Amazon.com
Everyone knows that Galileo Galilei dropped cannonballs off the leaning tower of Pisa, developed the first reliable telescope, and was convicted by the Inquisition for holding a heretical belief--that the earth revolved around the sun. But did you know he had a daughter?In Galileo's Daughter, Dava Sobel (author of the bestsellingLongitude) tells the story of the famous scientist and his illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste. Sobel bases her book on 124 surviving letters to the scientist from the nun, whom Galileo described as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and tenderly attached to me." Their loving correspondence revealed much about their world: the agonies of the bubonic plague, the hardships of monastic life, even Galileo's occasional forgetfulness ("The little basket, which I sent you recently with several pastries, is not mine, and therefore I wish you to return it to me").

While Galileo tangled with the Church, Maria Celeste--whose adopted name was a tribute to her father's fascination with the heavens--provided moral and emotional support with her frequent letters, approving of his work because she knew the depth of his faith. As Sobel notes, "It is difficult today ... to see the Earth at the center of the Universe. Yet that is where Galileo found it." With her fluid prose and graceful turn of phrase, Sobel breathes life into Galileo, his daughter, and the earth-centered world in which they lived. --Sunny DelaneyBook Description
Galileo Galilei's telescopes allowed him to discover a new reality in the heavens. But for publicly declaring his astounding argument--that the earth revolves around the sun--he was accused of heresy and put under house arrest by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Living a far different life, Galileo's daughter Virginia, a cloistered nun, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength through the difficult years of his trial and persecution.

Drawing upon the remarkable surviving letters that Virginia wrote to her father, Dava Sobel has written a fascinating history of Medici--era Italy, a mesmerizing account of Galileo's scientific discoveries and his trial by Church authorities, and a touching portrayal of a father--daughter relationship. Galileo's Daughter is a profoundly moving portrait of the man who forever changed the way we see the universe.

• Winner of the Christopher Award and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award

• Named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, and the American Library Association ... Read more

Customer Reviews (236)

elegant, beautiful prose and story
This book must be read if not for the depth of the actual telling, then for the elegant writing itself. The intertwining of primary source material and the author's own pen is done beautifully. The story's theme of the supposed clash between faith and reason/ science is as relevant today as it was in Galileo's time. Food for thought.

Interesting subject, thin prose.
My real issue with this book is that Sobel's writing leaves me cold. I had avoided reading this for a long time because I had not really enjoyed Longitude. But countless critical raves and the response from friends caused me to decide to give Galileo's Daughter a try.

The subject matter is interesting enough. The book is very little about Galileo's daughter and is more a book about the man himself. That is not really a bad thing, since there is sadly not very much to know about Suor Maria Celeste. The episodes Sobel chooses to highlight are interesting, and I believe she succeeds in making Galileo human to the readers.

I would be hard pressed to say what exactly it is that I do not like about Sobel as a writer. It is not something that I can easily articulate. I think that it has something to do with the fact that her prose feels like an overextended magazine article. Both in Longitude and in this book, I felt as though the material were too thin for the weight that she was trying to hang on the pages. I am not sure that this is true, and suspect it may have something to do with the structure. In any case, with both books I had the experience that I was quite impatient with the prose even as I was interested in the material.

If you are interested in scientific history and in the mood for some reasonably light reading, then my review should not discourage you from picking up Galileo's Daughter. Myself, I am probably going to avoid Sobel in the future.

Galileo imprisoned for furthering a truth that disagreed with biblical writings and Christian teachings: a daughter's view
At sixty-eight years of age, Galileo, a Catholic, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for writing a philosophical story in support of the Copernican sun-centered universe theory. Unfortunately for him (and the truth), it was in conflict with the wording of the bible (p 62):

"O lord my God, Thou art great indeed....Thou fixed the Earth upon its foundation, not to be moved forever.[103:1,5]

The actions leading up to that event make up the majority of the book, which distinguishes itself from other biographies by its inclusion of the content of letters written by his elder daughter, Virginia, who was born in 1600 and "adopted the name Maria Celeste when she became a nun" at age thirteen. Because Galileo's letters were destroyed, the majority of what we learn about him is through her writings, which is both the book's strength and its weakness. In fact, it might more aptly be titled, Galileo's Daughter's Letters: a view of his life from behind the walls of the nunnery. Because there are no letters before she became a teenager, little is known about that part of her life. And although it is reader friendly, even for the non-scientifically minded, it could have been shortened by a fourth to a half of its 420 pages without losing much in readability and coverage of the most important aspects of Galileo's life.

FAMILY PORTRAIT
A violent and unruly age is the setting for this story of the relationship between Galileo and his illegitimate daughter Maria Celestes (born Virginia).Placed in a convent at the age of thirteen, she spent her remaining years loyal to the hard life of her order, the Poor Clares, and to her infamous father.While not engaged in a "typical" father daughter relationship, the 124 letters written by Marie Celestes to her father offers the reader an insight into the intense personal devotion that developed between the two........ as well as a retelling of Galileo's notorious clash with the Inquisition and his subsequent trial for heresy as seen through his daughters eyes.

Along the way, we are exposed to the horrors of the bubonic plague as it rampages through Italy, the problems with travel and communication, the loss and damage caused by the 30 years war, and a vicarious trip into the garish lifestyle of Galileo's patrons, the Medicis.

This is truly more a story of Galileo than his daughter, but nevertheless interesting.Reading this story brings to the forefront the several interesting situations and provokes the reader to examine and compare life in the 17th century with our lives today.For example: (1) the reaction of the populace to bubonic plague versus our initial reaction to the AIDS epidemic, (2) the continuing tenuous and conflicted relationship between science and religion (stem cell research, etc.), (3) the opposition to the acceptance of revolutionary new discoveries over established methods, (4) the curtailment of freedom to pursue thought and speech that is contradictory to what is considered acceptable (attempted censorship of the conservative media).

