{"id":64,"date":"2015-06-16T15:00:27","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T19:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/researchbdev.wpengine.com\/galileos-library\/?page_id=64"},"modified":"2025-08-20T12:58:47","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:58:47","slug":"chronology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.bowdoin.edu\/galileos-library\/archive\/chronology\/","title":{"rendered":"Chronology"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Histogram

Histogram of the publication years for editions of books known to have been in Galileo’s library made in Excel with Statplus, color-coded by important periods before and during his lifetime using Photoshop. Vertical lines indicate notable historical events that define these periods. Figure by Hannah Rafkin.<\/p><\/div>\n

Basic statistical computation of the above data would lead scholars to several preliminary conclusions related to Galileo’s biography, but books resist the fixity implied by means and standard deviations of their metadata. The collection neatly covers 150 years, but given the many early years without coverage, the median value is 1614. Yet, the histogram really shows the earliest that Galileo could have acquired a book, or that his father could have added the book to his own collection that Galileo inherited in 1591.
\nCurrent details on Galileo’s library can be found in the forthcoming article: Crystal Hall, “Galileo’s Library Revisted,” Galileaena<\/em> (in press); bibliographic information and a partially searchable database can be found at the website of the [1]<\/sup><\/a>Galileo Museum in Florence: http:\/\/www.museogalileo.it\/en\/explore\/libraries\/library\/galileolibrary.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>