Galileo Galilei - When the World Stood Still

Prologue: A journey to Rome 5



The musician's son 7

A gifted young Tuscan 11

To Rome and the Jesuits 14

A Surveyor of Inferno 17

The spheres from the tower 19

From Pisa to Padua 22



Signs in the sky 24

De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium 28

Lecturer and designer 31

A professor's commitments 33

Modern physics is born 35

A new star in an unchanging sky? 38

Drawing close to a court 40

The balls fall into place 43

The Roman style 45

The tube with the long perspective 47



A new world 49

Jupiter's sons 53

Johann Kepler, Imperial Mathematician 56

Several signs in the sky 60



Friendship and power 64

A dispute about objects that float in water 68

Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon! 71

The letter to Castelli 74

"How to go to heaven, not how the heavens go" 77

Foolish and absurd in philosophy, formally heretical 80

The hammer of the heretics 83



Deaths and omens 86

Comets portend disaster 91

Weighing the words of others on gold-scales 95

A marvellous combination of circumstances 99

War and heresy 102

European power struggle and Roman nephews 105

The old and the new 107

"An advantageous decree" 111

Two wise men - and a third 113



The Inquisition's chambers 117

Diplomacy in the time of the plague 122

An order from the top 126

"Nor further to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatsoever" 131

Convinced with reasons 135

"I, Galileo Galilei" 139



Eternity 143

A death and two new sciences 148

The meeting with infinity 152

"That universe ... is not any greater than the space I occupy" 156



Epilogue 159

Postscript 164

Appendix 166

Sources 167

Name Index 172

References 175

The author was born in 1949. He studied language and literature at Oslo University and worked for some years as a teacher at various levels before becoming an independent writer of novels and non-fiction. Among his books is a novel about the Italian painter Caravaggio, translated into English under the title "Doubting Thomas" [in German as "Caravaggio's Flucht"]. His biography of Galileo won the Brage Award for best Norwegian non-fiction book in 2001. Næss' most recent work is a biography of the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch.

and well constructed, and one that provides the important larger context that surrounds the drama itself. This reviewer recommends it highly to anyone interested in a succinct and comprehensive look at the "saga" of Galileo.



MAA Online book review columne, Alexander J. Hahn, October 2005

The complete review can be found here: http://www.maa.org/reviews/naessgalileo.html

[...] Atle Naess knows how to write a readable book. He wastes no time on padding. He weaves the history, the personalities and the technicalities together expertly, with a sure eye for an interesting detail and an ability to cut through the myths, propaganda and speculation that surround the Galileo case. [...] The aim of the book is a short introduction to introduce the man and whet the appetite for his ideas. It is a resounding success.

by James Franklin, Univ of New South Wales, Sydney Gazette, The Australian Mathematical Society, Volume 32, Number 4, 2005,

"The mathematician and physicist Galileo Galilei is one of the most famous scientists of all time. The story of his life and times ... is brought vividly to life in this book. Atle Næss has written a gripping account of one of the great figures in European history." (WWW. firstscience.com, September 12, 2005)

"Not too many biographies of great scientists are as felicitously written as this new one ... . a delightful read but ... is as historically accurate as one would hope. ... very adequately referenced. ... The translation into english is excellent. This book brought home to me the full extent ... . Anyone with an interest in the life and times of Galileo will adore this new account ... . It is beautifully printed, attractively bound ... . Highly recommended." (Australian Physics, Vol. 42 (2), May/June, 2005)

"I found this book fascinating. Much of the argument ... revolves around the famous trial of Galileo for heresy in 1633. ... The background of the build