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The Crime of Galileo
Scientific endeavor & social authority, in one form or another, are characteristics of human life on the planet expected to endure for as long as we can see ahead. In this essay, which aims at analyzing their complex relations, we intend to go at length into the episode which provides, namely, the trial of Galileo & the circumstances that brought it about. But, as we work out the general conditions attendant & dissimilarities occur with the further phase of conflict which is being played out in our time.
Preface
Introduction
The days of discovery
"Domini canes"
Philosophical intermezzo
Saint Robert Bellarmine
The decree
Bellarmine's audience
The years of silence
Urban VIII
The "Dialogue"
The summons
The inquisitors' plight
The trial
The problem of the false injunction
Change of course
The sentence
Aftermath
Index
Preface
Introduction
The days of discovery
"Domini canes"
Philosophical intermezzo
Saint Robert Bellarmine
The decree
Bellarmine's audience
The years of silence
Urban VIII
The "Dialogue"
The summons
The inquisitors' plight
The trial
The problem of the false injunction
Change of course
The sentence
Aftermath
Index
371 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
9 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Giorgio de Santillana
18 books36 followersGiorgio Diaz de Santillana was an Italian-American philosopher and historian of science, born in Rome. He was Professor of the History of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 3, 2023
well written and engaging book about the various political machinations going on around the trial of galileo, which is framed not as the typical 'new science versus old religion' but in a more complex way - galileo frequently had recourse to traditional means to defend himself, whereas the factions within the church most set on persecuting him represented the beginnings of a modern state machinery that frequently went further than traditional inquisitorial procedure required. i'm not sure i was totally convinced by the book's argument and i have no idea how it's regarded in current scholarship, but it's a witty and enjoyable read.
December 13, 2021
This TimeLife book has been sleeping on my shelves undisturbed since 1962 when it first arrived as part of a then popular once-a-quarter or something like that purchase plan. A few of the other paperback books from that long ago defunct program were actually pretty good - but this dud clearly is a reminder of why it finally ended.
Although I have opened its dried out covers I’m sure and skimmed the stiff pages unsuccessfully several times, I never was able to get into the flow of things. The other day, needing some precious shelf space, I picked it up again to try to see what had made it worthy of TL’s effort and once again I found it incomprehensible.
No. It’s much worse than that. It’s just plain awful. The few sentences I tolerated again were long and disjointed. The storyline is garbled. Footnotes are everywhere, some in Italian, some in Latin, some in French, a few in English, but all irrelevant and distracting. Overall it reads like a PhD thesis penned by a very troubled student trying to impress his committee with how to drown logic in a sea of nonsense. He should have flunked.
Everyone knows the story of Galileo or at least the common version. Although the editors and author try to convince the reader in two introductions that this version will be different and revealing of something, the only insight I could discern after 50 - 60 pages was that TimeLife had some idle press capacity that needed a workout and hoped its loyal subscribers like me would never look inside some of its submissions and would be content to exhibit these books as a way of gaining a little neighborhood prestige.
It sure worked for me for almost six decades - but I’m glad I finally wised up and found an open slot on my shelf for a readable book.
Although I have opened its dried out covers I’m sure and skimmed the stiff pages unsuccessfully several times, I never was able to get into the flow of things. The other day, needing some precious shelf space, I picked it up again to try to see what had made it worthy of TL’s effort and once again I found it incomprehensible.
No. It’s much worse than that. It’s just plain awful. The few sentences I tolerated again were long and disjointed. The storyline is garbled. Footnotes are everywhere, some in Italian, some in Latin, some in French, a few in English, but all irrelevant and distracting. Overall it reads like a PhD thesis penned by a very troubled student trying to impress his committee with how to drown logic in a sea of nonsense. He should have flunked.
Everyone knows the story of Galileo or at least the common version. Although the editors and author try to convince the reader in two introductions that this version will be different and revealing of something, the only insight I could discern after 50 - 60 pages was that TimeLife had some idle press capacity that needed a workout and hoped its loyal subscribers like me would never look inside some of its submissions and would be content to exhibit these books as a way of gaining a little neighborhood prestige.
It sure worked for me for almost six decades - but I’m glad I finally wised up and found an open slot on my shelf for a readable book.
April 30, 2013
Read this years ago when I was somehow smart enough to subscribe to the Time/Life series of out-of-print books that should not be forgotten. Galileo had always been a favorite since I did a grade school science project on Saturn, which he discovered. I enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about him and kept the book on my "keeper" shelf through three moves.
