Ernie Wright wrote:
Galileo announced his observation of the phases of Venus in a letter to
Giuliano de Medici dated 11 December 1610. He hid the announcement in
the form of an anagram,

Haec immatura a me iam frustra leguntur o y

Which incidentally also (mostly) makes sense in Latin: "These unripe
things are read in vain by me"--ostensibly an indication of the
prematurity of the observations at that time. He wanted to stake a
claim to primacy, but the scientist in him wouldn't let him make the
claim before he was certain it was right. The 'o' and 'y' are in there
just to make the anagram come out right.

which when unscrambled is

Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater amorum
The mother of love emulates the figures of Cynthia
Venus has phases like the Moon

This is all from Albert Van Helden's English translation of Sidereus
Nuncius.

--
Brian Tung
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