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GALILEO AND HIS JUDGES
BY
F. R. WEGG-PROSSER.
LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL,
Limited.
1889.
[All rights reserved.]
CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS,
CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
v
There is no name in the annals of science which hasbeen the occasion of so long and fierce a controversyas that of Galileo. The historian, the astronomer,and the theologian have all had a share in it. Sometimesthere has been a pause in the strife, and thequestion has been allowed to rest; but after a whileanother disputant has rekindled the embers, and thestruggle has recommenced. This has been the casewithin the last few years, some writers of considerableability having appealed to the history of Galileoin order to give point to opinions that they wished toadvance. During all this time, if there has beenunfairness on one side, there have been injudiciouszeal and inaccuracy on the other.
These circumstances must form my apology forinterfering in a dispute already so prolonged andso envenomed; and it has appeared to me that Imay without presumption hope to amend the errorsvito which I have just alluded, if in no other way,at least by stating correctly the facts of the case.I do not, however, undertake to write a full biographyof the great philosopher, or to give a detailedaccount of his numerous contributions to the scientificliterature of his day; I confine myself principally tothose great crises in his life which have given rise toso much discussion, and which have chiefly contributedto make him a name in history.
1
| Preface | v | |
| Chapter | I | 1 |
| Chapter | II | 13 |
| Chapter | III | 42 |
| Chapter | IV | 78 |
| Chapter | V | 136 |
Before entering on any details relating to Galileo’slife and works, I propose to give a brief sketch of theprogress of astronomical knowledge up to his time;for without this, one cannot appreciate correctly thevalue of his contributions to science, a value exagg