The Trial of Galileo, 1612-1633

This unique reader allows students to examine Galileo's trial as a legal event and, in so doing, to learn about seventeenth-century European religion, politics, diplomacy, bureaucracy, culture, and science. Noted scholar of the trial Thomas F. Mayer has translated correspondence, legal documents, transcripts, and excerpts from Galileo's work to give students the opportunity to critically analyze primary sources relating to Galileo's trial.

To help contextualize the trial, Mayer provides an...