June 9, 2018
In the popular imagination the issue of Galileo versus the church has been reduced to a single idea: science good, superstition bad. There is much more to it than that, and de Santilllana unwinds the threads to bring to life the people, the institutions, and the times. It is an amazing work of scholarship, and it is indeed a scholarly book, with hundreds of footnotes, and comments in Latin, French, and Italian often left untranslated.
There are bad guys aplenty here. Some of them are simple troublemakers, such as monks who stir up scandals for their own amusement and benefit. Some are institutions, such as the Jesuits and Dominicans who used Galileo as a pawn in their miniature game of thrones. And some are just people with no understanding of the underlying math and astronomy, but who are called on to make judgments nonetheless. Added to these is an intellectual dilettante of a pope who feels slighted when Galileo glosses over his arguments and is outraged by the thought that the author deliberately withheld from him and from the censors his true intentions to argue for heliocentrism. Behind all of them is the malign presence of the Inquisition, with its informants and prisons and secret police, its immunity from all laws, rigid application of literal biblical inerrancy, and willingness to employ terror and torture to support its mission. Into this cauldron of arrogance, ignorance, and fear stumbled Galileo, the greatest mind of his times, who always considered himself a faithful Catholic and just wanted to explain his discoveries.
The author builds his case like a brilliant lawyer, quoting frequently from the original documents. Where there is uncertainty – and there is a lot of uncertainty, as many scholars have put forward their opinions in the past three hundred years – he explains the various alternatives, and why he chooses one over the others.
The book was written in the mid-1950s, and de Santillana frequently points out parallels to the modern world. Many of them show the similarities between Nazi and Communist totalitarianisms and the theocracy of the 17th century Catholic church, with its insistence on dogmatic belief backed up by unlimited punitive power. Where it is apposite, there are also veiled references to the intolerance of the U.S. during the McCarthy years. The result of these asides is to show that we really haven’t learned anything, and the same kind of injustices that were directed at Galileo could be brought against anyone when the rule of law is weak.
In the end Galileo was convicted not for what he wrote, but for what the Inquisition thought that he thought. It is a cautionary tale right down to the present day.
There are bad guys aplenty here. Some of them are simple troublemakers, such as monks who stir up scandals for their own amusement and benefit. Some are institutions, such as the Jesuits and Dominicans who used Galileo as a pawn in their miniature game of thrones. And some are just people with no understanding of the underlying math and astronomy, but who are called on to make judgments nonetheless. Added to these is an intellectual dilettante of a pope who feels slighted when Galileo glosses over his arguments and is outraged by the thought that the author deliberately withheld from him and from the censors his true intentions to argue for heliocentrism. Behind all of them is the malign presence of the Inquisition, with its informants and prisons and secret police, its immunity from all laws, rigid application of literal biblical inerrancy, and willingness to employ terror and torture to support its mission. Into this cauldron of arrogance, ignorance, and fear stumbled Galileo, the greatest mind of his times, who always considered himself a faithful Catholic and just wanted to explain his discoveries.
The author builds his case like a brilliant lawyer, quoting frequently from the original documents. Where there is uncertainty – and there is a lot of uncertainty, as many scholars have put forward their opinions in the past three hundred years – he explains the various alternatives, and why he chooses one over the others.
The book was written in the mid-1950s, and de Santillana frequently points out parallels to the modern world. Many of them show the similarities between Nazi and Communist totalitarianisms and the theocracy of the 17th century Catholic church, with its insistence on dogmatic belief backed up by unlimited punitive power. Where it is apposite, there are also veiled references to the intolerance of the U.S. during the McCarthy years. The result of these asides is to show that we really haven’t learned anything, and the same kind of injustices that were directed at Galileo could be brought against anyone when the rule of law is weak.
In the end Galileo was convicted not for what he wrote, but for what the Inquisition thought that he thought. It is a cautionary tale right down to the present day.
July 24, 2016
This book is hard to rate. The historical research is first rate. 5/5 stars. The recounting is almost too complete, going into details that are not clearly necessary regarding Galileo. For example, Cardinal Bellarmine gets a whole chapter. It took me a long time to read because I would get a certain way and lose interest; I wanted more Galileo, more science, but there's mostly Catholic church history and polity. A feature which I liked is that there's as much in footnotes as in the text itself. Perhaps this is common for scholarly historical writings. Lastly, the Index is quite poor especially regarding topics. I'd read a snippet and think "gotta remember that quote", and then not able to re-find it because the topic does not appear in the index.
January 21, 2009
I have read this book twice many years apart; first, as background reading in an overview of the History of Science in college and second, in a study group in recent years where a group of adults pondered the meaning and value of this seminal battle in the history of ideas.
