Part I I have read and listened to several accounts of Galileo's trials at the inquisition, including many on Goanet. Oh, I miss those days!. Like most inquisition accounts / stories, the presenters assume an agenda that they want to drive home. Usually it is an anti-inquisition and anti-Catholic Church bias. "Galileo's Daughter - A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love" is the first extensive account of the life (professional, personal, academic, spiritual) of Galileo Galilei interlaced with extensive correspondence with his daughter. Besides a detail account of Galileo, the author (Dava Sobel) presents contemporary events including ongoing natural calamities like the Bubonic and other plagues, wars, competing political, academic and personal rivalries.
Copernicus hypothesis in 1543 of the heliocentric sun-centered planetary system was mostly based on mathematical calculation and was contrary to the Aristotle-Ptolemy geocentric or earth-centered system. The later view was held by the catholic church as alluded to by some statements in the Old Testament. Most perplexing (and amusing) aspect was the uncertainty in the scientific (called philosophy) and mathematical community of the day about astronomical facts that today we take for granted. With hindsight some of Galileo's claims were right and some were wrong. And thus many of his scientific presentations were in-part or in-whole disputed / disclaimed by his own scientific colleagues in Italy and across Europe. And an example Galileo's strongest and repeated evidence for the rotation of the earth around the sun was the presence of daily oceanic tides. Yet today we know, the tides are really caused by the moon rotating round the earth. Similarly Galileo, despite his amazing discovery of the telescope, claimed the moon rotates around an axis; in addition to rotating around the earth. Today, we know the moon only does the latter and not the former. The movements and changing path of sun-spots were not attributed to a sun rotating on an axis. These issues not withstanding, Galileo was a foremost thinker of his age on a wide range of topics including motion, quantifying time, distance, temperature, gravity, water hydraulics, pendulum swings, metals casting, etc. In my view he was more versatile in the range of topics of interest than Leonardo Da Vinci. What I find most fascinating was this versatile scientist was a one-person research department working out of his own home with his self-designed telescope placed on the terrace of his house. Part II to continue Regards, GL
