The appearance of three comets in the autumn of 1618 touched off a controversy of such proportions that its effects are still inextricably associated with some

Although the development of ideas about the motion and trajectory of comets has been investigated piecemeal, we lack a comprehensive and detailed survey of ph-

One of the most significant events in the history of Western civilization was the cosmological revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the most salient

This collection of essays is a tribute to Stillman Drake by some of his friends and colleagues, and by others on whom his work has had a formative influence. It

The remarkable astronomical discoveries made by Galileo with the new telescope in 1609-10 led to his famous disputes with philosophers and religious authorities