileo's studies. Using a telescope, Galileo observed that the Moon was not entirely smooth, but had craters and mountains, contradicting the Aristotelian idea of the incorruptibly perfect smooth Moon. Galileo also criticized this notion theoretically; a perfectly smooth Moon would reflect light unevenly like a shiny billiard ball, so that the edges of the moon's"
"of the craters of Venus is named after her. Caterina Scarpellini Caterina Scarpellini (29 October 1808 – 28 November 1873), was an Italian astronomer and meteorologist. She was born in Foligno on 29 October 1808, Scarpellini moved to Rome at the age of 18. She was an assistant to her uncle, who was the director of the Roman Campidoglio Observatory. She was a corresponding member of the Accademia dei Georgofili in Florence. She discovered a comet on 1 April 1854 and established a meteorological station in Rome in 1856. In 1872 she was honored by the Italian government for her"
"heard of this story and decided to use the ""Dutch perspective glass"" and point it towards the heavens. In 1609, Galileo Galilei first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky and made astounding discoveries that changed mankind's conception of the world: mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye, and moons around Jupiter. Astronomical observatories around the world promised to reveal how planets and stars are formed, how galaxies assemble and evolve, and what the structure and shape of our Universe actually are. In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his"
"Gerolamo Sersale Gerolamo Sersale (in Latin, Sirsalis) (1584–1654) was an Italian Jesuit astronomer and selenographer. His surname is from a noble Neapolitan family that originated in Sorrento. The town Sersale, a commune in the southern Italian province of Catanzaro, was founded in 1620. A Jesuit priest, Sersale drew a fairly precise map of a full moon in July 1650. After it was drawn, the map's existence was known to other astronomers only through being mentioned in Riccioli's ""Almagestum novum"". However, today it can be seen in the Naval Observatory of San Fernando in Cadiz, Spain. The lunar crater Sirsalis is"
"Giovanni Battista Amici Giovanni Battista Amici (; 25 March 1786 – 10 April 1863) was an Italian astronomer, microscopist, and botanist. Amici was born in Modena, in present-day Italy. After studying at Bologna, he became professor of mathematics at Modena, and in 1831 was appointed inspector-general of studies in the Duchy of Modena. A few years later he was chosen director of the observatory at Florence, where he also lectured at the museum of natural history. Amici died in Florence in 1863. His name is best known for the improvements he effected in the mirrors of reflecting telescopes and especially"
"""""recklessly (ascribing) the invention"""" Historian Al Van Helden notes in his ""The Galileo Project"" that the claims Zucchi used a reflecting telescope to observe Jupiter and Mars as ""wildly improbable"". Henry C. King in his work on ""The History of the Telescope"" noted that Zucchi was using a refracting (Galilean) telescope in his astronomical work and a publication by the ""British Astronomical Association"" notes for some of his observations Zucchi was using refracting telescopes manufactured by Eustachio Divini and Giuseppe Campani. Niccolò Zucchi Niccolò Zucchi (; December 6, 1586 – May 21, 1670) was an Italian Jesuit, astronomer, and physicist."
"the topographic mapping of Italy. He supervised construction of lighthouses for the ports of the Papal States. In 1858, he traveled to France and Germany to procure the necessary projection lenses. The lunar crater Secchi and the Martian crater Secchi are both named after him, as is a main belt asteroid, 4705 Secchi. The two STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) spacecraft each carry an instrument package called SECCHI (Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation). During his career, Fr. Secchi published about 730 papers in scientific journals. He also published a number of books. Angelo Secchi Fr. Angelo Secchi SJ"
"Jupiter in 1610, which are now collectively known as the Galilean moons, in his honor. This discovery was the first known observation of satellites orbiting another planet. He also found that our Moon had craters and observed, and correctly explained, sunspots, and that Venus exhibited a full set of phases resembling lunar phases. Galileo argued that these facts demonstrated incompatibility with the Ptolemaic model, which could not explain the phenomenon and would even contradict it. With the moons it demonstrated that the earth does not have to have everything orbiting it and that other parts of the solar system could"