Sidereus Nuncius: an Italian graded reader at level B2
Galileo Galilei · adapted by Alessio Insegnante · CEFR level B2
Galileo Galilei's classic (1610), rewritten for learners of Italian at level B2: calibrated sentences, footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions in every chapter.
In production · soon in 6×9 paperback and on Kindle
Look inside: the first page
CAPITOLO 1
L’annuncio
The Announcement
Mi chiamo Galileo Galilei e insegno matematica all'università di Padova. Nel marzo del 1610 ho pubblicato a Venezia un piccolo libro in latino, scritto in poche settimane.1 L'ho chiamato Sidereus Nuncius: l'annuncio che viene dalle stelle. Non è un libro di teorie. È il racconto di ciò che ho visto con i miei occhi, notte dopo notte, attraverso uno strumento nuovo: il cannocchiale. E ciò che ho visto, lo dico subito, è più grande di qualunque teoria. Prometto al lettore cose che nessun essere umano ha mai osservato prima: le annuncio qui, e poi le racconto una per una, perché ogni scoperta merita la sua storia.
stella = star · cannocchiale = telescope, spyglass · scoperta = discovery
1 Il titolo latino è ambiguo, e forse di proposito: «nuncius» significa sia «messaggero» sia «messaggio». Galileo intendeva «l'annuncio delle stelle», ma mezza Europa lesse «il messaggero delle stelle»: e il soprannome, più bello del titolo, gli rimase addosso per sempre.
Chapter 1 · CEFR B2 · 11 words of the real text
The plot of Il Sidereus Nuncius
Padua, summer 1609. A professor of mathematics hears of a Dutch tube with two lenses that brings distant things closer. He has never seen one: he rebuilds it by reasoning, improves it to thirty magnifications, and then does what no one had seriously done before: he points it at the sky.
The Moon, which every book called smooth and perfect, fills with mountains and valleys. And on the night of 7 January 1610, three small stars appear in a line beside Jupiter… and the next night they are no longer where they should be. The book that founded modern astronomy, told in Galileo's own voice, night after night, down to the race to print it before anyone else.
Why read Il Sidereus Nuncius to learn Italian
This is the Italian of science told in the first person: observing, doubting, deducing, proving, the thinking verbs a B2 learner needs to build arguments. And the story, night after night, has the suspense of a mystery: you know he will discover Jupiter's moons, but not how.
Inside the glossary
Glossary
- cannocchiale · telescope, spyglass ((sin. telescopio, occhiale))
- Strumento ottico a tubo, con due o più lenti, che ingrandisce gli oggetti lontani.
- An optical tube with lenses that makes distant objects appear closer.
- Galileo did not invent it (a Dutch spectacle-maker did) but he was the first to turn it into a scientific instrument: he worked out the optics, pushed it from three magnifications to thirty, and pointed it upward. The book insists on this order of events: the tool was common merchandise; the idea of aiming it at the sky was the discovery before the discoveries.
- eclissi · eclipse ((sin. oscuramento, occultamento))
- L'oscuramento temporaneo di un corpo celeste, coperto da un altro o dalla sua ombra.
- The darkening of a celestial body when another body or its shadow hides it.
- The four satellites disappear on schedule: behind Jupiter, into its glare, or into its shadow, small eclipses, cousins of our lunar ones. Their punctuality is the point: what vanishes and returns on a timetable is not an illusion but a mechanism, and mechanisms can be understood.
- lente · lens ((sin. vetro, cristallo))
- Disco di vetro curvo che devia i raggi di luce e forma immagini ingrandite o rimpicciolite.
- A curved piece of glass that bends light rays passing through it.
- Two curved pieces of glass, one convex and one concave, in a lead tube: the whole revolution rests on them. The book is honest about their limits (poor glass, narrow field, trembling images) and about the craft: Galileo ground and polished lenses himself until his instruments were the best in Europe.
- luce · light ((sin. chiarore, splendore))
- La radiazione che rende visibili le cose; il chiarore che viene dal Sole o dagli astri.
- The radiation that makes things visible to the eye.
- Light is the book's raw material, and Galileo treats it like a physicist: he traces where it comes from, where it bounces. His most beautiful piece of reasoning explains the ashen glow of the dark Moon as earthshine (our planet lighting its companion) making the Earth a luminous body among the others.
The glossary contains 15 entries in all
Inside this reader
CEFR adaptation
The text is fully rewritten for level B2, with controlled vocabulary and syntax, while staying faithful to the original plot.
Footnotes and glossary
Footnotes on difficult words and a final glossary, so you can read independently without a dictionary.
Comprehension questions
Every chapter ends with questions to check understanding, just like in class.
Paperback and ebook
6×9 paperback on cream paper, or Kindle ebook. The same text also lives in the ti app.
Language focus: what you practise
In this level-B2 edition you mainly practise the imperfect and past subjunctive, hypothetical clauses of possibility, the passive and indirect speech. The vocabulary revolves around the sky, science and discovery: the key words, with translations, are in the glossary below and recur throughout the text, so you learn them in context.
About the author: Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), from Pisa, father of modern science, was the first to point a telescope at the sky and publish what he saw. The Sidereus Nuncius of 1610 suddenly made the universe much bigger.
Details and difficulty level
B2 is upper-intermediate Italian: complex syntax, subjunctive and conditional structures, shades of register. This reader suits learners who already read in Italian and want to tackle the great classics with structured support. Format: 6×9 paperback on cream paper or Kindle ebook; 20 chapters with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions. All level B2 books →︎
Essential glossary (Italian · English · Dutch)
| Italian | English | Dutch |
|---|---|---|
| il cannocchiale | telescope | de telescoop |
| la luna | moon | de maan |
| la stella | star | de ster |
| il cielo | sky | de hemel |
| la lente | lens | de lens |
| la montagna | mountain | de berg |
| il pianeta | planet | de planeet |
| la scoperta | discovery | de ontdekking |
Frequently asked questions
What level of Italian do I need to read Il Sidereus Nuncius?
This edition of Il Sidereus Nuncius is rewritten for CEFR level B2. B2 is upper-intermediate Italian: complex syntax, subjunctive and conditional structures, shades of register. This reader suits learners who already read in Italian and want to tackle the great classics with structured support.
Is this Galileo Galilei's original text?
No, it is an adaptation: the plot and spirit of Galileo Galilei's original remain, but vocabulary and syntax are rewritten for level B2, with footnotes, a final glossary and comprehension questions at the end of every chapter.
When is it coming out?
The book is in production and will be on Amazon soon, in paperback and as a Kindle ebook. The same text already lives in the 
amo Italian app.
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Il Sidereus Nuncius also lives inside the ti app, with tap-to-translate vocabulary in 17 languages and animated scenes. On the site you'll also find 700+ free Italian exercises and the blog for Italian learners.
