In a remarkable re-examination of events, Stillman Drake - a distinguished scholar of Galileo - argues convincingly that the trial and condemnation he faced before the Inquisition were not due to his defiance of the Church but rather the result of inciting the animosity of his contemporary philosophers.

Galileo's own arguments, beautifully articulated and clear, are used to demonstrate that his scientific method, completely different from the then-dominant Aristotelian approach to the natural world, was based on the pursuit of laws rather than "final causes." This is precisely the method upon which Modern Physics was founded, leading to the eventual separation of the paths of Science and Philosophy.

A provocative book about one of the most important figures in the history of ideas.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]