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Telling the fascinating stories of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and Pascal, Charles E. Hummel provides a historical perspective on the relationship between science and Christianity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Foundational to Any Science & Religion Study
The Galileo Connection helps one recognize several issues. Hummel begins by giving brief biographical surveys of the scientific work of great scientists (Brache, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton) and the difficulties they faced in proclaiming to the world around them that, indeed, the earth was not the center of the solar system, let alone the universe.

The Galileo story serves as a cautionary tale for all those who read the Scriptures through a 21st century, literalistic lens - who fail to recognize the various genre that make up the Scriptures. This biased reading contributed mightily to the rejection of what is now obvious truth (that the earth revolves around the sun). The literalist presuppositional bias, for example, with which Genesis 1 is read fails to recognize the literary and poetic features of the text and undermines faith.

Hummel's point that it's not the Bible versus science but one human's religious interpretation versus science (both are interpreters of data - one God's supernatural revelation, the other the natural universe) is a very important one. Whatever one says about scripture relative to science - it is one's interpretation of scripture and not scripture itself.

But, perhaps the best section in the book are the two chapters on interpreting scripture and on interpreting Genesis 1. While more could be added to Hummel's interpretation - including more cultural, historical data and perhaps additional points on the meaning of the poetry of Genesis 1 - his work is a vital source in making progress toward a fair and honest reading of Genesis 1.

They Tricked The Pope
Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton were all Christians and could even be considered devout Christians.Newton was a bit of an outlier because he didn't believe in the Trinity, but spent as much time on theology as he did on science.This author is interested in the science and the religion of each man, how each dealt with conflicts between his science and his religion, and to what extent, if any, the church interfered with his scientific work.

Galileo is of particular interest because he is the only one who was officially punished.His case is held up as primary evidence of severe discrimination by the 16th and 17th century religious hierarchy against science.Hummel's position is this:

1. Official science, as controlled by the university establishment scientists, was heavily reliant on the archaic science left over from Aristotle, illustrated best by their belief in Ptolomy's astronomy left over from the 2nd century.

2. Galileo had baited and antagonized university scientists with his sarcastic writings and public statements for over 20 years.

3. In his "Dialogues," Galileo formulated informal debates between Simplicius, a supporter of the old astronomy, a believer in the Copernican astronomy, and a neutral observer. The offended scientists suggested to Pope Urban VIII that Galileo was putting the Pope's words into the mouth of the fool, Simplicius.

4. The Pope, already distracted by several other complex political scenarios of the day, made the fateful error of allowing Galileo's trial and conviction.Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest.For over four centuries his story has been used by those who would cast the Church in the worst possible light.

In the rest of the book, Hummel discusses the theory and history of evolution, the historical conflicts between that and creationism, and various theological topics.In particular, he compares scientists who make pronouncements about God with Christians who feel they must reconcile findings of science with the Bible.

His view is summed up in these words:"Today many biblical Christians - like many non-theistic scientists - accept the theory of evolution, but others do not.The issues seem to remain in clearer focus when scientific and theological terms are not mixed.It should suffice to say, `I accept the biblical accounts of creation and the scientific theory of evolution.'"Extremists on both sides of the so-called creation-evolution controversy (today's updated version would be the ID/evolution war) might argue that it is impossible.Sometimes that seems to be the only point on which they can agree.

Stuck between your sunday school teacher modern science?
Hummel offers a fresh look at the Creation Epic of Genesis 1.While steering a path between the literal and mythological approaches to Genesis, Hummel offers an approach that is both reasonable and faithful to a valid scriptural approach to the emergence of life on earth.If you are a student of "Creation" or sceptical of the typical presentation of biblical origens, you must read this book... ... Read more

Product Description
Galileo's 1632 book, Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican, comes alive for twentieth-century readers thanks to Maurice Finocchiaro's brilliant new translation and presentation. Condemned by the Inquisition for its heretical proposition that the earth revolves around the sun, Galileo's masterpiece takes the form of a debate, divided into four "days," among three highly articulate gentlemen.
Finocchiaro sets the stage with his introduction, which not only provides the human and historical framework for the Dialogue but also admits the reader gracefully into the basic non-Copernican understanding of the universe that would have been shared by Galileo's original audience. The translation of the Dialogue is abridged in order to highlight its essential content, and Finocchiaro gives titles to the various parts of the debate as a guide to the principal topics. By explicating his own critical reading of this text that is itself an exercise in critical reasoning on a gripping real-life controversy, he illuminates those universal, perennial activities of the human mind that make Galileo's book a living document. This is a concrete, hands-on introduction to critical thinking. The translation has been made from the Italian text provided in volume 7 of the Critical National Edition of Galileo's complete works edited by Antonio Favaro. The translator has also consulted the 1632 edition, as well as the other previous English translations, including California's 1967 version.
Galileo on the World Systems is a remarkably nuanced interpretation of a classic work and will give readers the tools to understand and evaluate for themselves one of the most influential scientific books in Western civilization. ... Read more