Giorgio de Santillana wrote The Crime of Galileo as an intellectual whodunit which traces not the life but the mental journey of Galileo on his road to personal tragedy. When Galileo was 46 years old, in 1610, he developed the telescope, secured tenure and a big raise at Padua, then went on to make all the discoveries announced in Sidereus Nuncius: mountains on the moon, the moons of Jupiter, phases of Venus, etc. By naming the moons of Jupiter after the Medici family, Galileo landed the job of Mathematician and Philosopher (meaning Physicist) to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and was able to return to his native land. This move upset his friends in Venice who had worked so hard to secure his promotion at Padua only months before. Of course, Galileo’s belief that his discoveries with the telescope strongly favored the Copernican world view meant he was headed for trouble with the Church. In fact, his Venetian friends warned him that it might be dangerous to leave the protection of the Venetian state. What we have in this book is the depiction of a martyr second only to Socrates. Santillana succeeds in placing this fascinating episode in the history of science in the context and logic of its own time.
Giorgio de Santillana wrote The Crime of Galileo as an intellectual whodunit which traces not the life but the mental journey of Galileo on his road to personal tragedy. When Galileo was 46 years old, in 1610, he developed the telescope, secured tenure and a big raise at Padua, then went on to make all the discoveries announced in Sidereus Nuncius: mountains on the moon, the moons of Jupiter, phases of Venus, etc. By naming the moons of Jupiter after the Medici family, Galileo landed the job of Mathematician and Philosopher (meaning Physicist) to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and was able to return to his native land. This move upset his friends in Venice who had worked so hard to secure his promotion at Padua only months before. Of course, Galileo’s belief that his discoveries with the telescope strongly favored the Copernican world view meant he was headed for trouble with the Church. In fact, his Venetian friends warned him that it might be dangerous to leave the protection of the Venetian state. What we have in this book is the depiction of a martyr second only to Socrates. Santillana succeeds in placing this fascinating episode in the history of science in the context and logic of its own time.
May 14, 2025
Msg. Santillana was a science history professor at MIT and is mentioned as an example of how the science community takes seriously the need for the study of where the science comes from in addition to what the science says and does. The subject of the book is the minutia of the trial that found Galileo guilty of some kind of heresy that landed him under house arrest for some extended period. It is the story of how Galileo, using the telescope, observed the motion of celestial bodies, discovering the moons of Jupiter and having proof that existing Church doctrine was incorrect regarding the Ptolemaic vs the Copernican theories of the solar system. The author relates that the Catholic Church wasn’t persecuting Galileo for his studies or its conclusions, but that Galileo was a carnival pitchman demanding that his scientific doctrine of the mechanics of the universe displace the existing curriculum taught in the Church Sanctioned Universities.
That confusing enough for you? It was hard reading at first. The rhythm is a little wordy and the author does that annoying thing of citing quotes in the original language without translation.
My first reaction is jaded cynicism, an odd term that makes me sad. Just exhausted from consuming the effort to justify the obvious incompetence of historical figures making bad decisions out of pride and hubris and then doubling down for pride and hubris. Urban VIII, Galileo, the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Roman Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholics vs the Protestants. All were characters in this drama doing what they usually do in dramas like this. Denying responsibility and blaming someone else. There is a fascinating retelling of the trail that brings forth so much that I was unaware of in the sound bite retelling.
The machinery of the Inquisition had been running for several hundred years at this point. Procedures and documents and responsibilities were defined and certified and authorized and reviewed and copied and indexed and inventoried every step of the way. Except for Galileo. This was a mess. Missing documents, forged documents, conflicting testimony, people died, people lied, and of course, what the meaning of the word is is. The Church authorities knew at the time and rammed it through anyway. It was a gross and public miscarriage of justice which finally was rectified when the Church authorities absolved Galileo of the crimes against him. Three hundred years later.
I'm really conflicted on what conclusions I should be writing about. There is the story itself. An example of institutional overreach with a healthy dose of narcissism, fanaticism and incompetence by all the individuals involved. There's also the conflict between science and faith. There is authorized knowledge and forbidden knowledge and the existing societal institution, the Catholic Church, is the arbiter of that decision. The author focused on the trial and the irregularities of the process and procedure. He spent time sifting through the ifs and ors in how Galileo could have changed his defense and beaten an obviously flawed case but doesn't really have much to say on the Church and the Inquisitions. I couldn't quite make up my mind about the author’s tone. At times it was sarcastic concerning the actions and attitudes of the Church and at other times it was written as a member of the faithful. Msgr. Santillana doesn't appear to question the institution all that much. This is where the date of publication may be relevant, 1955.