Ms. Sobel's love for her subject matter is obvious in every word she put to paper.

Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love
The Seventeenth century was the most significant period after the fall of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire fell apart, all knowledge of the Romans was lost. However, all this knowledge slowly recovered when the Reformations, Renaissance, and Science Revolution were initiated. People brought back the Classic Age that had been lost. Art, music, and literature were not difficult to revive, but science was. When the Classic Age ended, and after the Black Plague, people believed all the teachings of the church were right. People against the Church's teachings were considered heretics.
This book, Galileo's Daughter: A historical memoir of science, faith, and love by Dava Sobel, starts with a letter from Galileo's daughter, Maria. In her letters, the readers can learn many details of the 1600's. Even though she is a nun, she supports his father and does not consider him as heretic because she knew that his theory was the truth. When Galileo saw that the Copernicus's ideas were more likely to be true than Ptolemy's established philosophy, he began the teaching it in defiance of the Catholic Church. However, he was forced to recant his theory. Despite opposition of the Catholic Church, Galileo publishes Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican. Because of that, his book was banned, and he encountered peril. He was put on trial for heresy and convicted. Maria Celeste was insightful, grandiloquent, and loved her father as he loved her. Regardless of her occupation, she supported her father through the trials. Although Galileo and Maria sent letters back and forth, Galileo's letters to Maria are nowhere to be found.
At first, I thought this book was about the story of Sour Maria Celeste and her relationship with her father, Galileo. However, this book manifested the struggles Galileo went through externally and internally. Because he was a religious man, he had a hard time fighting for what was right, his theory over the teachings of the Church. At the end of the book is very poignant moment, when Galileo's body was finally allowed to be placed in the monument.
I recommend this book to other students completing this assignment because it shows Galileo's accomplishments, and much more. This book is profound to the extension that as a daughter, I could see the father and daughter relationship, and how that relationship has effected Galileo Ibecome one of the most extolled scientists in the world.
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Amazon.com
The story of Galileo is at once inspiring and troubling. The brilliant astronomer was a celebrated scientist who was showered with honors and patronage until his greatest discovery--that the earth circled the sun rather than the other way around--proved to be too much of a threat to prevailing orthodoxy. Peter Sis, author of the wonderful children's book Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus, tells Galileo's tale for children ages 8 and older. A brilliant and sophisticated illustrator and a sensitive storyteller, he traces Galileo's life from childhood to his final days as a prisoner of the church. (Click to see asample spread. © 1996 by Peter Sis. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) (Ages 8 and older)Book Description

Customer Reviews (20)

Beautiful, but very hard to read!
Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei is a gorgeous book, full of glorious illustrations that children with patience who like hidden detail will find engrossing.Unfortunately, the book is shy on text.Much of the more important text, especially the words of Galileo himself, is printed in a very hard to read cursive script, oddly sprinkled on the page in a way that often requires the book to be turned sideways, upside down or even round and round.

This would not be my first-choice biography of Galileo if I could have just one.

SPIRAL downward in my estimation, as well as voiced by other readers.
I love history.
I love Biblical history.
It seemed as if the illustrator had a "proverbial gun to their head" to get all the text into "X" amount of pages --
thereby printing it every "which way" in order to accomplish this feat.
It wasn't "cute" nor CLEAVER having to read spirals -- in a book that has so much GOOD INFORMATION --
that NOVELTY need not be included!!!

Due to this need for attention -- my score for this book which had been a five star rating did a nose-dive down to one star.

I went to a librarian's meet, where this was a "must read" and in the discussion attended by 30+ librarians, they indicated the "same thought!"

(If there is ever a) next edition -- think twice!

Would you like to swing on a star?Carry a moonbeam home in a jar?
I've reviewed a fair amount of Peter Sis books in my day on Amazon.com, but this is the first book by Sis that I've come across that has so many negative/tepid reviews.Now, before I review a book I give its Amazon.com page a once-over to get a feel for what the public at large thinks about the story.Peter Sis is one of those authors who can write extraordinarily simple books for little children (like "Komodo", "Madlenka", or "Fire Truck") then turn around and do mind-bendingly complex picture books in the same breath (like, "Tibet: Through the Red Box", and "Tree of Life")."Starry Messenger" was one of Sis' first forays into this combination of complex and simplistic together.As you can see, it wasn't wholly successful.Though still a visually eye-popping wonder and a tale that makes equal concessions to both young and old readers, the story sacrifices fact for simplification in ways that not everyone will enjoy.I believe that while this book is a necessary addition to any Galileo collection, it should certainly not be the ONLY book on that starry-eyed scientist available to your children.

Right from the get-go we are told that the whole notion of the earth moving around the sun is a bit new.People (and here we are shown a lovely Ptolemaic System of the universe) thought the planets, the moon, and the sun moved around the earth.There's a sudden and brief glimpse on the next page of The Copernican System, but the text tells us that Copernicus never published this idea and that, "it would take someone else to do that...".Enter, someone else.Someone else by the name of Galileo Galilei.Born on February 15, 1564 when Italy was just a quilt of city-states, little Galileo grew up with a healthy scientific curiosity.He invented things, became a young professor, and heard about a remarkable new instrument that would allow the viewer to see far away things near.Being a bright young man, he made his own instrument and pointed it upwards.He sketched the moon, made maps of the heavens, and was the toast of the town.Then The Church took note of his ideas, disliked them heartily, convicted him of heresy, and kept him under house arrest for the rest of his life.Three hundred years later the Church pardoned him.Happy ending for all.The end.

Now, you cannot say that this is one of Sis' more straightforward books, because it isn't.Though certainly his later works contain just as much sheer factual knowledge, "Starry Messenger" doesn't organize its information particularly well.In an attempt to bring the older information together with the younger, Sis will put info for little children at the bottom of a page in large letters and leave the older info at top or mid-page in a kind of squiggly cursive writing.The illustrations, for their part, sometimes apply to both the older and the younger text, and then sometimes have absolutely nothing to do with what has already been written.For example, on the pages that describe Galileo's desire for a newfangled telescope, the older text includes a translation of Galileo's words, the younger text speaks of how the man made his own, and the pictures are an odd hodgepodge of maps, the travels of telescopes, some odd visions of Flanders, and a kind of historical amalgamation of faces, figures, and historical references.It's beautiful to look at.It's hell to understand.

