GALILEO'S MISTAKE PA

by ROWLAND,WADE

• ISBN13: 9781611451566
• ISBN10: 1611451566
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781628722420
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2012-05-17
• Publisher: FRWHEEL
• More Book Details
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Summary

The modern understanding of the notorious 1633 trial of Galileo is that of Science and Reason persecuted by Ignorance and Superstition-of Galileo as a lonely, courageous freethinker oppressed by a reactionary and anti-intellectual institution fearful of losing its power and influence. But is this an accurate picture? In his provocative reexamination of one of the turning points in the history of science and thought, Wade Rowland contends that the dispute concerned an infinitely more profound question: What is truth and how can we know it? Rowland demonstrates that Galileo's mistake was to insist that science-and only science-provides the truth about reality. The Church rejected this idea, declaring that while science is valid, truth is a metaphysical issue-beyond physics-and it involves such matters as meaning and purpose, which are unquantifiable and therefore not amenable to scientific analysis. In asserting the primacy of science on the territory of truth, Galileo strayed into the theological realm, an act that put him squarely on a warpath with the Church. The outcome would change the world. Wade Rowland's thoughtful exploration promises to disarm the most stubborn of skeptics and make for scintillating debate.

Table of Contents

Illustration and Photo Credits	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
	p. I
Overture
	p. II
Pope Paul V
A Time of Crisis Doctrinal Revolutions
	p. 17
A Dialogue
ScienceÆs Motives
On Curiosity
A Negotiation
	p. 31
Galileo the Aquarian
Ptolemy's World
Comets and Supernova
Kepler's Genius
The Uses of Hypotheses
	p. 45
Young Galileo
The Studies in Motion
The Experimental Method
Number and Beauty
The Pythagoreans and the Reduction of Quality to Quantity
	p. 55
Ferrara and Copernicus
The Reluctant Revolutionary
Challenging Aristotle
A Stimulating Meeting
	p. 67
The Stagirite
The Primacy of Mind
The Good
Deductive Science
	p. 79
AristodeÆs Influence
A Question of Infinity
Copernican Caution
Saving die Appearances
	p. 85
The Padua Years
The Telescopic Discoveries
The Lure of the Medici
The Jesuits
Rumors of Reaction
	p. 105
In the Medician Court
The Phases of Venus
Sunspot Disputes
Triumph in Rome
Cardinal Bellarmine
	p. 113
Bruno's Heresy
An Infinite Universe
Aristode Revisited
The Struggles of Aquinas
The Return of Pythagoras
	p. 129
Storm Warnings
Cardinal Barberini
The Conflict Is Joined: "Letter to Christina"
Bellarmine's Response
	p. 141
Under Attack
A Dangerous Mission
Barberini's Argument
Defeat in Rome
The Warning
	p. 151
A Dialogue in Venice
Sciences Successes
The Nature of Knowledge
	p. 159
Further Dialogue in Venice
Science and Faith
Faith and Reality
The Nature of Progress
	p. 167
On the Lido
The Problem of Objectivity
Reasoning's Recursiveness
The Map and the Territory
An Unfortunate Outburst
	p. 179
At Santa Maria Maggiore
Galileo's Conservatism
KeplerÆs Heterodoxy
A Remarkable Fresco
	p. 185
A Scientific Testament
Models of the World
The Paradox of Empiricism
	p. 193
Pope Urban VIII
Intimations of Change
Galileo's Dialogue
The Suppression
A Summons from the Inquisition
	p. 209
An Enigmatic Pope
A Mass in St. Peter's
A Chance Encounter
	p. 219
A Remarkable City
History's Parochialism
An Uncomplicated Man
The Motives of Pontiffs
	p. 227
A Dialogue in Vatican City
Galileo's Rehabilitation
"Learned Ignorance"
The Puzzle of the Abjuration
	p. 239
The Final Journey to Rome
The Inquisition
The Denial
The Confession
The Sentence
	p. 253
The Judgment and Abjuration
The Unspoken Issues
	p. 259
The Aftermath
Return to Arcetri
Discourses on Two New Sciences
A Visit from Hobbes
Milton's Tribute
	p. 267
On the Road to Florence
Galileo's Tomb
Human Happiness
Science and Number
Limits to Scientific Knowledge
An Unfinished Journey
Appendix	p. 279
On the Question of Galileo's "Perjury"
Notes	p. 283
Index	p. 291
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