Product Description
Sixteenth century Italy produced a genius who marked the world with his studies and hypotheses about mathematical, physical and astronomical truths.His father, musician Vincenzio Galilei said, -Truth is not found behind a man-s reputation.Truth appears only when the answers to questions are searched out by a free mind.This is not the easy path in life but it is the most rewarding.-Galileo challenged divine law and the physics of Aristotle, and questioned everything in search of truths.And it was on this quest for truth that he was able to establish a structure for modern science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Galileo's Story
Galileo Galilei was fascinated with Pythagorean squares and triangles when he was a young child. Galileo was an avid musician learning the lute, organ, and viola in his childhood and his teens. He went to the University of Pisa for 2 years until his parents could no longer afford for him to go, so he achieved a free scholarship to go and finish his studies at the university, where he was nicknamed "Wrangler" for asking questions about if anyone had actually proved Aristotle's law of gravity. Galileo made his first invention at the University of Pisa, a thing that he called the Pulsiloga, which could be used to detect sickness. Galileo became a professor in Math at that university, only to get cast out by the Aristotle believers. Galileo moved to Venice, where he became professor of mathematics on a large salary. After he modernized the compass, Galileo became rich enough to own a fairly large house with a cook and servants who he overpaid out of generosity. Galileo became even more popular when he invented a stronger telescope and wrote three books on the sun and his discoveries about space. Later in life, Galileo was imprisoned for believing the sun was the center of the universe and teaching that it was and was accused by the Pope. He was found guilty of charge and was forced to spend the rest of his life at his friend's house, who offered for him to serve his punishment there. This book is denser reading in parts and can be read by older children and teens.

The author included conversations between the Galilei family and their friends to make the book seem less like a timeline. The father and the mother of Galileo had arguments over Galileo's education, Galileo lectured about the position of the Earth going around the sun, and Michalangelo, Galileo's younger brother, promised to repay him multiple times.

This book showed how smart Galileo was. His first invention he figured out when he was bored and swinging a pendulum back and forth and deciding to time it using his pulse as a timer. Gallileo's teachers even admittred that sometimes he would tell them that they were wrong or that they did thier math wrong. Galileo went to Venice and they gave him a salary of three times the amount that he recieved at the Univeresity of Pisa just to hear his opinions on certain things.

This book shows the concerns and the little amount known about space around 1600. Galileo was the fist person to realize that the moon was not smooth like a marble, that Jupiter and Saturn had moons, and that the sun had spots that dissapeared after a while.

This book is a great choice for older children and teens who want to learn more about a person who spoke his mind and became a famous scientist.

C. Brady

Pythagorean Magic! Yea!
I, for one, thought that this book was an awesome literary accomplishment, and for a historical biography, it was very interesting. What fascinated me the most about Galileo was his excitement for learning new things. As a boy his father, Vincezio Galilei, often told Galileo to think for himself. He told him that even if a person says something popular, it may not always be accurate. Even a person such as Aristotle could be corrected. Although this is true and is the basis of Galileo's life, the title of the book is referring to the Pythagorean Theorem. This was the very first thing taught to Galileo on his first day in a private noble school. What happens is the teacher calls Galileo to sit on the floor with him. He then takes out a multitude of pebbles from his pocket. He lays three pebbles on the floor in the shape of a triangle. He then points out that it is an isosceles triangle, because all of the sides are congruent. It fascinates young Galileo even more to learn that when more pebbles are placed at the base of the triangle, something happens. He sees a pattern happening with the sum of two sides. They seemed to be equal with the hypotenuse of the triangle. This, he learned, is what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem, or as his teacher called it, the Pythagorean Number Magic. It is most popular throughout the book, because it is the first thing that starts the most famous Philosopher in the world, Galileo Galilei, wanting to learn.

Pythagorean Magic! Yea!
I, for one, thought that this book was an awesome literary accomplishment, and for a historical biography, it was very interesting. What fascinated me the most about Galileo was his excitement for learning new things. As a boy his father, Vincezio Galilei, often told Galileo to think for himself. He told him that even if a person says something popular, it may not always be accurate. Even a person such as Aristotle could be corrected. Although this is true and is the basis of Galileo's life, the title of the book is referring to the Pythagorean Theorem. This was the very first thing taught to Galileo on his first day in a private noble school. What happens is the teacher calls Galileo to sit on the floor with him. He then takes out a multitude of pebbles from his pocket. He lays three pebbles on the floor in the shape of a triangle. He then points out that it is an isosceles triangle, because all of the sides are congruent. It fascinates young Galileo even more to learn that when more pebbles are placed at the base of the triangle, something happens. He sees a pattern happening with the sum of two sides. They seemed to be equal with the hypotenuse of the triangle. This, he learned, is what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem, or as his teacher called it, the Pythagorean Number Magic. It is most popular throughout the book, because it is the first thing that starts the most famous Philosopher in the world, Galileo Galilei, wanting to learn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

I Couldn't Put It Down
Is the title of my review an endorsement or a confession? This was a terrific book. By reading Galileo's correspondences I was introduced to the man, instead of the icon/name/historical placeholder we all know. He had an attitude and a peculiar way of reasoning. Even his inquisitors lost some of their inhuman opacity and started to look a little fleshy.

One minor complaint: The correspondences, depositions and minutes of the Holy Office are not placed in precise chronological order in the book. I wanted to read them that way and so I was forced to flip around using the exquisitely detailed time-line provided at the end of the book. As the reading progressed, a clear story unfolded and all the historical characters took on traits that were more human than what you can get reading historical accounts.

There were several very interesting parts to this story. I was intrigued by the apparently deliberate "mis-copying" of Galileo's letter to Benedetto Castelli. I was impressed by Galileo's ability to infer (from complaints about him) that a corrupted letter had been circulating. This had cased Galileo's first set of headaches around 1614-1615. It's also telling that all of the complaints against him were drawn from exactly these corrupted passages. I enjoyed - in a darker way - watching Galileo try to B.S. his way past his inquisitors during his second deposition by pretending to believe that he had thought his Dialog was a pro-Ptolemaic work - and acting shocked that, when upon rereading it, he discovered Lo! This DOES sound like I'm defending Copernicus! The Holy Office had placed him in a position where he was forced say what they wanted him to say, but to do it in a way that passed as honest. Ouch! I was also pleased with the author's explanation of what "hypothesis" (ex hypothesi) meant to Galileo and his contemporaries and how the meaning is different from how we understand it today. This was a crucial idea for understanding what happened in Rome.