The main objection to "Starry Messenger", as I see it, comes from the book's shaky discussion of why exactly The Church was so upset with the man's ideas.The book says, "he has gone against the Bible", which isn't really true.That was just an interpretation.Still, it leaves the reader a bit confused over whether or not Galileo's conviction was justified or not.Also, factual references, bibliographies, and timelines are non-existent here.Kids doing reports would have to shift through a myriad of oddly hidden dates tucked away on every other page to get the info they need.The book also never makes it clear when it was that Galileo decided to publish the idea that the earth moves around the sun.Suddenly he's been dragged in front of the Pope, and we have no idea why (though the text offers clues).Tis odd.

There is much to like here, of course.The art is just gorgeous.When Galileo stands before the Pope's court, a sea of astrological figures (Pisces, Taurus, Capricorn, etc.) swim about him, like a whirlpool threatening to suck him down.Most people will not notice this, but one of the nicest elements of the hardback version of this book are the endpapers.The first two endpapers show a city that we may take to be 17th century Italy with a tiny Galileo staring through his telescope at the stars.Along the edges of the paper are small scenes in which countless civilizations (from Eskimos to Easter Island) stare up at the flickering sky.The back endpapers initially look the same as the front, but closer inspection reveals that we are suddenly looking at a modern city.Another little figure stares up at the night sky, but this time from a high-rise.Along the edges of the paper are far more contemporary scenes of submarines, airplanes, and high-speed trains.The implication seems to state that any child today can be a modern-day Galileo if they so choose.The choice is theirs.

So this isn't the best Galileo book out there, no.But is it without merit?Not at all!Different books have different functions.If you want a story to read to your child that gives them some basic info on Galileo (and you're willing to fill in the missing pieces yourself) then by all means hand them "Starry Messenger".If, on the other hand, your fourth-grader has just announced that they have a ten-page paper on Galileo due tomorrow and they needs some information immediately.... this book is not for you.It's flawed, sure, but also a visual stunner.A lovely work that shows the scope of Peter Sis if not his storytelling at its best.

Beautiful and Innaccurate
This absolutely stunning book is simple, difficult and innaccurate.Sounds contradictory?It is.

If one were to read the large text, this book is highly oversimplified.Cursive writing weaves through the illustrations that is more complex, too difficult to read by the intended audience of a child's picture book.In the main text, Galileo is purported to have beliefs that were against the BIBLE.Galileo's beliefs were not against the teachings of the Bible, rather the viewpoint of the church at that time, which was significantly misguided and following a carnal path during that period.

As an artist, I am sad to have to give thumbs down to this artistically beautiful book.

Over simplified
The story of Galileo is much more complicated than just being a "heretic".In order to understand the full complications of the story, one would have to understand that the problem was not Galileo against the Bible, but Galileo against Hellenized Christianity-- Aristotle and Plato; the creeds of the church fathers, i.e. the Apologists, etc.; in other words orthodox Christianity which had come under the domination of Greek Philosophy.What Galileo was arguing against was NOT in the Bible, it was Catholic Church doctrine mixed with Greek Philosophy (the metaphysics of Aristotle and Plato) which is still prevalent in some fundamentalist Protestant sects.

I fully understand that this is a children's book, and even some adults would disagree with my review.This is due to ignorance of Church history and doctrine, not to mention bias and prejudice.Therefore, I am only writing this to encourage older readers to look more deeply into the situation between Galileo and the Church.Although I am not a Catholic, and definitely not a Catholic apologist, the Church is usually portrayed in a worse case scenario than they deserve.Always remember that the Church at that time was also the secular judge and jury, and that they tried very hard to work with Galileo, who, at times, was kind of a behavior problem.

Before you have a knee-jerk reaction and say this review did not help you, remember that educated people will read this, and you could end up looking very ignorant.Do your homework first.All is not like you've always heard about Galileo. Atheists and agnostics love to put their own spin on things.Just ask the Boy Scouts of America.
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Customer Reviews (2)

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

Book Description
Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published in Florence in 1632, was the most proximate cause of his being brought to trial before the Inquisition. Using the dialogue form, a genre common in classical philosophical works, Galileo masterfully demonstrates the truth of the Copernican system over the Ptolemaic one, proving, for the first time, that the earth revolves around the sun. Its influence is incalculable. The Dialogue is not only one of the most important scientific treatises ever written, but a work of supreme clarity and accessibility, remaining as readable now as when it was first published. This edition uses the definitive text established by the University of California Press, in Stillman Drake’s translation, and includes a Foreword by Albert Einstein and a new Introduction by J. L. Heilbron. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

All the physics enthusiastic should read
I think one cannot be called "physicist" if never read this book. It is a classic that show how the foundations of the newtonian physics did were created.

And the good thing is this is a suitable book for everyone from the layman to the PHD, easy to read, requires nothing more than basic mathematical concepts and imagination.

The price, already low, is nothing compared to the pleasure of reading such piece of art.

