Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

1. Galileo's telescopic observations: the marvel and meaning of discovery / George V. Coyne, S. J. --- 2. Popular perceptions of Galileo / Dava Sobel --- 3. The slow growth of humility / Tobias Owen and Scott Bolton --- 4. A new physics to support the Copernican system. Gleanings from Galileo's works / Giulio Peruzzi --- 5. The telescope in the making, the Galileo first telescopic observations / Alberto Righini --- 6. The appearance of the Medicean Moons in 17th century charts and books. How long did it take? / Michael Mendillo --- 7. Navigation, world mapping and astrometry with Galileo's moons / Kaare Aksnes --- 8. Modern exploration of Galileo's new worlds / Torrence V. Johnson --- 9. Medicean Moons sailing through plasma seas: challenges in establishing magnetic properties / Margaret G. Kivelson, Xianzhe Jia and Krishan K. Khurana --- 10. Aurora on Jupiter: a magnetic connection with the Sun and the Medicean Moons / Supriya Chakrabarti and Marina Galand --- 11. Io's escaping atmosphere: continuing the legacy of surprise / Nicholas M. Schneider --- 12. The Jovian Rings / Wing-Huen Ip --- 13. The Juno mission / Scott J. Bolton and the Juno Science Team --- 14. Seeking Europa's ocean / Robert T. Pappalardo --- 15. Europa lander mission: a challenge to find traces of alien life / Lev Zelenyi, Oleg Korablev, Elena Vorobyova, Maxim Martynov, Efraim L. Akim and Alexander Zakahrov --- 16. Atmospheric moons Galileo would have loved / Sushil K. Atreya --- 17. The study of Mercury / Louise M. Prockter and Peter D. Bedini --- 18. Jupiter and the other giants: a comparative study / Thérèse Encrenaz --- 19. Spectroscopic and spectrometric differentiation between abiotic and biogenic material on icy worlds / Kevin P. Hand, Chris McKay and Carl Pilcher --- 20. Other worlds, other civilizations? / Guy Consolmagno, S. J. --- 21. Concluding remarks / Roger M. Bonnet.

"IAU Symposium 269 celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's discovery of the Medicean Moons, Jupiter's four largest satellites, exploring the impact his findings have had on science and the humanities. Galileo's instrumental discovery and his belief that the planets and moons in our Solar System could be habitable worlds encouraged a deeper understanding of our place in the Universe. Today, ongoing space missions to Jupiter's moons, our own Moon, Mars, Saturn and Enceladus reveal our continued fascination with the possibilities of alien life, but this time with a focus on potential host sites for primitive life forms. These critical reviews examine our present knowledge of the Jupiter system and consider how future space missions and improvements in telescopes will bolster the contemporary vision of our Solar System, of the many known extrasolar planetary systems and of life forms beyond the Solar System." -- Back cover.