This book is a great narrative couched in personal and institutional correspondences. On the other hand, if what you want - as the reviewer from April 7, 2009 wanted - is an "exhaustive" history of the Galileo affair that consists of "no more than a dozen pages" of unpacked "points", then all you need to do is copy-and-paste his review into a word processor and increase the font size to about 48.

Reference only
This book should not be called "a documentary history." It is true that it consists of documents (exclusively so, excepts for a very basic introduction) and that these are historical, but the professed conjunction does not obtain. The book prides itself in being non-interpretative, but the problem is that no more than a dozen pages are needed for an exhaustive, non-interpretative history of the Galileo affair. It becomes a 400-page book only by being extremely repetitive. Every single point is repeated at least three or four times: first in a letter or two, then in some treatise, then in Inquisition commission reports, then in witness testimonies before the Inquisition, then in the Inquisition's conclusion, etc.

What this book is not may be illustrated with an example from the short introduction. Here we read that Pope Urban VIII, whose tolerance Galileo overestimated, may have been driven to make an example out of Galileo to mend his own reputation, especially in relation to critiques of his not being ardent enough in his support for the catholic side in the thirty years war. One may have hoped that pursuing letters and internal documents would reveal precisely this type of behind-the-scenes aspects of the affair. But unfortunately the letters are far more formulaic and no more revealing than the formal proceedings themselves. The final Inquisition report of about five pages is in effect a concise summary of the whole book; the rest is almost entirely redundant reiteration.

The outline of the story, to which so very little depth is added, may be recounted as follows.

The dispute seems to have been sparked not so much by heliocentrism as such but rather by Galileo's forays into scriptural interpretation. Galileo claims that in such matters "one must begin not with the authority of scriptural passages but with sensory experience and necessary demonstrations" (p. 93). This because "Scripture appear to be full not only of contradictions but also of serious heresies and blasphemies; for one would have to attribute to God feet, hands, eyes, and bodily sensations, as well as human feelings like anger contrition, and hatred, and such conditions as the forgetfulness of things past and the ignorance of future ones" (an argument which, by the way, we hear him repeat three times; pp. 50, 85, 92). The clash with the interpretations of the church fathers Galileo explains by the fact that heliocentrism was not an issue at that time (p. 108) and that such matters were considered unimportant. He quotes St. Augustine as saying that "God did not want to teach men these things which are of no use to salvation," and ask how, then, "one can now say that to hold this rather than that proposition on this topic is so important that one is a principle of faith and one is erroneous?" (p. 95). As for actual biblical interpretation, Galileo's most prominent example is that of Joshua stopping the sun to lengthen the day. Galileo criticises the geocentric interpretation by distinguishing the "Prime Mobile" daily motion of the heavens and the annual motion of the sun along the zodiac: stopping the latter would not lengthen the day but rather shorten it. He offers instead a Copernican interpretation which is based on the assumption that the sun's rotation causes all motion, so that stopping it would stop the entire solar system. (Pp. 53-54.)

It seems that it was primarily this provocation that brought the matter to the Inquisition's attention (pp. 134-135, 138). Once provoked, the Inquisition also moved to condemn holding heliocentrism as physical truth. Perhaps they did so only because of the theory's proponents' explicit polemic with the church. After all, Copernicus' book had long been permitted, and Galileo's own Letters on Sunspots of 1613 had been censored only where it referred to scripture, not where it asserted heliocentrism.

The outcomes of the first Inquisition proceedings (1615-1616) were: a condemnation of heliocentrism as "formally heretical" (p. 146); a special injunction that Galileo must not "hold, teach or defend it in any way whatever" (p. 147); mild censoring of Copernicus' book (viz., removal of a passage concerning the conflict with the Bible and a handful expressions which insinuated the physical truth of the theory; pp. 149, 200-202). Thus Galileo was not actually convicted, and to protect himself from slander he requested a certificate of this fact from Cardinal Bellarmine (p. 153).

Galileo did indeed keep quiet for a number of years, but he was lured out of silence, it seems, by a false sense of security stemming from his good relations with the new Pope, Urban VIII (cf. p. 155), in light of which he "artfully and cunningly extorted" (in the words of the Inquisition, p. 290) a permission to publish the Dialogue on the Two Wold Systems in 1632.

A special commission appointed by the Pope found many inappropriate things in the Dialogue, but this was not a major issue, they noted, for such things "could be emended if the book were judged to have some utility which would warrant such a favor" (p. 222). The problem was instead that Galileo "may have overstepped his instructions" not to treat heliocentricism (p. 219). This is an internal document so presumably it is sincere. The same report also points out that Galileo had placed the Pope's favourite argument (that the omnipotent God could have created any universe, including a heliocentric one), which he had been asked to include, "in the mouth of a fool" (p. 221).