A masterpiece written by a superb scientist
This is the famous book that got Galileo in trouble with the Inquisition. Galileo Galilei was one of the greatest scientists of all time. In Galileo's time the all powerful Catholic Church had decreedthat the Earth wasat the center of the Universe and that all celestial bodies orbited the Earth. The reasons given for this were Theological in nature, not scientific. According to the Church the Earth was a special place in the Universe, because God had chosen the Earth to be Man's home.By the sixteenth centuryScience had progressed to the point where this view of the Universe became increasingly untenable as it did not agree with observations about planetary motion.To resolve the difficulties created by these observations Copernicus had published fromhis deathbed a new theory proposing that the planets moved around the Sun in nearly circular orbits. Copernicus theory seemed to agree much better with what was known at the time about planetary motion. Galileo being perhaps the greatest scientist of his time immediately saw that the Copernican theory must be right, and debated the matter with people holding the opposite view at the University where he was a renowned professor, Mathematician and Scientist. For a while debates, arguments and counterarguments followed, until in July 1609 Galileo found the definitive proof that the Copernican theory was right. The story has been recounted in the "Starry Messenger" by Galileo. He had seen a toy sold by a Flemish spectacle maker in Venice which made distant objects look like they were near. Galileo bought the toy and did not rest until he had figured out how it worked. He then turned the toy into a scientific instrument, and the first telescope was born. Galileo soon turned his invention towards the heavens, and he almost immediately made a number of groundbreaking discoveries. When he observed Jupiter he noticed that Jupiter had Moons just like the Earth had, and by observing the Moons of Jupiter andJupiter on successive nights he soon discovered that the Moons of Jupiter clearly orbited Jupiter,not the Earth, as they were supposed to by the Ptolomaic theory taught by the Church.This was the definitive proof that the Ptolomaic theory was just plain wrong. He started to teach this but trouble soon ensued. Galileo had been ordered by the Church that he could not discuss the Copernican theoryexcept as a Hypothesis. When Pope Urban VIII became the Pope Galileo was greatly encouraged, because as Cardinal Maffeo Barberini prior to being elected Pope Urban VIII, he had been a great admirer of Galileo. When the new Pope was elected, Galileo had an interview withhim andwas told that he could teach the Copernican theory, but only as a Hypothesis, and hewas not allowed to teach it as the "objective truth". In 1632 Galileo publishedthis great book in which he debated the two systems between three protagonists. One of them called Simplicio (roughly simple-minded) was defending the Ptolomaic Theory and two others called Salviati and Sagredo defended the Copernican view. All the various arguments that had been offered by Simplicio for the Ptolomaic theory were demolishedskillfully one by one by the clever Salviati and Sagredo. Unfortunately Urban VIII got furious, because some of his own arguments ended up in the mouth of Simplicio. He felt that Galileo had made a fool of him, and so he ordered the Inquisition to summon Galileo and he was tried and convicted of Heresy. Galileo protested that he followed the injunction he had been given, and only taught the Theory as a Hypothesis, but the Inquisition's powerful judges did not accept his argument and convicted him. He was placedunder house arrest at his own home, and was forced under the threat of being burned alive, to renounce his theories, which he did. His book was banned, but it was too late. It had already become a best seller, and it soon would be published in translation in foreign lands where the Pope had no power. Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems thus changed History. It has alsogreat relevance to today's World.The religious fanatics of today behave much the same way as the Inquisition had in Galileo's time. They bring forth Theological arguments where science is called for. An example of this is the debate about Darwin's theory of Evolution and natural Selection, the basis for most of modern Biology. In spite of absolutely overwhelming scientific evidence in favor of Darwin, ignorant people todaystill try to discredit Darwin's Theory on essentially Theological not scientific grounds.Evidently, just like the people opposing Galileo who did not succedd, similarly the ignorant Inquisitors of today will not succed. Another example in the modern World are the attempts of theIslamic fascists, who like the Inquisitors in Galileo's time try to forcetheir despicable religious agenda on others by imposition and violence. They will not succeed either, for in the end Reason andScience always prevail.

Feels like it should required reading for everyone...
During the [in]famous controversy of Galileo and the Church, the actual point of contention was this very work which Galileo published. In the Dialogue, he was supposed to set forth arguments for and agains the Ptolemaic worldview (the unmoving earth in the centre of the universe) and the Copernican (the earth and other planets going around the sun). This book does that, and brilliantly, showing Galileo's resourcefulness as a scientist, philosopher (at least to an extent!) and writer. The charge against him was that rather than being even-handed, the book was clear support of Copernicanism. This is a non-obvious topic but what is obvious is the importance and magnificence of the work in terms of both the subject matter (the importance of the structure of the universe) and method (a colourful dialogue containing heated debate which spans literally dozens of arguments for and against each system).

The work has 3 characters: Salviati who is a Copernican, Simplicio who is an Aristotelian and follower of the Ptolemaic system, and Sagredo, a non-affiliated but intelligent person. They meet and debate over 4 days. The first deals with the question of whether the substance of the heavens is fundamentally different to the earth as well as some other fundamental assertions of Aristotelianism. The second deals with the earth's daily rotation. The third is about the alleged yearly orbit of the earth around the sun. The fourth (considered by Galileo to be the crown of his argument - which is all the more endearing as it is wrong) is about the cause of the tides.

Reading this is especially interesting because [almost!] all of us believe that the earth goes around the sun, so it's easy to just approach this simplistically. But the reality is, it was an actual matter of debate, as the book shows. And no, Galileo does not *prove* the earth moves (contrary to the blurb at the back of the book), rather he proposes some very good arguments. Reading them critically was great at making me question things I consider fundamental.

As per the edition, it contains a very good, readable translation along with Galileo's margin notes and good footnotes which unfortunately aren't matched to the body text so you have to flip forward and back. The only other disappointment was Einstein's simplistic yay-Galileo-boo-obviously-stupid-Church-and-Aristotelianism introduction. Other than that, it's great great great! An absolute milestone in human thought.

A must read for all educated people
A scientist who can write! Galileo writes with the intent that his readers understand, he meets you more than half way.There is a wonderful forward by Albert Einstein that is worth the price of the book by itself.And the fascinating introduction places Galileo's writing in its historical context.

If you have any interest in the history of science, this is an essential book to read.

