The Earth Moves: Galileo and the Roman Inquisition
A cogent portrayal of a turning point in the evolution of the freedom of thought and the beginnings of modern science.

Celebrated, controversial, condemned, Galileo Galilei is a seminal figure in the history of science. Both Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein credit him as the first modern scientist. His 1633 trial before the Holy Office of the Inquisition is the prime drama in the history of the conflict between science and religion.

Galileo was then sixty-nine years old and the most venerated scientist in Italy. Although subscribing to an anti-literalist view of the Bible, as per Saint Augustine, Galileo considered himself a believing Catholic.

Playing to his own strengths—a deep knowledge of Italy, a longstanding interest in Renaissance and Baroque lore—Dan Hofstadter explains this apparent paradox and limns this historic moment in the widest cultural context, portraying Galileo as both humanist and scientist, deeply versed in philosophy and poetry, on easy terms with musicians, writers, and painters.
1119449073
The Earth Moves: Galileo and the Roman Inquisition
A cogent portrayal of a turning point in the evolution of the freedom of thought and the beginnings of modern science.

Celebrated, controversial, condemned, Galileo Galilei is a seminal figure in the history of science. Both Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein credit him as the first modern scientist. His 1633 trial before the Holy Office of the Inquisition is the prime drama in the history of the conflict between science and religion.

Galileo was then sixty-nine years old and the most venerated scientist in Italy. Although subscribing to an anti-literalist view of the Bible, as per Saint Augustine, Galileo considered himself a believing Catholic.

Playing to his own strengths—a deep knowledge of Italy, a longstanding interest in Renaissance and Baroque lore—Dan Hofstadter explains this apparent paradox and limns this historic moment in the widest cultural context, portraying Galileo as both humanist and scientist, deeply versed in philosophy and poetry, on easy terms with musicians, writers, and painters.
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The Earth Moves: Galileo and the Roman Inquisition

The Earth Moves: Galileo and the Roman Inquisition

by Dan Hofstadter
The Earth Moves: Galileo and the Roman Inquisition

The Earth Moves: Galileo and the Roman Inquisition

by Dan Hofstadter

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Overview

A cogent portrayal of a turning point in the evolution of the freedom of thought and the beginnings of modern science.

Celebrated, controversial, condemned, Galileo Galilei is a seminal figure in the history of science. Both Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein credit him as the first modern scientist. His 1633 trial before the Holy Office of the Inquisition is the prime drama in the history of the conflict between science and religion.

Galileo was then sixty-nine years old and the most venerated scientist in Italy. Although subscribing to an anti-literalist view of the Bible, as per Saint Augustine, Galileo considered himself a believing Catholic.

Playing to his own strengths—a deep knowledge of Italy, a longstanding interest in Renaissance and Baroque lore—Dan Hofstadter explains this apparent paradox and limns this historic moment in the widest cultural context, portraying Galileo as both humanist and scientist, deeply versed in philosophy and poetry, on easy terms with musicians, writers, and painters.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393338201
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 05/10/2010
Series: Great Discoveries Series
Pages: 242
Product dimensions: 5.30(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dan Hofstadter is the author of The Earth Moves and Falling Palace: A Romance of Naples (a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir). He has lived in Florence and Naples and speaks and reads Italian fluently. He lives in Rensselaerville, New York.

Table of Contents

Author's Note 11

Prologue: The Summons 17

1 Galileo Galilei and Maffeo Barberini 27

2 The Telescope; or, Seeing 53

3 The Trial; or, Not Seeing 134

Epilogue: Invidia 198

Notes 212

Selected Bibliography 226

Illustration Credits 232

Index 233

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