This forced the second Inquisition proceedings in 1633. Galileo's defence was quite pathetic and transparently dishonest. He claimed that: in the Dialogue "I show the contrary of Copernicus's opinion, and that Copernicus's reasons are invalid and inconclusive" (p. 262); in light of the accusations, "it dawned on me to reread my printed Dialogue," and to his surprise "I found it almost a new book by another author" (pp. 277-278); he did not recall the injunction's phrases "to teach" or "any way whatever" since these did not appear in Bellarmine's certificate, "which I relied upon and kept as a reminder" (p. 260). Of course he was forced to abjure. The Dialogue was prohibited, but not for its contents but rather, in the words of the Inquisition's sentence, "so that this serious and pernicious error and transgression of yours does not remain completely unpunished" and as "an example for others to abstain from similar crimes" (p. 291).

Emphasis on "documentary"
Not exactly what I was looking for.Aside from the 43-page introduction, this book is a primary source of documentation (letters to and from Galileo) surrounding Galileo and his two trials, and devoid of commentary or narrative.

This is MUST if you want to know about the Galileo Affair
When I browsed through Amazon.com, I was amazed that after all of these years there was not a single review on this book.I wanted to write a review to let people know what this book is about.Basically Finocchiaro has made an excellent compilation of all documents pertaining the famous "Galileo Affair", of what happened in the Inquisition's case against Galileo.

But more than that, Finocchiaro in his "Introduction" to the book, deals with both sides of the affair, of those against Galileo, and of those in his favor.He then tries to make a very accurate interpretation about what really happened them, and pointing to both groups' flaws about their interpretation of history.Certainly the Galileo Affair was not just a case where the Inquisition was absolutely right, but also it is far beyond the statement that the Inquisition wanted him silenced to prevent the advance of science.The Galileo Affair is much more complex than that, and Finnochiaro takes into account the scientific, philosophical, theological and political realities of the time.

The documents in the book include correspondence, Inquisition documents, fragments of Galileo's writings, among others.You MUST have this book if you want to understand more accurately the Galileo Affair. ... Read more

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An illustrated biography of Galileo features paintings, photographs, and prints and discusses his early life as a young boy in Pisa, his revolutionary thinking in mathematics and astronomy, and more. ... Read more

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Among the many books on Galileo Galilei only very few deal directly and in depth with his scientific accomplishments proper. This is one of them and among the correspondingly sparse literature the author of this work distinguishes himself by focusing on mechanics, in particular on the fundamental concept of motion and percussion - having performed crucial original experiments and in Galileo´s spirit. Indeed, while the author lets Galilei speak for himself when he explains his experiments and findings, he also makes full use of our present day knowledge of physics to make the reader better understand the perspective.

The result of this very fine understanding is an unsurpassingly authoritative account on some of the foundations of preclassical mechanics as laid down by the great Pisan scientist, widely regarded as the first experimental physicist in the modern sense.

This book will not only be an indispensable source of reference for historians of sciences but appeal to anyone interested in the foundations of experimental physics in general and of mechanics in particular.

Product Description
Straight from London's National Theatre to L.A. Theatre Works! Unrelenting in his search for ""simple truth"" Galileo Galilei shatters beliefs held sacred for two thousand years. But, under threat of torture by the Holy Inquisition, his scientific and personal integrity are put to the test as he argues for his very life in a passionate debate over science, politics, religion and ethics that resonates to this day. This American premier, translated by David Hare and directed by Martin Jarvis, stars Stacy Keach and features an interview with Dr. E.C. Krupp, Director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

A L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Neil Dickson, Roy Dotrice, Jeannie Elias, Jill Gascoine, Stacy Keach, Peter Lavin, Robert Machray, Christopher Neame, Moira Quirk, Darren Richardson, Alan Shearman, Simon Templeman, Joanne Whalley, Matthew Wolf ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Play, Timely and Scary
Just like Brecht to have his finger so on the pulse of the historic past, his present and his future which has arrived as our present. Could probably benefit from some judicious cutting for modern audiences, but filled with challenging ideas. Worth the read, surely worth a production.

A great Social/Political Satire...
Bertolt Brecht's "the Life of Galileo" is perhaps one of his best known plays which came to define the Epic Drama genre of the 20th century.Written in America after Brecht fled the Nazi uprising in Germany, "the Life of Galileo" takes a bold stance about science and scientific discovery in a time when Atomic Theory and the development of an Atomic Bomb were making people consider what may happen when something good (atomic energy) are made into something bad (atomic bombs).

Though this version is the revised edition to the play (Brecht had written two previous versions that he changed) it still captures the spirit of Epic drama and the social/political issues can be deduced by Brecht's portrayl of Galileo.

Putting it on...
It's a fascinating play, but it's important to take into consideration that it takes up to 4 hours to produce in its entirety, requires a cast of up to 40 people plus orchestra and tech crew.The carnival scene (10) alsorequires many props, and setting it during the renaissance can be demandingfor a costumier! We performed it outside in winter at night. Brrrr...

Eating the apple from the tree of knowledge.
In a pleasant and intertaining discription of the life of Galileo, Bertolt Brecht explores not only the advancement of our knowledge of the earth but more important the role of the church during the time period. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The law of similar triangles belaboured unto death.
Galileo's geometric compass is neither the magnetic compass nor the familiar drawing instrument, though it is not entirely unrelated to the latter.Imagine a divider with scoring on its legs, such that by placing the feet of the divider some particular distance apart, and then using the scoring, one could find a measure, say, 1/3 of the distance of original distance.Imagine also reversing the process.&c.There you have it.At the time that Galileo devised this thing, few were adept at multiplication, let alone division, and the device was thus =extremely= useful.But those comfortable with high school algebra and geometry will find unremarkable mathematics.However, this book represents an important milestone in calculating technology ... Read more

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The Dutch telescope and the Italian scientist Galileo have long enjoyed a durable connection in the popular mind--so much so that it seems this simple glass instrument transformed a rather modest middle-aged scholar into the bold icon of the Copernican Revolution. And yet the extraordinary speed with which the telescope changed the course of Galileo's life and early modern astronomy obscures the astronomer's own curiously delayed encounter with the instrument. This book considers the lapse between the telescope's creation in The Hague in 1608 and Galileo's alleged acquaintance with such news ten months later. In an inquiry into scientific and cultural history, Eileen Reeves explores two fundamental questions of intellectual accountability: what did Galileo know of the invention of the telescope, and when did he know it?