The Dialogues of Galileo - with Modern Solutions
This edition of the Dialogues of Galileo Galilei includes mathematical solutions to the problems Galileo treats in plain language and an introduction describing a new cannon-ball experiment of the type used by Galileo that may be used to distinguish between the predictions of GeneralRelativity and the editor's unified field theory. The Dialogues are thenmore interesting to the modern physics student, as it begins to resemble areview of contemporary mechanics in addition to being a grand old piece ofhistory. Additional forwarding material by Albert Einstein and historicalbackground by translator Stillman Drake make this edition a supurbintroduction to the history of physics in which now the correct solutionsmay be read from the margins in modern physical notation.In addition, anumber of illustrations have been added to illustrate old terminology fordescribing heavenly bodies and to provide portraits of Copernicus, Galileo,and his contemporaries Tycho and Kepler. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

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... ... Read more

Book Description
Galileo Galilei was one of the world's greatest scientific pioneers. His work ranged through mechanics and motion, to sound, speech and light, astronomy, and the system of the universe. Despite his outstanding contributions to science, he was labeled a heretic by the Catholic Church and was imprisioned for life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A True Giant of Science!
"The mathematician and physicist Galileo Galilei is one of the most famous scientists of all times. The story of his life and times, of his epoch-making experiments and discoveries, of his stubbornness and pride, of his patrons in the house of Medici, of his enemies and friends in their struggle for truth - all is brought vividly to life in this book. Atle Nss has written a gripping account of one of the great figures in European history.He was awarded the Brage Prize, the most prestigious literary prize in Norway." (review from First Science Online Newsletter)

Inventor, Astronomer, and Rebel
Galileo Galilei was one of the world's greatest scientist. He developed the telescope. With it, he discovered Jupiter's moon and hundreds of stars. He declared that Earth was not in the centre of the universe with the sun revolving around it. Galileo proved that the Earth was acctually revolving around the sun. The Church found out and home arrested him. Galileo's methods was the birth of modern science.

Invenor, Astronomer, and Rebel
Galileo Galilei was one of the world's greatest scientist. He develope the telescope. With it, he discovered Jupiter's moons and hundreds of stars. He declared that Earth was not in the centre of the universe with the sun revolving around it. Galileo proved that the Earth was acctually revolving around the sun. The Church found out and home arrested Galileo. Galileo's methods was the birth of modern science. ... Read more

Book Description
The dramatic story of an era during which science and religion were one and where one man dared to defy the only power on earth that was able to bring him to his knees. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Alas the power of a Church with civil authority
This book gives a prime example of why our forefathers wanted to keep the Church and the Governemnt separate.What the church, the Catholic Church specifically, did to Galileo simply because he dared to embrace the belief that the earth revolved around the sun was tragic.Once again the author takes historical, truthful data and tells an emotional story of a tragic, historical event.This book is a must for everyone.

Beyond the science & religion collision
This is a fine biography that brings to life one of the greatest men to advance our civilization.I read this book because I have always found the relationship of Galileo's ideas and the Roman Catholic Church to be one of the most intriguing chapters in church history. The book goes back to his childhood and highlights his major intellectual accomplishments and his relationships with family members and friends. His illegitimate children and how they were percieved by society was an eye opener. As a result he sent his daughters to the convent because no one would want to marry them. I wonder how many other women ended up nuns as a result? His days while attending school were very interesting, his university teaching jobs more interesting, his relationships with other intellectuals and politicians of his age even more interesting but his relationship after presenting his scientific theories on movement of the heavenly bodies the most fascinating. It makes you wonder about the church and some of the science that it is at odds with today won't be looked at years down the line as backwards and wrong as well. The time period of Galileo's life is brought to life to reveal all of its majesty and warts.I found myself wanting to read more about Galileo after reading this book and have since read another entitled "Galileo's Daughter." What a brilliant mind and tragic figure Galileo was. If you like history or biographies this will be a good book for you.

The other side of a great life
Though it does not advance any particular historical hypothesis, "Galileo" does tell the life story of one of history's best-known figures. After all, how much has been written about specific events in Galileo's life without filling in such details as how he lived the other decades of his life? Indeed, his early years often get short shrift. This James Reston biography brings the full life history to the forefront without skimping on the essential stuff that made Galileo so well known.

Concerning the events of his fame or infamy, Reston brings us up to speed as well. It's all very well and good to say that Galileo was summoned to Rome, tried for advocating Copernicanism, and given a house arrest sentence. What about his illnesses? What tone of questioning was he subjected to, and how did he attempt to answer? What were his living conditions like? What interest did Pope Urban VIII show in the trial as it happened? When did Galileo finally reach his final home? Did he have adequate medical treatment there? And so on. Similarly, his earlier, happier decades come to life in the same way. What was his family like? How were his finances? Who were his friends and who were his enemies (before the trial)? What sorts of problems did he work on? Who were his benefactors, and what did they do for him when he needed them?

There are no deep thoughts here. No theories on the hidden truth behind the trial. No analysis of scientific and mathematical subtleties. Just a life story that can bring a touch of humanity to a historical icon.

Great addition to Galileo library
If you already know something about Galileo, this book will be a wonderful addition to your knowledge base. If you are a newcomer, this book is a good introduction, but it will leave you wishing you knew more about his experimental method, his scientific writing, and his inventions. This book places Galileo in the context of his time and place -- and showing how he influenced his era (and eras after) -- and it also leaves you wanting a more traditional biography that tells you more about what Galileo did.

