Customer Reviews

Galileo Observed: Science and the Politics of Belief

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

William R. Shea (professor of History of Science, University of Padua) and Mariano Artigas (Dean of the Ecclesiastical Faculty, University of Navarra, Spain) present Galileo Observed: Science and the Politics of Belief, a history written to set the record straight about what really happened at Galileo's famous trial, unmuddled by propaganda or novelizations. Skeptically examining all available historical sources, from claims that Galileo was port in chains and subjected to torture or that a forged document was brought forth at his trial, to numerous comparisons between Galileo and the friar Giordano Bruno, Galileo Observed strives to uncover the truth or its most likely estimation. A scholarly work illustrated with a handful of black-and-white photographs, Galileo Observed is nevertheless thoroughly accessible to lay readers and is therefore recommended for public library collections as well as those of college libraries.

A very insightful book. With its comprehensive approach, gathers all information past and present on Galileo and analyzies it thoroughly. In a few hundred pages the reader grasps what has been overall written about Galileo. I found particularly interesting that the investigation highlights that the dispute between Science and Religion is quite recent and not beginning with Galielo's Trial. I strongly suggest the book: it gives an opportunity to re-think about the sterotyped notion of the clash between science and religion and truly offers a new angle. Galileo Observed: Science and the Politics of Belief