University of Michigan Libraries 

announced in August that the prized 

gem of its astronomy collection, an 

original manuscript by Galileo Galilei, 

was actually a forgery following 

an investigation by Georgia State 

University professor Nick Wilding. 

The 
manuscript 
contained 

writings 
on 
Galileo’s 
telescopic 

observations 
of 
celestial 
bodies 

orbiting Jupiter, which reversed 

a 
common 
17th 
century 
belief 

that Earth was at the center of the 

universe. Galileo’s observations went 

on to have major implications in the 

field of astronomy. 

Wilding, 
who 
is 
currently 

writing a comprehensive biography 

on Galileo’s life and work, made a 

similar discovery in 2012 when he 

determined that a rare 17th-century 

book written by Galileo was also an 

elaborate forgery. Pablo Alvarez, 

U-M Special Collections Research 

Center curator, told The Michigan 

Daily that this discovery made him 

apprehensive about other forgeries 

when he was first contacted by 

Wilding. 

“I was very concerned because I 

knew that (Wilding) was somebody 

with a lot of expertise in this field, not 

somebody simply asking very general 

questions but somebody who already 

probably had some very strong 

grounds to express those doubts,” 

Alvarez said. 

Wilding told The Daily that his 

prior 
experiences 
in 
identifying 

forgery motivated him to examine the 

U-M manuscript even closer. 

“I’ve had to look really, really 

careful and kind of invent new tests to 

find those forgeries,” Wilding said. “It 

made me hyper acute to looking for 

forgeries, when most people would 

just say, ‘There’s no problem with the 

sources.’”

Wilding said he generally looks 

into the background of a source before 

deciding whether or not to trust it. 

Most of Galileo’s works reside in a 

single archive in the National Central 

Library of Florence, and Wilding 

said he found it suspicious that the 

University would end up with such 

a valuable piece of work so far away 

from the others. 

“There are like five Galileo 

documents in all of North America,” 

Wilding said. “I’m not saying that 

everything in America is fake, but 

you have to look a lot harder at those 

objects.” 

While 
the 
location 
of 
the 

manuscript was the initial red flag, it 

took a much closer look for Wilding 

to determine the manuscript was 

a forgery. Wilding explained that, 

typically, Galileo would have one 

stack of papers all with a single 

watermark and use that stack until 

he was out before getting a new stack 

with a different watermark. In the 

17th century, watermarks were often 

used on hand pressed paper for the 

manufacturers to identify the paper 

that they made. Therefore, paper can 

be dated using watermarks, as was 

the case in the U-M manuscript. 

Though the appearance of the 

paper itself immediately stuck out to 

Wilding as being odd, once he noticed 

the two sets of letters, AS and BMO, he 

knew this manuscript was most likely 

inauthentic because the watermark 

was not typical for the time in which 

it would have been written.

“I just realized, because I’m kind 

of a book nerd, that it was weird for 

(an) early 17th century paper. Usually 

you get two sets of letters way later, 

like the 18th or 19th century,” Wilding 

said.

After comparing the manuscript 

to 
another 
well-known 
forgery 

with similar watermarks, Wilding 

determined the document was indeed 

a fake, and most likely created by a 

prominent 20th century forger, Tobia 

Nicotra.

“As far as I can understand the 

motives of Nicotra, it seems like he 

was driven by a mixture of money 

needs and possibly trying to prove 

himself against his failed career as a 

musician,” Wilding said.

Alvarez said he was shocked to 

learn the manuscript was inauthentic, 

and that in the 12 years he had served 

as curator, he never considered the 

document could be forged. 

“This 
manuscript 
is 
already 

something that I would say is part 

of the history of the University of 

Michigan,” 
Alvarez 
said. 
“Very 

important scholars on the history of 

science included these manuscripts 

in articles, so it had been sort of 

approved by the scholar community.”

Going 
forward, 
Alvarez 
said 

transparency is extremely important 

as the University navigates the 

aftermath of the discovery and hopes 

this situation will be a learning 

experience.

“For me, it’s very much emotional, 

but I think this is going to be a positive 

step for us, not only in addressing 

what happened … but people could 

learn about paleography, about paper 

making, about ink in the 17th century, 

and I think that’s a positive thing,” 

Alvarez said.