Galileo: A Life
If you are looking for a biography that discusses Galileo's scientific work, you will be disappointed.Reston must, of course, mention this great thinker's discoveries, but that is as far as it goes.There is little about the influence of his discoveries on the scientific community or how it shaped the world afterwards.I would have expected this to be one of the central themes considering the subject of this biography. The book deals almost exclusively with Galileo's struggles with the church.It is obvious that Reston has no scientific background.He should have picked someone else to write about.
... Read more

Book Description
The scientific innovations of Galileo Galilei are pivotal to our understanding of the laws of the natural world. Drawing on his diverse studies in philosophy, mathematics, mechanics, music, astronomy, and engineering, Galileo developed revolutionary theories that thoroughly changed the disciplines of physics, mathematics, astronomy, and technology. Galileo Galilei traces the great scientist's education, describes his maverick experiments in Padua and Pisa, and recreates the ingenious pathway of his famous discoveries. Often censored and imprisoned for his radical ideas that clashed with fundamental Church doctrines, Galileo persisted in his pursuit of scientific truths to bestow upon future generations the inspiration to challenge conventional views. His theories about the motions of falling bodies, his study of pendulums, and his major discoveries in astronomy made with a self-built telescope are all clearly explained in this volume. Heavily illustrated with photographs, graphics, and technical schemes, Galileo Galilei also features a number of sidebars elucidating important details of the great mans contributions.Oxford Portraits in Science is a collection of scientific biographies for young adults. Written by top scholars and writers, each biography examines the personality of its subject as well as the thought process leading to his or her discoveries. These illustrated biographies combine accessible technical information with compelling personal stories to portray the scientists whose work has shaped our understanding of the natural world. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Most of the activities in this book on Galileo are really scientific experiments
The only real complaint about "Galileo for Kids: His Life and Ideas, 25 Activities," is that I doubt there is a teacher in the country who would spend long enough on the famous scientist to do all of these activities.If they got to double figures that would be pretty impressive, but also somewhat doubtful.However, there are certainly some choice activities in this book by Richard Panchyk (Buzz Aldrin does the foreword) that will not only get young students interested in the life of Galileo but also fan their interest in the sciences.

This book makes it clear that while he is best known as an astronomer, Galileo was a genius who enjoyed science, mathematics, music, and art, and someone who sough the truth and believed there was no substitute for observation and experimentation.Despite being forced by the Church to recant his discovery that the sun was the center of the universe, Panchyk makes it clear that Galileo believed both science and religion help us to know ourselves.After a Timeline that begins with a new star being observed by the Chinese in 1054 to Galileo being reburied with proper honors in 1737, and a map of Italy, this book turns to Science and Astronomy Before Galileo, to set up how important he was in changing things.Astronomers including Peter Apian, Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe are covered, as well as the Comet of 1577.The activities here include making initial lunar observations and how to use raw data, so you can see there is an initial focus on scientific metrology.

The second chapter details the Beginnings of Galileo's life, where you not only get to cook a renaissance meal (meatballs and pea soup), but also get to make a pendulum and pulsilogia.In chapter 3, Position at Pisa, Galileo began his career as a scientist.There are also sidebars on Dante, Johannes Kepler, and the Medicis so the religious, scientific and political contexts of the time are covered as well.Activities include not only the famous gravity experiment, put also the properties of the ellipse and the second part of lunar observation.The Telescope is the focus of the next chapter, which includes an aperture experiment and the floating needle experiment.

The Storm Builds is the subject of chapter five, signifying the coming collision between Galileo's science and the religion of the day.Here the activities are the perception of illumination and the mathematical problem represented by the roll of the dice (plus making a care package for Galileo because of the plague).Chapter six covers The Two Systems, with experiments on relative motion and projective motion.However, most of these chapters tell the story of what happened when Galileo was called before the Inquisition.Galileo's Last Days are covered in the last chapter, along with experiments on accelerated motion and charting the cycloid curve. The look at the life and times of Galileo is pretty strong to begin with, so when you add the activities and see that the vast majority of them are practical scientific experiments, then you have to be even more impressed.In fact, I could be wrong: I can now see a teacher breaking up the class into lots of groups and having them do different activities and sharing the results with their classmates, so getting to double figures could be pretty easy (although making meatballs can be seen as being practical too, since kids have to eat).

Throughout the book there are illustrations of the people, places and things in Galileo's life, many of which are contemporary to his time.The back of the book includes several pages of Resources.There are lists of the Popes and Grand Dukes of Tuscany during Galileo's time, a Glossary of Key Terms from "abjuration" to "volume," Key People from Peter and Philip Apian to Vincenzo Viviani, and Key Places from Arcetri to Venice.A list of Galileo's key writings is provided, along with some web sites specific to his life and works, and there is also a list of Planetariums an Astronomy/Space Museums to be found in fourteen states and the District of Columbia.If you are not tired you can also check out the Selected Bibliography before we finally get to the Index.

The final thing that needs to be said is that this is but one volume in the For Kids series.There are over a dozen volumes that I know about for sure.The one's under "A" consist of "Africa for Kids," "American Folk Art for Kids," "The American Revolution for Kids," and "Archaeology for Kids."Those four titles along should give you a good idea of the scope of the series.So teachers might only use a couple of activities from this book, but they can do the same for units on Leonardo da Vinci, Lewis and Clark, the Civil Rights Movement, and know that Chicago Review Press will be adding volumes to this wonderful series for some time to come. ... Read more

Book Description

"I, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzio Galilei, Florentine, aged seventy years ...kneeling before you Most Eminent and Reverend Lord Cardinals ...I abjure, curse, detest the aforesaid errors and heresies."

Galileo Galilei in Rome, 22 June 1633, before the men of the Inquisition.

In the small village of Arcetri, on a wooded hillside just south of Florence, an old man sat writing his will. He had to make a journey to Rome and wanted to be prepared for every eventuality. If the plague did not get him on the road, the strain of travelling might finish him off; in addition he had been ill most of the autumn, with dizziness, stomach pains and a serious hernia. And even if he survived these difficulties, and the cold winter wind from the Apennines did not give him pneumonia, he had no idea what awaited him in Rome, only that his arrival was unlikely to be celebrated with a special mass.

