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Rh (1564-1642), the story of whose life and discoveries in physics belongs to a history of science rather than of literature, wrote on the form, situation, and dimensions of Dante's Inferno, and also Considerazioni al Tasso (c. 1590, pub. 1793), notes on his phraseology not unlike those of Tassoni on Petrarch's Canzoniere. But Galileo's finest compositions are his scientific dialogues, notably the Saggiatore, nel quale con bilancia esquisita e giusta si ponderano le cose contenute nella Libra astronomica e filosofica di Lotario Sarsi Sigensano (1623), which D'Ancona and Bacci describe as "un vero gioiello di stile polemico"; the Dialogo dei Massimi sistemi del Mondo (1632), for which he was arraigned; and the Dialoghi delle nuove scienze (1638). In all of these the lucidity, strength, and freedom from all rhetoric of Galileo's prose are the vivid reflection of his acute and powerful mind. And his style is more than merely lucid and strong—it is dignified and harmonious.

Of historians the best known are Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623), the Venetian antagonist of the Inquisition and historian of the Council of Trent; Enrico Caterina D'Avila (1576-1631), also a servant for a great part of his life of the Republic of Venice, author of the Historia delle Guerre