Today we know much about the sky: how stars are born, how they live and die, and how the universe as a whole evolves. We have learned of the existence of another type of matter, indifferent to light and yet decisive for the formation of galaxies, and we have a hint of a dark energy that since the last 4.5 billion years has taken over the control of the cosmos. We postulated and then discovered and even photographed black holes and listened to the faint rustle of the space-time ripple produced when these monsters devour each other. We reached these astonishing results (recognized by a bunch of Nobel Prizes and filling every day the media with wonders for the eyes and the mind) by the marriage of physics and astronomy that unified the Earth with the sky and then by the leap forward of science and technology in the Twentieth Century. This rich heritage has ancient roots. It was built by accumulating discoveries with errors, observations with fantasies, myths, and superstitions with flashes of genius, over a span of millennia, since Homo sapiens, turning his eyes to the immutable and perfect sky, began to ask questions.The book is a narration of the answers to these questions that had evolved over time: a progressive path, inserted in the general history, with some second thoughts and many obstacles. This is a saga of men and machines where greatness sometimes mixes with misery and passion often borders on sacrifice and even martyrdom. Why should we know it? Because our current knowledge is the result of these efforts and of the preconceptions that accompanied them.The challenge has been to present this complex and intricate subject without resorting to any formulas, so that it can be accessible to a wide audience of curious people, including high school and university students and in general all those who normally keep themselves informed of scientific things. A rich bibliography has also been added in the appendix for those wishing to learn more on one or more topics.

Today we know much about the sky: how stars are born, how they live and die, and how the universe as a whole evolves. We have learned of the existence of another type of matter, indifferent to light and yet decisive for the formation of galaxies, and we have a hint of a dark energy that since the last 4.5 billion years has taken over the control of the cosmos. We postulated and then discovered and even photographed black holes and listened to the faint rustle of the space-time ripple produced when these monsters devour each other. We reached these astonishing results (recognized by a bunch of Nobel Prizes and filling every day the media with wonders for the eyes and the mind) by the marriage of physics and astronomy that unified the Earth with the sky and then by the leap forward of science and technology in the Twentieth Century. This rich heritage has ancient roots. It was built by accumulating discoveries with errors, observations with fantasies, myths, and superstitions with flashes of genius, over a span of millennia, since Homo sapiens, turning his eyes to the immutable and perfect sky, began to ask questions.The book is a narration of the answers to these questions that had evolved over time: a progressive path, inserted in the general history, with some second thoughts and many obstacles. This is a saga of men and machines where greatness sometimes mixes with misery and passion often borders on sacrifice and even martyrdom. Why should we know it? Because our current knowledge is the result of these efforts and of the preconceptions that accompanied them.The challenge has been to present this complex and intricate subject without resorting to any formulas, so that it can be accessible to a wide audience of curious people, including high school and university students and in general all those who normally keep themselves informed of scientific things. A rich bibliography has also been added in the appendix for those wishing to learn more on one or more topics.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is the story of a journey across the Universe as it was known in the Middle Ages, a work of science fiction ante litteram. Dante had an encyclopedic mind, no doubt, and his poem is the most widely read book after the Bible. He was a master of the astronomical knowledge of his time, and used astronomy in his work to indicate places, to measure time, and to exemplify beauty. Indeed, in the Convivio, he wrote that science is 'the ultimate perfection of our soul' and 'astronomy - more than any other science - is noble and high for a noble and high subject.'We propose a reading of the Divine Comedy through astronomy with a journey starting from the Earth, proceeding to the Moon, the planets, and to the outermost edges of the Universe. The way in which Dante connects ancient astronomy with modern conceptions of the cosmos will astonish readers more than 700 years later.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is the story of a journey across the Universe as it was known in the Middle Ages, a work of science fiction ante litteram. Dante had an encyclopedic mind, no doubt, and his poem is the most widely read book after the Bible. He was a master of the astronomical knowledge of his time, and used astronomy in his work to indicate places, to measure time, and to exemplify beauty. Indeed, in the Convivio, he wrote that science is 'the ultimate perfection of our soul' and 'astronomy - more than any other science - is noble and high for a noble and high subject.'We propose a reading of the Divine Comedy through astronomy with a journey starting from the Earth, proceeding to the Moon, the planets, and to the outermost edges of the Universe. The way in which Dante connects ancient astronomy with modern conceptions of the cosmos will astonish readers more than 700 years later.

This book provides an introduction to classical celestial mechanics. It is based on lectures delivered by the authors over many years at both Padua University (MC) and V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (EB). The book aims to provide a mathematical description of the gravitational interaction of celestial bodies. The approach to the problem is purely formal. It allows the authors to write equations of motion and solve them to the greatest degree possible, either exactly or by approximate techniques, when there is no other way. The results obtained provide predictions that can be compared with the observations. Five chapters are supplemented by appendices that review certain mathematical tools, deepen some questions (so as not to interrupt the logic of the mainframe with heavy technicalities), give some examples, and provide an overview of special functions useful here, as well as in many other fields of physics. The authors also present the original investigation of torus potential. This book is aimed at senior undergraduate students of physics or astrophysics, as well as graduate students undertaking a master's degree or Ph.D.

La scienza e un'esaltante avventura che e costume raccontare attraverso le gesta dei grandi. Esiste pero un'altra storia, altrettanto avvincente ma con poca voce, scritta dai tanti gregari e potenziali campioni cui la sorte, spesso nemmeno troppo cieca, ha negato la gloria. Questo libro parla di uno di loro e del suo piccolo mondo sulla collina di Capodimonte, a Napoli. E la parabola di Arminio Nobile - personaggio notevole eppure poco noto dell'astronomia italiana - svolta sulla scena della nascente astrofisica, in una stagione di grandi transizioni per il Mezzogiorno. Arminio, che era figlio di Giuseppina Guacci, figura di spicco della cultura pre-risorgimentale, e di un valente astronomo della Specola di Capodimonte, scelse di votarsi allo studio del cielo. Osservatore instancabile, appassionato e genialoide, aveva le carte in regola e le motivazioni per "sfondare", ma la fortuna non gli arrise: piu volte si beffo di lui, spingendolo su vicoli ciechi che la sua testardaggine gli impedi di abbandonare. Cosi, quando la grande occasione gli si paro davanti, la riconobbe ma non seppe coglierla appieno, morendo "disperato" come il pucciniano amante di Tosca.