Customer Reviews (2)

Highly recommended.......
I actually enjoyed reading this text on who I consider, and deserves the title of, "the first scientist," He not only applied what is essentially the modern scientific method to his work, but fully understood what he was doing and laid down the ground rules clearly for others to follow.In addition, the work he did following those ground rules was of immense importance.In the late 16th century, there were others who met some ofthese critieria-but the ones who devoted their lives to what we now call science were often still stuck with a medieval mindset about the relevance of all or part of their work, philosophical significance of the new way of looking at the world were usually only part-time scientists and had little influence on the way others approached the investigagion of the world.It was Galileo who first wrapped everything up in one package. This text seems to wrap up everything quite nicely too in one package.
Highly recommended.

Very good
Strikes a great balance between detail and readability,
unlike so many biographies whose goal seems to be to
impress the reader with the biographer's mastery of
arcane contemporary details rather than to communicate
knowledge about the principal subject.
Much better than the bio by Reston. ... Read more

Book Description
In a startling reinterpretation of the evidence, Stillman Drake advances the hypothesis that Galileo's trial and condemnation by the Inquisition was caused not by his defiance of the Church, but by the hostility of contemporary philosophers.Galileo's own beautifully lucid arguments are used to show how his scientific method was utterly divorced from the Aristotelian approach to physics in that it was based on a search not for causes but for laws. Galileo's method was of overwhelming significance for the development of modern physics, and led to a final parting of the ways between science and philosophy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sacrificed to Aristotle and the Gods of Philosopohy
In this slim volume is packed the central thesis of one of the foremost students of Galileo:
1) that Galileo was not a victim of the inquisition but rather the Aristotelean method of reasoning particulars of Science from theoretical ideas. Galileo thought that experience, measurability and prediction should be the guide. Grand ideas he left to the Church and philosophers. Perhaps he was a little too naive in assuming that the inquisition would leave him alone. But it was in the defence of Aristotle that the inquisition indicted him. Not mere religious intolerance (which of course there was plenty).

The other observation was the in-fighting and jockeying inside the academic community for political and religious favour -- the competition for well-paying university seats was intense and Galileo was a direct victim of academics who ruthlessly pilloried him to gain favour.

2) Galileo was no crusader directly challenging the power of the church. He in fact had many freinds as high-archbishops and even a was a personal friend of the Pope. His desire was never to challenge the church and the church only very reluctantly charged him with "teaching" the doctrine of Copernicus and Kepler.

This is a great jumping off point for further studies on Galileo. I love this series. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

The popular story vs the actual
Langford is even-handed and doesn't withhold criticism of academia and the Church for its handling of Galileo and his books.

What I was taught by public school and the popular press:
The Catholic Church persecuted Galileo because he proved and taught the Earth revolved around the Sun, was threatened with torture and death.Copernicus delayed publishing his theory for fear of persecution from the Church, finally publishing it on his deathbed.

What Langford convincingly shows from research into primary documents:
The Catholic Church was more receptive to the heliocentric theory than the universities.Pope Clement requested a hearing of Copernicus' theory in the Vatican gardens, and was "quite favorably impressed" with the theory.Copernicus was afraid of persecution from his peers, the universities, not the Catholic Church.His fears were well founded, as Galileo discovered years later.Galileo received the full weight of academic condemnation and ridicule.When professors realized peer pressure wouldn't silence Galileo, they turned to the Church for help.Fortunately, a good portion of the Church was behind Galileo.The head of one Jesuit college wrote to Galileo to say that his astronomers and mathematicians had confirmed his theory, but wanted more proof.Galileo's efforts were further encouraged by Pope Urban.His first trial resulted in being admonished not to teach it as fact, but was welcome to teach it as theory.Unfortunately, by the time of his second trial he had managed to alienate his support, mainly by insisting his theory be taught as fact despite a lack of evidence.Two of his proofs were the tides--he believed they were cause by the Earth sloshing the oceans.Galileo insisted on circular orbits, and refused to consider Kepler's calculations on elliptical orbits, which would have corrected errors he and others found in his model.He was tried a second time for teaching the theory as fact, not for teaching the theory.He was never tortured or shown a dungeon.His house arrest consisted of a five-room apartment with a servant at his disposal, and was free to roam Rome while awaiting trial.After the trial, he was released.True he was threatened with imprisonment, but at his age, Langford asserts, both he and the court officials knew it would not be carried out; the sentence would have been mitigated.

In short, Galileo and Copernicus were treated by the academia in much the same way they treat new ideas today.For an explanation of why the geo-centric theory isn't Christian in principle or origin, read Sampson'sSix Modern Myths.

Short Review
I really enjoyed reading this book. This book is mainly about Galileo's theory of universe and the trial of Galileo which was caused by his conflict with the Catholic Church. This book also talks about Galileo's life briefly. I learned about theories that influenced Galileo's ideas and his opinion toward Copernicus's theory which stated that the all of the planets, including the earth, revolved around the sun.

Great, insightful read
This is a brief, well balanced account of the conflict between Galileo and the Church.It opens with an insightful look at the world view and astronomy of the late 1500's, including a detailed look at the role of Scripture in these views.This is followed with a thorough description of Galileo's life and how his conflict with the church unfolded.The final chapter is a fascinating overview of the relationships between faith, science and philosophy since Galileo's time.It's not overly difficult reading, though it deals with science, theology and philosophy.The book is a fair account, looking at the strengths and weaknesses of Galileo and some Church officials in how they approached the issues.It also critiques some long held cultural assumptions about the causes, events and meaning of this case (ex: Galileo was never tortured; some lower Church officials who disliked Galileo gave the Pope misleading reports, etc).Definitely worth reading!! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

IN DEFENCE OF SCIENCE
The pressures that the established order can bring to bear on those who want to move outside the status quo are enormous. In the end those in charge can grind down the best of men with the most worthy knowledge to disseminate.That is the story that the master communist playwright Bertolt Brecht brings here about the pressures to recant brought on Galileo by the Catholic Church in the 1500's.And for what crime? For merely bringing out facts about the nature of the world and its place in the universe that are taken as commonplaces, even by children, today.