The record suggests that Galileo, like several of his peers, initially misunderstood the basic design of the telescope. In seeking to explain the gap between the telescope's emergence and the alleged date of the astronomer's acquaintance with it, Reeves explores how and why information about the telescope was transmitted, suppressed, or misconstrued in the process. Her revised version of events, rejecting the usual explanations of silence and idleness, is a revealing account of the role that misprision, error, and preconception play in the advancement of science.

Along the way, Reeves offers a revised chronology of Galileo's life in a critical period and, more generally, shows how documents typically outside the scope of early modern natural philosophy--medieval romances, travel literature, and idle speculations--relate to two crucial events in the history of science.

Customer Reviews (2)

Galileo's Glassworks
Not meant for those who want a systematic exposition of the technical development of the telescope. It is, however, a fascinating, detailed, deeply researched and novel approach to the history of the telescope. Conjures up and immerses the reader in the the complex zeitgeist of the 16th and early 17th centuries from which emerged the telescope. Sets the invention in the context of bitter scientific, religious and politic rivalry, scheming for patronage and superstition. The work emphasizes the role of slow and garbled communication of the time and the still rampant superstition, which combined to cause the conflation and confusion of rational and supernatural explanations of the telescope and other cotemporaneously emergent technologies (like the camera obscura and altimetry). The book is scholarly, but somewhat convoluted, at times testing the patience of the reader. In the end, it rewards the effort of the reader.

A Scholarly Work, But...
Although this book's subtitle is "The Telescope and the Mirror", there is very little discussion on the technical evolution and actual uses of these devices. Instead, the author focuses on the myths and legends about "magic mirrors" allowing the ancients to see what people were doing a great many miles away. The evolution of such myths over the centuries is also discussed, culminating with the invention of a real telescope, knowledge of which eventually reached Galileo. This is indeed a scholarly work. It is focused and heavily annotated, i.e., 166 pages of main text are supported by 50 pages of notes/references. However, scholarly works that are also aimed at general readers should be written in a style that is accessible, friendly and engaging. In my view, this is where this book misses the mark. Although I found the writing style to be authoritative, I also found it to be rather dry and awkward, due in no small part to the many very long-winded and often complex sentences. Consequently, it is very difficult to say what the book's target audience is. In my opinion, this is a work that should be studied rather than simply read for pleasure. It would likely be of interest to scholars who may be involved in research along related topics. However, I suspect that general readers, and even many history buffs like me, may find the book confusing and rather boring. ... Read more

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Product Description
A drama about the confrontation between two great men who changed history. The focus of the book centers around the epic struggle between the great Tuscan Galileo and his arch-opponent and one-time-friend, Pope Urban VIII--now prince of a church threatened by Galileo's new science. In this surprising, original, and thought-provoking work, we see the forces that doomed Galileo and vindicated the Pope's authority, but weakened it in the end. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Good used book
I don't like getting used books, but this one is an older book and was available only that way.It worked out very well---it's in good shape!

Riveting Indeed
Giorgio di Santillana was Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) when this book was written in December 1953.

This is an in-depth, scholarly study. Something of a master artist with words, Di Santillana brings his characters vividly to life, and follows the machinations of Galileo's enemies with the keen instinct of a political scientist. His view is that "both the authorities and the scientist had the mutual impression of being ambushed, and in neither case was it true. The ambush, in so far as there was one, had been carefully laid by third parties, who carefully exploited the critical situation of the times."

In the previous half-century, following the Reformation, the Catholic church had set up the Roman inquisition and the Index of banned books to prevent "innovators" from putting forward new interpretations of scripture, as the Protestant reformers had done. Against this background, Galileo asserted that certain biblical passages, including those apparently denying that the earth moved, should be understood "figuratively".

There are about 220 footnotes, some lengthy and extended, and containing fascinating and little-known material. The narrative also uses many direct quotations, so that these 17th-century figures - articulate, expansive, often extremely considered and thoughtful - speak to us in their own words. Only 3 pages are given to the first 46 years of Galileo's life, so that effectively the book starts in 1610, when Galileo's telescopic discoveries had suddenly brought him to public prominence. One of the 16 chapters is devoted to Roberto Bellarmine, the cardinal who in 1616 laid on Galileo the "command" not to hold or defend the heliocentric theory. Chapters IX and X recount how in 1630, as Galileo sought a licence to print his "Dialogue", something abruptly changed behind the scenes: Urban VIII, who over many years had shown him signs of unmistakable warmth and friendship, became persuaded that Galileo had actually deceived him and possibly even mocked him in the "Dialogue". The author clearly has some sympathy with this pope, who was distracted with the 30 years war: "...troubles piled up for him... such as would have given a lesser man a nervous breakdown..."