Lech 
Wałęsa, 
the 
former 

president of Poland, spoke to 

a full auditorium in Rackham 

Amphitheatre on Tuesday about 

the ongoing crisis in Ukraine 

following Russia’s invasion, his role 

in leading the Ukrainian Solidarity 

Campaign 
and 
subsequently 

leading Poland. 

Russia 
invaded 
Ukraine 
in 

February, 
expecting 
a 
quick 

victory in the war. Wałęsa’s talk at 

Rackham follows Ukraine taking 

back about 2,300 square miles 

of 
previously 
Russian-occupied 

territory on Monday. He drew 

parallels between the current war 

and his time working in Poland.

Wałęsa 
helped 
to 
institute 

democratic elections in Poland 

while 
leading 
the 
Solidarity 

movement. He was also a Nobel 

Peace Prize recipient in 1983 before 

becoming the first President of 

Poland elected via a democratic 

election since 1926. He served as 

President from 1990 until 1995. 

The event was hosted by the 

Weiser Center for Europe and 

Eurasia (WCEE) in conjunction 

with the Copernicus Center for 

Polish Studies, Ford School of 

Public 
Policy, 
Democracy 
and 

Debate and the Weiser Diplomacy 

Center. 

Wałęsa said the world is in a state 

of transition and that the United 

States must rise to lead the world. 

“One (era) has fallen down, the 

other has not been created yet,” 

Wałęsa said.“Somebody has to lead. 

I would like to encourage you, to 

plead with you, to lead.”

Wałęsa went on to discuss 

the 
current 
war 
in 
Ukraine. 

Wałęsa encouraged attendees to 

acknowledge the urgent need for 

help for Ukranians, while also 

thinking about the root cause of the 

war.

“We have to help (Ukrainians) 

so they survive,” Wałęsa said. “But 

the cause, the causes are really 

more important. And what that 

is — is the bad political system in 

Russia. It’s not just Stalin or Putin, 

it’s the political system that makes 

it possible for people like them to 

show up.”

Wałęsa 
critiqued 
Russia’s 

political 
system, 
specifically 

criticizing two consecutive term 

limit laws that allow Putin to hold 

onto power until 2036. He said even 

if Ukraine were to win the ongoing 

war, “Russia will rise again.” He 

said there should be a term limit 

law limiting Russian leaders to two 

five-year terms.

Wałęsa said there are two main 

ways to increase power as a state: 

through freedom and democracy or 

through war.

“So now there is a question,” 

Wałęsa said. “Which one of them 

(democratic forces or Russia) is 

going to win? Which one will we 

allow to win?”

Wałęsa concluded his discussion 

by emphasizing the need for the 

United States to rise back up and be 

a world leader, saying the country is 

well-positioned to help Ukrainians. 

“I am pleading with you to please 

realize that you’re responsible for 

the whole world,” Wałęsa said. 

“That this is your fate. This is your 

God-given role: to lead the world.”

Public Policy graduate student 

Oieshi Saha told The Michigan 

Daily 
she 
valued 
Wałęsa’s 

comments about the need for 

America to regain its leadership 

on the world stage and said the 

discussion connected to what she 

has studied in class. 

“What I took away from this talk 

was that leadership and dominance 

are not one (and) the same,” Saha 

said. “There are ways of leading 

that don’t demand dominating and 

appropriating like America has 

done.”

Music, 
Theatre 
& 
Dance 

freshman Tim Kulawiak told The 

Daily he felt Wałęsa’s talk was 

“personally relevant” since his 

father was Polish and took part in 

the Solidarity movement Wałęsa 

led. He said Wałęsa left him feeling 

inspired about what is to come next 

in the world. 

“What stood out most was this 

call to action,” Kulawiak said. 

“Very much singling out the U.S. 

as the place where there’s the most 

potential for change … it’s our 

responsibility, our privilege to be 

able to be in this position where 

there’s a gap of leadership and a 

transitional time where there’s 

so much potential for positive 

change.”

Daily Staff Reporter Julia Forrest 

can be reached at juforres@umich.

edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, September 21, 2022

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the 
Fall 2022 semester by students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available 
free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office 
for $2. If you would like a current copy of the paper mailed to you, please visit store.
pub.umich.edu/michigan-daily-buy-this-edition to place your order.

