World's oldest Physics textbook sells for over $790,000

Some people may have hated their Physics textbooks in schools, but this one just got a lot of love to the tune of over $790,000, or nearly P40 million.

According to a report on New Atlas, a dedication copy of Galileo Galilei's "Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno due nuove scienze attenenti alla mecanica & i movimenti locali (Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Relating to Two New Sciences)" was sold for €727,919 (US$791,190).

The report noted that the artifact is "regarded by many as the world's first Physics textbook."

"Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche published in 1638, but the Roman Inquisition had banned the publication of Galileo's works in 1632 due to Dialogo, which proposed the heliocentric theory. Galileo, who was effectively under house arrest, consequently gave a handwritten copy of the work to the Ambassador of France to the Holy See," the story noted.

"That Ambassador became the dedicatee of the work, and this is the deluxe copy sent to François de Noailles, Comte d ' Ayen (1584-1645), for his role in this landmark publication."

Curious about the book? A full translation of the Discorsi, along with diagrams, is available online. No need to pay P40 million. —JST, GMA News