That confusing enough for you? It was hard reading at first. The rhythm is a little wordy and the author does that annoying thing of citing quotes in the original language without translation.
My first reaction is jaded cynicism, an odd term that makes me sad. Just exhausted from consuming the effort to justify the obvious incompetence of historical figures making bad decisions out of pride and hubris and then doubling down for pride and hubris. Urban VIII, Galileo, the Jesuits, the Dominicans, the Roman Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Catholics vs the Protestants. All were characters in this drama doing what they usually do in dramas like this. Denying responsibility and blaming someone else. There is a fascinating retelling of the trail that brings forth so much that I was unaware of in the sound bite retelling.
The machinery of the Inquisition had been running for several hundred years at this point. Procedures and documents and responsibilities were defined and certified and authorized and reviewed and copied and indexed and inventoried every step of the way. Except for Galileo. This was a mess. Missing documents, forged documents, conflicting testimony, people died, people lied, and of course, what the meaning of the word is is. The Church authorities knew at the time and rammed it through anyway. It was a gross and public miscarriage of justice which finally was rectified when the Church authorities absolved Galileo of the crimes against him. Three hundred years later.
I'm really conflicted on what conclusions I should be writing about. There is the story itself. An example of institutional overreach with a healthy dose of narcissism, fanaticism and incompetence by all the individuals involved. There's also the conflict between science and faith. There is authorized knowledge and forbidden knowledge and the existing societal institution, the Catholic Church, is the arbiter of that decision. The author focused on the trial and the irregularities of the process and procedure. He spent time sifting through the ifs and ors in how Galileo could have changed his defense and beaten an obviously flawed case but doesn't really have much to say on the Church and the Inquisitions. I couldn't quite make up my mind about the author’s tone. At times it was sarcastic concerning the actions and attitudes of the Church and at other times it was written as a member of the faithful. Msgr. Santillana doesn't appear to question the institution all that much. This is where the date of publication may be relevant, 1955.
September 19, 2021
A monumental book which places Galileo, astronomer, philosopher, inventor, in the middle of the great controversy of the 17th century.; thus the crime he committed and for which he was charged and went to trial, but the charges were vague and difficult to substantiate. He espoused the Copernican opinion that the earth revolved around the sun!!!!! Eeeee gads!!, We have all learned about this in school, I hope, but in Galileo's time, this was blasphemy! This book brings to the reader references of the letters, books, especially those of Galileo,new ideas and thoughts in science which were discussed by the theologians, philosophers, and other scientists of the time. What was the most interesting to me: you can hear the various voices because of the many letters cited and footnotes.🤓
January 20, 2023
This is a well-footnoted narrative of the events of Galileo's life with a special focus (obviously) on the period of his life during and after the publication of his major works. Santillana was a Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at M.I.T. when he wrote this book. This NOT an anti-religion (nor anti-Catholic) screed. It is a well-researched narrative of the facts by a scholar in the field. Well worth your time, unless you're looking for a screed.
November 28, 2019
One of my favorite books.
January 27, 2023
"In the gallery of what might be called the martyrs of thought, the image of Galileo recanting before the Italian Inquisition stirs the minds of educated modern men second only to the picture of Socrates drinking the Hemlock. That image of Galileo is out of focus . . . because it has been distorted by three centuries of rationalist prejudice and clerical polemics. To refocus it clearly, within the logic of its own time . . . de Santillana has written The Crime of Galileo, a masterly intellectual whodunit which traces not the life but the mental footsteps of Galileo on his road to personal tragedy."—Time
April 10, 2016
A little dry to read but it was interesting to gather more understanding how Galileo was persecuted for his beliefs that the earth traveled around the sun instead of the sun traveling around the earth. Our modern sensibilities make us giggle over this being so scary to people in the 1600s. Goes to show that even the church can change its edicts and adapt with the times.
March 10, 2008
I am currently reading this book. It is an exciting read to say the least.
Want to read
June 15, 2009It's been sitting on my shelf for sometime. I"m getting there.
Want to read
December 17, 2009My edition is the Time/Life softcover printed in 1962. Pages are clear but binding glue has dried. Book will crack open along the spine with use.
October 17, 2015
Sinuous and compelling.
January 18, 2017
3 1/2 stars
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September 23, 2010The Crime of Galileo by Giorgio de Santillana (1978)
Read
April 21, 2017I am reading this series of Time-Life reprints from my deceased father's library. This is the first one I randomly took off the shelf. It was not an easy read, and I didn't understand some of the descriptions, but I did come away with a deeper understanding of what the Church put Galileo through. Some of it seems comical, and I think it even did then!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews