Galileo is the father of modern science and a major figure in the history
of mankind. He belongs to the small group of thinkers who transformed
Western culture, and his clash with ecclesiastical authorities is one of the
most dramatic incidents in the long history of the relations between
science and religion.
In 1633 the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo for teaching that
the earth moves. The trial was the outcome of a series of events that are
described in this book and are usually referred to as the Galileo Affair. It
extended over a period of several years, during which different popes,
cardinals, and civil personalities entered the scene and made their exit.
We can even speak of two Galileo trials, one in 1616 and the other in 1633,
although only the second was a trial in the legal sense. The new science,
which today pervades our entire life, was just emerging, and very few
were able to realize what was happening at the time. Most people were
not ready to abandon cherished traditional ideas for daring hypotheses
that had yet to be proved.