VANESSA KIEFER
Joshua Mitnick, 92’, 95’ Managing Editor vkiefer@umich.edu

DOMINIC COLETTI and KRISTINA ZHENG 
Managing News Editors news@michigandaily.com

Senior News Editors: Anna Fifelski, George Weykamp, Navya Gupta, Roni Kane, 
Shannon Stocking
Investigative Editor: Julian Wray

JULIAN BARNARD and SHUBHUM ‘SHUBS’ GIROTI
Editorial Page Editors tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Deputy Editorial Page Editor: Olivia Mouradian
Senior Opinion Editors: Quin Zapoli, Brandon Cowit, Jess D’Agostino, Alex 
Yee, Evan Stern

LILLIAN PEARCE and SABRIYA IMAMI
Managing Arts Editors 
 arts@michigandaily.com

GRACE BEAL and TESS CROWLEY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com

GRACE TUCKER
Managing Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Editors: Taylor Schott, Julia Maloney
Associate Editor: Lilly Dickman

CAROLINE ATKINSON and ETHAN PATRICK
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com

Senior Copy Editors: Abbie Gaies, Lizzie MacAdam, Dana Elobaid, Ali Chesnick, 
Emily Wilson, Alex Stamell, Audrey Ruhana, Rena McRoy, Melissa Kurpiers

DORA GUO and ERIC LAU
Managing Online Editors 
 webteam@michigandaily.com
Data Editor: Zach Breger
Project Managers: Isis Meng, Aasher Akhlaque, 
Christina Tan, Salik Aslam, Eli Yazdi

HANNAH ELLIOTT and JULIA RAGUCKAS
Managing Video Editors video@michigandaily.com

Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Yasmine Slimani, Safura Syed, Kat Andrade, 
Neil Nakkash, Anchal Malh

Senior Sports Editors: Josh Taubman, Spencer Raines, Lily Israel, Paul Nasar, 
Connor Earegood, Abbie Telgenhof

Senior Social Media Editors: Cristina Costin, Joey Goodsir, Cole Martin, Mae 
Veidlinger, Martina Zacker, Jillian Sacksner, Christian Juliano, Justin O’Beirne

Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com

ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com

SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com

NEWS TIPS
tipline@michigandaily.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com

EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com

AARON SANTILLI
Business Manager
business@michigandaily.com

PAIGE HODDER
Editor-in-Chief
eic@michigandaily.com

PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com

NEWSROOM
news@michigandaily.com

CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com

JARED GREENSPAN and NICK STOLL
Managing Sports Editors sports@michigandaily.com

Senior Arts Editors: Emilia Ferrante, Hannah Carapellotti, Erin Evans, Sarah 
Rahman, Fia Kaminski
Arts Beats Editors: Emmy Snyder, Mitchel Green, Laine Brotherton, Matthew 
Eggers, Julian Wray, Nora Lewis

ERIN SHI and SOPHIE GRAND
Managing Design Editors 
 design@michigandaily.com

ELIYA IMTIAZ and JESSICA KWON
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com

EVAN DELORENZO and ZOE STORER
Managing Social Media Editors socialmedia@michigandaily.com

Editorial Staff

Business Staff

Senior Photo Editors: Anna Fuder, Kate Hua, Jeremy Weine, Julianne Yoon, 
Emma Mati

IRENE CHUNG
Creative Director

DOUG MCCLURE and MAX ROSENZWEIG
Managing Podcast Editors podeditors@michigandaily.com

KATIE LYNGKLIP
Sales Manager

ADVERTISING
wmg-contact@umich.edu 

AYA SALIM
Digital Managing Editor ayasalim@umich.edu

AKSHARA KOOTTALA 
Chair of Culture, Training, and Inclusion accessandinclusion@michigandaily.com

Senior Layout Editors: Lys Goldman, Ellie Orlanski

Erstwhile Polish President Lech Wałęsa talks 
global leadership at Ford event

NEWS

Manuscript in UMich collection forged

ISABELLA KASSA
Daily Staff Reporter

KATE WEILAND
Managing Editor kmwblue@umich.edu

JEREMY WEINE/Daily
Shelly Smith (right) and Sarah Nuñez-Bida (left) help festival attendees enter a raffle to win books about psychedelics at Entheofest in the Diag Sunday afternoon.

NEWS

Solidarity movement leader discusses US role in geopolitics

Georgia Tech investigation finds Galileo scroll is fraud

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Nobel Peace Prize winner and Poland’s first president, Lech Walesa engages with the 
campus community, discussing issues pertaining to world politics in Rackham 
Amphitheatre Tuesday afternoon.

JENNA HICKEY/Daily

JULIA FORREST
Daily Staff Reporter