Alongside this book, I read other accounts of Galileo's life by Ronan, Reston, Fr. Brodrick, and Shea and Artigas. They tell the same story, and I found nothing that I could call bias in any of them, yet even within this small group we see some very different opinions on the cast of characters, It is probably a good thing to read several accounts. "The Crime of Galileo" is a superior book, and a good place to start.

Galileo's Trial still timely today
In 1616 Galileo got the necessary imprimatur for his publication of the famous "Dialogue" from the Roman Catholic Church, with Pope Urban VIII's approval.The Church was shying away from burning heretics, as happened to Giordano Bruno only 16 years earlier in Rome's Campo dei Fiori, whose crime of heresy was punished severely (he said the universe is infinite with no edge and every point its center, among other things Copernican), so Urban agreed that in principle Copernican ideas could be entertained, along with mathematics, as 'speculations' not to contradict Scripture.The Scholars of the time were uncomfortable with this, in addition to which there was scholastic-political contest going between the Jesuits and Dominicans, and 16 years after publishing the Dialogue, Galileo was summoned by the Holy Inquisition to Rome.By then he was already an old man approaching 70, well respected socially; the trip was a great hardship on his frail health, but he did go and answer the call.He really had no choice, and though supported by some members of high social and academic standing who believed he was in the clear, there was an element of dread to this journey.The rest of it is exceptionally fascinating reading, well researched with only a few pieces missing, or guessed at, to bring to completion Galileo's trial and sentencing.I found the book riveting to the end and languished on the last few pages for the joy of reading it.Though de Santillana wrote this book more than half a century ago, it is timely for our day when once again religious dogmas, some of which had been dormant since the Enlightenment, are re-surfacing to challenge the reason of Science, including Sharia sympathizers.The 'trial' appears not yet over.

Excellent book, if over-written
I am enjoying this book very much- it is a gem of historical scholarship, though the writing is a bit odd and overindulgent at points. Santillana even engages in a bit of docudrama, as he imagines how some conversations might have gone for which there is little or no evidence. He does make the age and the people come alive, and seems to be relatively fair-minded. The extensive quotes alone are fascinating.

I have to say that the other commentators appear to have the story and lesson of this book a bit wrong. Galileo did indeed receive strong sympathy from the higher-ups in the church, since he had no problem withCatholicism per se, and was a leading raconteur among the educated elite. The problem comes in when one characterizes the Dominicans and Jesuits of the day as "academics". Nothing could be farther from our current conception of an academic, since their first duty was to proselytize, maintain, and defend the faith, not scholarship. It seems to have been the Dominicans who attacked Galileo first and hardest, and after them, the Jesuits who then got the pope's ear.

To put this into the setting of the current day, it would be as if creationists like Ken Ham or Phillip Johnson were minor functionaries of the state, (perhaps if the Discovery Institute was a branch of a theocratic NIH), and could goad their superiors into banning Darwinist thought. That the highest levels of the church were reluctant to accede to the demagoguery and scandal-mongering of their monastic bretheren does not absolve either party of historical responsibility.

The most useful book on Galileo so far
If you're just looking for a casual read then perhaps Dava Sobel's 'Galileo's Daughter' or Arthur Koestler's 'The Sleepwalkers' would be more entertaining. But this is where Koestler gets most of his information so why not go straight to the source?
Giorgio de Santillana is obviously a terrific Galileo scholar, making reference to original documents held in the Vatican and other worthwhile resources which put this book on the forefront of academic debate (despite its age).
Santillana'sline, that the inquisition was moved to action by Aristotelians (many of whom were Dominicans or Jesuits), though not universally accepted, is well argued. The fact that Pope Urban VIII had been one of Galileo's closest supporters and even opposed the censoring of Copernicus when he was Cardinal Maffeo Barberini makes Santillana's the most plausible explanation. To argue that all the church authorities were adamantly opposed to the Copernican cosmology is to ignore this fact. Though one must also allow for the petulant character of Urban who did not like having his instrumentalist views put into the mouth of a simpleton. These are the two factors which conspired to have Galileo tried for heresy and not simply the scriptural objections. ... Read more

Product Description
Galileo Ranks alongside Mother Courage and Mr. Puntila as one of Brecht’s most intensely alive, human, and complex characters. In Life of Galileo, the great Renaissance scientist is in a brutal struggle for freedom from authoritarian dogma. Unable to satisfy his appetite for scientific investigation, he comes into conflict with the Inquisition and must publicly renounce his theories, though in private he goes on working on his revolutionary ideas. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Very Good Hands-On Dramatic Exercise for AP Students
The "Life of Galileo" made an excellent dramatic presentation for my AP Modern Euro History course to read.I would only advise that students take several roles (but be careful their multiple personas don't appear together in the same scene) because of the large cast of characters and that a teacher select only certain scenes from the play due to its length.The scenes with Cardinal Barberini make especially good read-aloud dramatizations.

Galileo - Science vs. the Vatican circa 1600
The plot, though fictionalized, resembles the basic outline of Galileo's life - Galileo used a new invention, the telescope, to empirically validate the Copernican model of the solar system. The universe doesn't actually revolve around the Earth, the Earth is just another planet that revolves around the Sun. Members of the clericy object to this. Some don't accept it since it contradicts their reading of the bible, others accept it but don't want the people to know because it will undermine their understanding of the world.

If the basic structure of the universe isn't they way they've been told, what else might be different? Could people live differently? Is the rule of the Church, Kings, not divinely ruled either? These are just a couple of the conundrums the play gives you to think about and always with both sides making very strong cases.

