Young Galileo had only one goal—scientific truth. In an era of superstition he tore aside the veils of ignorance so that men might glimpse the wonders of the universe.
With sympathy and insight the author brings to life the Italian inventor, astronomer and mathematician whose work in physics marked a turning point in the history of science. He discovered the law that all falling bodies, regardless of their weight, travel through air at the same rate of speed. He invented the sector, a compass still used in geometrical drawings, and constructed the first air bulb thermometer. He was the first to make extended and practical use of the telescope and it led to his very important astronomical discoveries—the four satellites of Jupiter and the peculiar form of Saturn, the movable spots on the sun and the phases of Mercury and Mars. Galileo brought final proof that the earth revolved around the sun.
Yet the man who showed the world the stars, struggled up through darkness of poverty and illness, conspiracy and intrigue. Deeply religious, he was accused of heresy. Deeply loving, he was betrayed by his own church and his own family. Through it all his genius blazed like a comet over seventeenth-century Europe.
His brilliant writings caused a stir in many circles and influential members of the Church saw in his scientific teachings a danger to religion and he was ordered to renounce his scientific theories.
This is the thrilling history of a scientist who was ridiculed, denied and degraded, yet who maintained his integrity even in shame. He died at the age of 70, but his interest in his labors continued to the end, even when, stricken with blindness, he could no longer look upon the wonders of earth and sky.
—from the dust jacket
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