22 June 2009
- 21 July 2009
This exhibition displayed unique volumes by some of the most prominent European astronomers from the 15th to the 19th Century, in order to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009), in the context of the Egypt-Italy Science Year (EISY 2009). Among the books on display was the first edition of Sidereus Nuncius, by Galileo Galilei (1610), in which celestial bodies were first described based on telescope observation; De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, by Nicolaus Copernicus (1566); and the recently restored Firmamentum Sobiescianum, the Celestial Atlas by Johannes Hevelius (1690). Visitors were able to see the books and browse a number of them virtually on the computers accompanying the exhibition.
Here is the program of the exhibition inauguration:
Heavenly Pages
Inaugural Ceremony
Library of Alexandria – Manuscripts Museum
22 June 2009
Program
5:00 – 5:30 Opening Speeches
• Dr. Ismail Serageldin;
Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
• Ambassador Hagar Islambouly;
Head of BA External Relations Sector
• Dr. Tarek Hussein;
Director of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology
• Dr. Patrizia Raveggi;
Director of the Italian Cultural Institute
• Prof. Franco Porcelli;
Scientific Attaché, Embassy of Italy
5:30 – 6:00 Presentation
• Prof. Tommaso Maccacaro,
President of the National Institute for Astrophysics
• Dr. Agnese Mandrino;
Librarian and Archivist, Brera Astronomical Observatory
6:00 - 6:30 Inauguration of the Exhibition "Heavenly Pages"
4:30 – 5:00 Reception, BA Main Entrance