Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union

Table of Contents - 2009 - Volume 5, Highlights H15 (Highlights of Astronomy)  

Contributed Papers

The Legacies of Galileo

Franco Pacinia1

a1 Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, University of Florence, Italy email: pacini@arcetri.astro.it

The scientific community is celebrating in 2009 the International Year of Astronomy. The timing coincides with the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical use of a telescope, when Galileo's observations demonstrated that the Earth is not alone in the Universe. One can hardly think of a more important event in the history of mankind.