glossary of terms and places allora italian word for then anchio italian word for me , too , or same here arcetri - a village on the hillside south of firenze where galileo 's last home was located basilica italian word for church basta - contracted form of the italian word abastanza , meaning 'enough ' bo italian word for ox , the affectionate name for the university of padua , one of the oldest and most respected universities in the world braccia a unit of length approximately equal to the distance from a mans nose to the tip of his finger when his arm is outstretched campanile italian word for bell tower camposanto - italian word for cemetery certamente italian word for certainly cisterna italian word for well coniuge italian word for spouse contrade the districts of a city in italy , used herein to refer to the districts in siena doge - the head of the venetian empire ecco italian word for here firenze - italian name for florence galilei - an italian family name , implying that the family came from galilee non so italian phrase for i dont know perspiculum the term initially used by galileo to describe his magnifying glass , later to be termed a telescope by giovanni demisiani piazza italian word for public square piet italian term for a depiction of the madonna and jesus professore italian word for professor roma italian name for rome scavi italian word for excavations sempre italian word for always signoria italian for a group of leading citizens stessa cosa italian phrase for same thing truffatore - italian word for 'crook ' va bene literally it goes well in italian , but used to mean okay venezia italian name for venice prologue i 've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night .