It sounds a little didactic put this way but it's an entertaining play. Galileo is portrayed as an Earthy character. He likes good food and being able to do as he pleases.

Aside from Galileo the other characters are also very well drawn, his daughter Virginia, his pupil Andrea, Cosimo De Medici, Cardinal Barberini.

All in all it's a interesting read with a lot of food for thought. Brecht gives you both drama and ideas and he does so quite suavely. Highly recommended.

Can a "Historical" Play Be Dated?
So it seems with Brecht's "Life of Galileo", a thoroughly fictionalized portrayal of events in the 1600s that sounds, in the English translation, like a TV dramatization from the 1950s. But the translation is fair to the original, which sounds like German of the 1930s. I have trouble imagining how this play could be staged. If it were in early Baroque costumes, the language would sound utterly anachronistic. Perhaps modern dress would work better - a setting in Somerville, moving to Cambridge, and then to Deerfield, all in Massachusetts with appropriate Bay State accents. Brecht's political/philosophical message in this play may also seem dated, but I don't intend to explicate it here.

Yes, I am aware of Brecht's celebrated "Verfremdungseffekt" and I'm willing to concede that the anachronistic nature of this play is intended. But there are some catches. Brecht himself worked on the English version which was staged by the actor Charles Laughton as a 'realistic' drama. The alienation-effect couldn't have been prominent in that production. This is a richly annotated and comparative edition in English, with two complete versions of the play and with ample notes, including comments by Brecht that disclaim the tragic nature of Galileo's recantation and house-imprisonment.

Any play about Galileo is bound to be a play about Free Speech. Brecht's play is also about the responsibility of scientists - or the irresponsibility perhaps. It seems clear that Brecht understood that Galileo's persecutors were right, that new knowledge is inherently dangerous to old accomodations of society, that astronomy and Christian beliefs are incompatible. My 17th C avatar, Giordano Bruno, doesn't strut the boards in this drama, but his execution by the Roman Inquisition is a frequent topic. Bruno was possibly the first human to grasp infinity, to understand that an infinite universe can't have begun and can't end. Even Galileo, the real man with his telescope, fell short of Bruno's intuition. The core of Brecht's play is the battle-to-the-death between comforts of established religious customs and the potential of a future without religion.

If I were a stage director or a dramaturge, I'd take huge liberties with this play. I'd switch "heroes" from Galileo to Charles Darwin, with a contrafactual persecution of Darwin by an American HUAC. Brecht would understand; anything that forces an audience to react is good drama. ... Read more

Product Description
In this entertaining and authoritative biography, first published in 1994, Michael Sharratt examines the flair, imagination, hard-headedness, clarity, combativeness and penetrating intelligence of Galileo Galilei. To follow Galileo's career as he exploited unforeseen opportunities to unseat established ways of comprehending nature is to understand a crucial stage of the Scientific Revolution. Galileo was a pathbreaker for the newly-invented telescope, the decoder of nature's mathematical language and a quite brilliant popularizer of science. Even his reluctant excursion into theology has at last been officially and handsomely recognized by the Church's "rehabilitation" of the Inquisition's most famous victim, fully discussed in the last chapter. This book makes his lasting contributions accessible to nonscientists and his mistakes are not overlooked. This is not a mythical story, but the biography of an innovator--one of the greatest ever known. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Effective and Manageable biography
Book: Galileo: Decisive Innovator, 262 pages

Author: Michael Sharratt

In Galileo: Decisive Innovator, author Michael Sharratt portrays Galileo Galilei as a complete being, beyond the typical textbook and famous discoverer Galileo. Sharratt writes the truth and writes it vividly, with no added fluff or mythological misconceptions about Galileo, such as Galileo invented the telescope. In fact, Sharratt first introduced Galileo saying that, Galileo did not invent the telescope and that rather Galileo improved the Dutch invention and was the first to point the looking glass up towards the skies. Also Sharratt makes it a point that Galileo is one of the few scientists called by his first name, a reason why he, Sharratt, wrote the book referring to Galileo using his first name only.

There are a number of reasons for readers to bother reading this book. Some of the strongest points of this biography include: organization of content, personal facts, and accurate content. There are countless other books on Galileo, but this biography was organized in such a way that even someone new to Galileo or the concepts of science discussed, were to read this book, they would be able to get a full account the same way a scientist would have. Instead of consistently going in the typical, time-based chronological order of events and explanations, Sharratt divides up Galileo's life and his "ripple effects" into ten sections (with subchapters), which are located in the table of contents.

The first chapter is not about Galileo's early life, but about "The Strangest Piece of News," talking about Galileo's turning point in life with the telescope and the beginnings of his support for Copernicus' theory. In the middle of different chapters, Sharratt makes references to other time periods in Galileo's life, events, people, things that were relevant to his current writing topic. Also, Sharratt is able to give many details concerning Galileo's events. No significant event is easily overlooked; the book provides many details about Galileo's feelings, environment, and other people's lives during Galileo's important events. In Sharratt's discussion about significant events in Galileo's life, such as the Dialogue and its condemnation, Sharratt is clear to identify whom Galileo was truly fighting. It was not the Church, but the stifling paradigm of natural philosophy, whose practitioners, rather than systematically observing nature, sought recourse in Artistotle. These methods help the reader get a lively feel for everything written about Galileo and not just boring fact after fact. There are also, black and white illustrations; intelligently placed, relating to the context around it (Sharratt included a list of illustrations following the table of content). Also there is a ten-page compilation of notes in the back, to refer back to, not to mention the small-print, eight-page bibliography, a good source for further readings.

