In the year 1636, when the Count de Noailles, the French ambassador at Rome, was returning to he paid a visit to Galileo at Arcetri, with whom he had for merly corresponded. Galileo presented him with a manu script copy of his great work, entitled Discursus et D emon strationes Mathematicce circa ducts novas Scientias fiertinentes ad Illechanicam et Motum Localem. The Count de Noail les shelved this work to several of the philosophers at Pa ris, and actually sent it to be printed by the Elzivirs at Leyden. Galileo was just preparing to send manuscript copies of the work into Germany, Flanders, England, Spain, and perhaps into some parts of Italy,t when he re ceived a letter from the Elzivirs, stating that the Count de Noailles had put the MS. into their hands, and requesting him to transmit a dedication as soon as possible. Galileo was delighted with this plan, and drew up, in the most flat tering terms, a dedication to the Count, which is dated at Arcetri, March 6th, 1638. This work contaiiis some of his finest discoveries. The doctrine of motion is treated ably and geometrically. The theory of equable motions, and of motions uniformly accelerated and retarded, and of these two combined, is correctly explained. Galileo had the ho nour of first demonstrating, that the spaces described by heavy bodies are as the squares of the times, and that ail projectiles move in a parabolic orbit. He also laid the foundation of the subject of the strength of materials, and treated with much perspicuity the doctrine of the force of percussion.
The last days of Galileo's life were spent in the investi gation of the force of percussion, and some other mecha nical subjects ; and, in consequence of the intensity of his application, he brought on a slow fever, and a palpitation of the heart, which carried him off on the 8th of January 1641, in the 77th year of his age. The death of this great man was universally regretted, and the sciences were con sidered as having sustained an irreparable loss. His body was carried from Arcetri to Florence, and at the desire of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he was buried in the church of the Holy Cross, in the ancient sepulchre of the noble family of Galilei.
The most complete edition of Galileo's works, was pub lished at Padua in 1744, in 4 vols. folio. This edition con tains numerous annotations, and long commentaries, by se veral of his disciples. The following is a list of its con tents, excluding the commentaries which we have men tioned : Tom. I. Le Operazione del compasso Geometrico, e militare di Galileo.
Difesa di Galileo contro alle calunnie ed imposture de Baldassar Capra Milanese.
Discorso intorno alle cose, che stanno in su l'Acqua, o che in quella si muovono, di Galileo.
Lettera di Galileo al Sig. Tolomeo Nozzolini.
Della Scienza Meccanica, opera del Galileo con un frammento sopra la forza della Percossa.
La Bilancetta di Galileo.
Trattato del modo di misurar colla vista di Galileo. Tom. II. Sidereus Nuncius.
Comtinuazione del Nunzio Sidereo.
Istoria e dimostrazioni intorno alle macchie solari, e loro accidenti, comprese in tre lettere scritte al Marco Velseri (la Galileo.
II Saggiatore di Galileo.
Lettera di Galileo al serenissimo principe Leopoldo di Toscana in proposito di quanto discorre Fortunio Liccti del candor Lunare ncl cap. 50 del suo Liteosfero.
Lettcra di Galileo al (P. Cristoforo Griemberger della Compagnia di Gcsu in materia) della montuosita della Luna.
Lettera di Galileo a Monsignor Dini sopra l'uso del Ca nochiale, e di Pianeti Medicei.
Risposta di Galileo ad un problema propostogli illustrissimo Sig. Pietro Bart cle'Conti di Vernio, onde avvenga, che l'acqua a chi v'entra appaja prima fredda, e poi calla pill dell' aria temperata.
Lettere di Galileo in proposito de trovare le longitudini per via de Pianeti Medicei, coll'aggiunta d'altre lettere scritte al Galileo intorno alla medesima materia. Operazioni Astronomiche di Galileo.
Trattato della Sfera, o cosmographia di Galileo. Lettere di Galileo a Paolo Gualdo, &c.
Tom. III. Dialoghi delle Scienze Nuove, o sia discorsi e dimostrazioni intorno a due nuove scienze attenenti alla Meccanica ed ai movimenti locali di Galileo.
Lettere di Galileo circa le materie trattate nei dialoghi delle scienze nuove.
Lettere di Galileo, e del P. Casterli del modo di nil surare le gocciole d'acqua cadenti sopra una data superficie.
Lettere di Galileo a Curzio Ficchena, Ilene quali tratta della Calamita.
Lettera di Galileo sopra it Fiume Bisenzio.
Lettere di Galileo, del P. Castclli, e del Nozzolini in pro posita della stima d'un Cavallo.
Frammenti di Galileo.
Parere di Galileo intorno all angel° del Contatto. Postille di Galileo al libro intitolato Esercitazioni Filoso lche di Antonio Rocco.
Considerazione cli Galileo sopra it Gioco de'Dadi. Problemi Vari di Galileo.
Pensieri Vari di Galileo.
'Fom. IV. Diologo de Galileo Belli due massime Sisteme del Mondo, Tolemaico e Copernican°.
For a particular account of the discoveries of Galileo, NYC must refer our readers to the articles ASTRONOMY, CAR PENTRY, DYNAMICS, EPICYCBOID, MECHANICS)OPTICS, and PNEUMATICS. (p) GALILEO's TEMPERAMENT of the musical scale. In the Overend MS . works in the library of the Royal Insti tution in London, vol. i. p. 135 the temperaments of the principal notes in the scale, in fractions of the major com ma, as mentioned in the second column of the subjoined Table, are ascribed to the above author, viz.
But these would produce an extremely irregular dou zeave, as appears from the third column, containing the temperaments of a regular douzeave, calculated by Mr Fa rey's theorems, Philosophical Magazine, vol. xxxvi. p. 51, and agreeing very nearly with Dr. Smith's system of equal harmony. (0