The Galileo Museum and the digital world

The Galileo Museum has been on the digital path for about thirty years in the belief that information technology is an indispensable tool for the scientific research and enhancement of cultural heritage. This essay illustrates some applications that show the state of the art of the initiatives undertaken by this institution in the field of digitization. In particular, we present two thematic digital libraries conceived as environments for research and scientific exchange between scholars, and two virtual exhibitions or, better, digital explorations of historical documents that are difficult to read and interpret.