International Year of Astronomy

To commemorate The International Year of Astronomy, Special Collections is once again highlighting books and manuscripts from our History of Science collection. 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s telescope, and we are displaying some key items related to Galileo and the history of astronomy.  Galileo’s Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems and an early description of how to construct his telescope will be exhibited.  Other items include Christiaan Huygens’ published account of Saturn’s rings, early 20th-century photographs of the Milky Way, and manuscript astronomical observations by Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre, the father of the metric system.

The exhibit will be viewable in L. Tom Perry Special Collections’ lobby area through the month of October.