Sharratt was most likely compelled to recount this story, due to his expertise and profession in this field as a philosophy professor and a Roman Catholic Priest. Just the fact that Sharratt is a Roman Catholic Priest gives his last chapter, "Rehabilitation," a stronger thrust than other authors, methodically deconstructing the legal underpinnings of the case and identifying the true issues and personality conflicts of Galileo.

Sharratt offers an effective and manageable method of dealing with the immense life of Galileo in his 262 pages. It is effective in putting an emphasis on Galileo's ideas rather than a collection of anecdotes and it is manageable because the biography, despite its details, is a succinct account of influences on Galileo and in turn his influences on the world, that shaped his life.

Upside Down Through a Telescope
To all of us who have had romantic rushes with astronomy, the name Galileo is deeply revered. It is a matter of faith among us that Galileo invented the telescope and consequently a spate of remarkable objects in the heavens, particularly the rings of Saturn. We know he performed wizardlike scientific demonstrations from the leaning Tower of Pisa. If we had the benefit of a good liberal arts education, we came to understand, albeit dimly, that he got in trouble for all this with the Church.

Biographer Michael Sharratt did a wise thing. He describes Galileo's adventures with the new telescope in the very first chapter of his biography, because he knows this is what we want to know first. It is a compelling chapter, although there is no way to tell the story without a certain measure of demythologizing. Galileo did not invent the telescope; the instrument was in common use in the Dutch Republic, though our hero certainly improved upon it. He never had a telescope strong enough to identify the rings of Saturn [another Dutchman, Huygens, gets credit for that.] And perhaps most depressing, Galileo first conceived of a telescope as an instrument of naval intelligence and tried to market it as such.

Sharratt's book is not for curious little boys, but for the thoughtful grownups they became. The bulk of this book is not about the dramatic discoveries, but the wonder and dismay they precipitated. This work has a certain jargon true to its time. Galileo by trade was a mathematician. As the times did not require the high precision math of the nuclear-computer age, mathematicians, at least the good ones, served society by promulgating what we might call the sciences of organization: logic, the structure of accurate thought, and physics, the predictability of causes and effects.

By Galileo's time, the early seventeenth century, traditional logic and physics were under assault by a number of independent scientists whose hypotheses and improved observation methods were bending the old medieval synthesis to the breaking point. Under particular assault were two venerable systems: Ptolemy's concept of the universe in which the sun, planets, and stars circled the earth; the other. Aristotle's complex synthesis of observable matter and motion.

Sharratt traces with considerable detail Galileo's early disenchantment with both Ptolemy and Aristotle. Although questioning whether the Tower of Pisa events were quite the spectacle they were reported to be, Sharratt examines Galileo's method of disproving Aristotelian truisms such as the tendency of heavier objects to fall faster than lighter ones. Galileo, like many of his contemporaries, romanced the theories of Copernicus, whose theory of a sun centered universe better explained the retrograde motion of planets as observed from the earth. It was Galileo's eventual marriage to the Copernican system that would cause him so much trouble with the Church.

The new telescope in the hands of a Copernican newlywed was an almost dangerous union. Galileo used his early observations virtually exclusively to attempt to prove the validity of the Copernican system [though Keppler, with all his number crunching, did a more thorough job of this.] Galileo's discovery of four moons revolving about Jupiter established at least that the earth was not the center of motion. The crescent face of Venus made a strong case, as he saw it, for a sun-centered universe. Perhaps most damaging to traditionalists, the discovery of mountains and valleys on the moon implied that heavenly objects could, for all practical purposes, undergo the same secular critiques as earthly matter and principles.

Sharratt depicts Galileo as a gregarious man with many friends who, like most struggling artisans, knew how to ingratiate himself to influential patrons for financial support and connections. He could be jealously protective of his prerogatives and he did not suffer fools gladly. Sharratt's research leads him to believe that Galileo ran afoul of the Jesuits, or at least some of them, who were only too happy to provide Robert Bellarmine and the Roman Inquisition with disquieting interpretations of Galileo's works.

The Inquisition's public dispute with Galileo involved the latter's teaching of Copernicanism. Put simply, adherence to Copernican theory in 1616 was tantamount to a denial of Biblical inerrancy in the eyes of the Catholic Church, then deeply enmeshed in struggles with Protestant reformers over, among other things, Biblical interpretation. However, there can be no doubt that Galileo's dismemberment of the Aristotelian system was viewed as an equally inimical threat to the unity and soundness of Catholic doctrine, also under fire from Protestants. In 1616 a somewhat friendly and informal encounter with Bellarmine and Pope Urban VIII resulted in an avuncular warning that Galileo refrain from public advocacy of Copernicanism. Sharratt reports that there was some confusion over precisely what these men agreed to. Hence, when Galileo published his masterpiece The Dialogue in 1632, in which he enhanced and reinforced earlier writings, he was arrested by the Inquisition for reneging upon the instruction of 1616. Sharratt's description of the trial is terse and brief; Galileo lived his remaining years under house arrest.

Somewhat misplaced is the final chapter on Galileo's rehabilitation by John Paul II in 1992. This chapter has the marks of an afterthought or editorial recasting. The author himself admits that the "rehabilitation" was of the Church, not Galileo. More tellingly, Sharratt makes no mention of present struggles between Church traditionalists and modern day Galileos, and he would have needed to look no further than to reproductive science. One need only consider the present state of Catholic sexual ethics to see that the microscope has replaced the telescope as an object of terror for today's Bellarmines. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This Book Is In French. ... Read more