Written By: Francesca Newson
Galileo Galilei is renowned for his scientific discoveries, which had a profound impact on scientific understanding, laying the foundations for modern physics and astronomy. In addition to Galileo’s impact in advancing scientific knowledge, he also played a notable role in the development of the Italian language. His choice of writing in Italian rather than Latin—a language that had traditionally been used for intellectual subjects— significantly contributed to the development of Italian scientific vocabulary and popularised its use as a literary language.
Galileo, an Italian physicist and astronomer who was born in 1564, was seen as a new type of scientist who did not fit into the traditional framework of intellectual tradition. His most notable discovery was heliocentrism: that the earth rotates around the sun and the earth is not the centre of our solar system. He also asserted that bodies are not moved by angels or divine intelligence but rather by the earth’s general laws of motion. In doing so, he defied the teachings of the church using practical work and his own personal experiences to make this discovery. He also ignored traditional speculation based on work from ancient philosophers which had been supported by the Church. The animosity of his ideas effectively meant that he struggled his entire life.
Although Galileo initially wrote in Latin in his first scientific project (the Sidereus Nuncius Galles in 1610), he decided to switch to writing Italian; a choice motivated by pride in his own culture and the Italian language despite meaning that the circulation of his work was in fact disadvantaged. Even though the emancipation of the vernacular from Latin had begun in the fourteenth century, the shift from Latin to Italian was thought of as unusual and Galileo was criticised. Latin had long been used almost exclusively as an intellectual language and change was not welcomed by the Catholic church. However, Galileo stood firm and played his part in a wider trend where the Italian language became much more visible in many disciplines where it was not been previously used.
Writing in Italian was not without its challenges for Galileo, immediately he faced difficulties as Tuscan lacked much of the technical language he needed to use. Galileo therefore strove to achieve terminological clarity and precision by implementing new words, many of which would become part of the Italian scientific lexicon. He used words that existed before the seventeenth century but attached a new technical scientific meaning to them. Furthermore, Baroque poetry gave Galileo’s work literary recognition, by adopting many of the words coined by him. His emphasis on careful observation and experimentation and the detailed research he carried out on a vast array of animals meant that the language he developed provided Baroque poets with an up-to-date scientific lexicon to draw terms from.
Giovan Battista, the writer of the Andonis (published in 1623) was just one of these poets. He wrote the longest poem in Italian literature that describes the love affair between Adonis and Venus. He uses anatomical terms to describe the eye, the ear, and the nose. This was very significant, and it showed the impact of Galileo’s implementation of scientific language which had never been done before in poetry. In octaves 39-42 of the Andonis, Battista included Galileo’s description of the moon which not only showcases Galileo’s significant discoveries but also the development of his use of new scientific terms which in turn were picked up in other spheres.
The words that Galileo began to use were added to the official dictionary of the Italian language, the Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca. It was the first dictionary of Italian language and was first published in 1612. Although Galileo contributed to the first two editions, his interest and involvement was more significant with the third, which was published in 1650. It has been argued that the third Crusca significantly consolidated the field of lexicography which Galileo had played such a crucial role in developing.
Galileo’s work demonstrated a unique attitude towards scientific research as he investigated in a way which challenged traditional medieval methods of learning. Traditionally, the philosophy written by medical writers from classical antiquity were used as the basis for scientific learning. However, Galileo emphasised the value of undertaking investigative work himself as opposed to relying on these ancient texts. As a student of medicine in Pisa, he discovered the periodic vibration of the pendulum. Importantly, this discovery did not derive from scholastics lectures from the past but on practical skill where he studied physical phenomena. Therefore, Galileo was a significant force in promoting the use of the scientific method.
Whilst Galileo’s decision to write his findings in the vernacular was unusual, he was part of a wider movement in sixteenth-century Europe, where scientists began to promote the scientific use of their own languages. For instance, the French philosopher and scientist, René Descartes promoted using French in his work and Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer and mathematician, wrote crucial works in German. Like Galileo they also embraced the new way of investigating science with the use of the scientific method, undertaking scientific experiments. Scientists felt that they could challenge the tradition that intellectual work should be written in Latin, and they now had the freedom to write in their own languages. For Galileo considered it important to express the pride he had for his country by using Italian in his work. This also allowed him to demonstrate the opposition he had for conservative state authorities which had restricted such liberties in the past. Significantly, Galileo’s idea that the earth rotated the sun was met with opposition from the Roman inquisition in 1615, declaring that such ideas were heretical. However, even though the Church still maintained a strong control of the country, Galileo felt able to demonstrate his independence and new thinking by using the Italian language in his work.
Whilst Galileo is undoubtedly remembered for his scientific accomplishments, his development and use of scientific terms was significant. His scientific terminology was incorporated into seventeenth-century literature and became embedded into the Italian language. Galileo’s impact on the Italian language can still be felt today as many of the terms he coined are still used; clearly demonstrating the significant role Galileo played in the modernisation of the Italian language.
Bibliography
Marazzini, Claudio. Breve Storia Della Lingua Italiana. Bologna: Il Mulino, 2004.
Marazzini, Claudio. Il secondo Cinquecento e il Seicento. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1993.
Marazzini, Claudio and Maconi, Ludovica. La Lingua Italiana: Storia, Testi, Strumenti. Il Mulino, 2015.
Olschki, Leonardo. ‘The scientific personality of Galileo,’ Bulletin of the History of Medicine 12, no. 2 (1942): 248-73.
Salvatore, Eugenio. ‘Il Capitolo 7.’ Nella Storia dell’italiano. La lingua, i testi, a cura di Giovanna Frosini. Roma: Salerno, 2020.
Retrospect Journal 