Moving in elevated circles

摘要

Big science has always needed big patronage, from rulers, rich aristocrats or state organizations. A striking example is the huge armillary sphere by the sixteenth-century astronomer Antonio Santucci. The sphere, now splendidly restored, resides in the Museo Galileo -formerly the Museo di Storia della Scienza - in Florence, where it forms the centrepiece of a display of astronomical devices and globes.