Brecht himself certainly knew about such pressures. Although in public, at least, Brecht was a fairly orthodox Stalinist he had his private moments of doubt. Certainly some of the themes in his plays stretch the limits of the orthodox `socialist realist' cultural program. Thus the strongest part of the play is the struggle between an individual who is onto something new about the world and an institution that saw that such a discovery would wreak havoc on its claims to centrality. Every once in a while a section of humankind turns inward on itself like that and here the Church was no exception. Damn, the fight against such obscurantism is the price that we pay for some sense of human progress. Except, as in the case of the Catholic Church, it should not have taken 300 years to admit the error. Know this. We have to defend the Galileos of the world against the rise of obscurantism. And in this play Brecht has done his part to honor that commitment.

** 1/2 (**** for the play, zero for Bentley's comments)
Galileo is presented from the time of his first findings with which Mother Church took offense until twenty years after his recantation. While the play mainly focuses on Galileo and how his own views toward his work affect him and those around him, we're not allowed to go away without understanding how those views also affected the Italian society around him; as with all things, the subversion to be found in Galileo's discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun instead of vice-versa seeps into the public mind, much to the Church's dismay. But at its heart, the play is about the man himself and those around him. Galileo himself, historically accurate or not, is a convincing character, and his family, friends, and supporters are also very well-drawn (with the arguable exception of his daughter, who never seems to really flesh out and become a believable human being; her actions and reactions are predictable and wooden). Whatever the message underlying, and whether the reader agrees with it or not, Galileo is first and foremost a decent piece of drama. Leave Bentley's preface until after you've drawn your own conclusions.

Galileo
So maybe it's not completely accurate. I just read this book for a class I have to take. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It wasn't the dry, boring piece of literature I had expected. It's really a book to read - maybe not multiple times, but at least once. It has an important message, and is presented in a reasonably interesting way.

Good play, bad packaging
Bertolt Brecht, Galileo (Grove Press, 1952)

Publishers who put out "literature" (perhaps I should capitalize the L) have felt it necessary for the past half-century or so to include long-winded dissections of the texts as a part of their editions. No mind is paid, seemingly, to whether these long-winded dissections contain major plot spoilers (they almost always do). Add Eric Bentley's interminable preface to the Grove Press edition of Brecht's Galileo to the list. Perhaps Groveassumes anyone reading the thing will either have already read the play or will be so turned off by Belntley's wooden prose style that they won't read far enough to get to the spoilers. My advice: go the second route. And book publishers, if you're putting essays in your editions, PLEASE put them AFTER the actual text, so the novice reader of a given work will be able to approach it without the coloring of another reader's analysis.

Bentley spends forty-odd pages discussing the historical inaccuracies of Brecht's Galileo and the two extant versions of the text (though Bentley says both are presented in the Grive edition, this is not the case; from his comments, I gather this is the second version of the play, completed after WW2 [the first was completed in 1937]). Bentley goes on forever about the socialist qualities of Galileo, and whether the scientist makes a worthy Marxist hero, both in the reader's eyes and in Brecht's. Whether anyone outside those writing a paper for a Marxist lit class would care doesn't seem to have crossed his mind. Brecht is one of the few authors who is capable of taking a political statement and couching it in such writing as to make the statement itself visible only to those looking for it; Galileo's Marxism, or lack of same, doesn't hit the reader in the face with a dead herring (or a dropped pebble, as 'twere) throughout the text. Commendable, especially for as fervent a Marxist as was Brecht. Here is a man who never let the message overtake the medium, and scads of modern authors could do with repeated readings of this text to get a handle on what it is they're doing wrong.

Bentley aside, the play itself is certainly worth the reader's time. Galileo is presented from the time of his first findings with which Mother Church took offense until twenty years after his recantation. While the play mainly focuses on Galileo and how his own views toward his work affect him and those around him, we're not allowed to go away without understanding how those views also affected the Italian society around him; as with all things, the subversion to be found in Galileo's discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun instead of vice-versa seeps into the public mind, much to the Church's dismay. But at its heart, the play is about the man himself and those around him. Galileo himself, historically accurate or not, is a convincing character, and his family, friends, and supporters are also very well-drawn (with the arguable exception of his daughter, who never seems to really flesh out and become a believable human being; her actions and reactions are predictable and wooden). Whatever the message underlying, and whether the reader agrees with it or not, Galileo is first and foremost a decent piece of drama. Leave Bentley's preface until after you've drawn your own conclusions. ** 1/2 (**** for the play, zero for Bentley's comments)

This is tripe
Anybody who would recommend this as a history book is completely unaware of the true history.Brecht may have been using dramatic license or he may have had an axe to grind with the Catholic Church.Either way, this is NOT an accurate historical account.Any person who would suggest it as such is guilty of what Brecht and revisionists accuse the Church of doing: suppressing the truth to further their personal agenda. ... Read more

Book Description
The church disagreed with Galileo.That set off a controversy that rages on today.The passion remains but the issues have changed and the arguments have become more complex.Do miracles conflict with scientific laws?How did the universe begin?Does the creation story in Genesis conflict with evolution?Hummel sets these controversies in historical perspective by telling the fascinating stories of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton.Through their eyes we see how science flourished and floundered under the influence fo the church, setting the scene for modern conflicts.Then Hummel turns to the Bible, discussing its relationship to science, the place of miracles and the biblical account of the origin of the universe.His treatment of modern controversies is respected and fair-minded.Yet he does not hesitate to criticize the views of others and argue for his own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

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

Book Description
Galileo made the first effective use of the refracting telescope to discover important new facts about astronomy. His observations led him to support Copernicus's claim that Earth and the other planets circled the sun. This conflicted with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and brought Galileo before the judges of the Inquisition. He spent his final years under house arrest.

Galileo's genius lay in the way he approached scientific problems. He reduced problems to simple terms on the basis of experience and common-sense logic. Then he analyzed and resolved the problems according to simple mathematical descriptions, thus opening the way for the development of modern mathematical physics. ... Read more