Livio Mario - Galilei and a tudománytagadók

The representative of the Holy See asked the Jesuit experts to approve or reject Galileo's five discoveries one by one, first of all the one about the multitude of fixed stars, especially those found in the Milky Way.
The heavy memory of the Giordano Bruno affair almost certainly played a role in the fact that the first question concerned the multitude of fixed stars. One of the charges brought against him in the trial was Bruno's claim that the universe contained a multitude of infinite and inhabited worlds. The judgment and the tragic conclusion are well known. And Galileo now claimed that he had managed to find out that there were many fixed stars in the Milky Way that had not been detected before. Galileo's doctrines became unacceptable to the church. Although the old mathematician argued that his investigations clarified the validity of the Bible, he did not convince the investigators of the Inquisition.

Livio presents in detail the unequal contest which brought the aggrieved Galileo to his knees.

Finally, he parallels the accusations of heresy with today's climate concerns, the relativization of truth and science that is still taking place today.

The volume is a trademark of the freedom of science, and the author clearly conveys Galileo's research in the spirit of the "third culture".