Another in Norton's Great Discoveries series, The Earth Moves is an accounting and analysis of the time in Galileo's life preceding and including his trial before the church during the Roman Inquisition (not to be confused with the Spanish Inquisition).
The author is Dan Hofstadter, who has written previous books about French writers, and the City of Naples. Naples is in Italy, so perhaps that is qualification enough to tackle a complex event of great scientific and historical importance.
Hofstadter is a skilled writer, but he wasn't the right guy for this job. His style is too formal, too academic and this book is frankly a chore to read. Ones eyes glaze over near the end, as the remaining pages are counted, in the hope that the last one will arrive as soon as possible.
This book is an excellent reference for a serious research paper, but it's lack of bright and engaging prose, make it no fun to read. This is in contrast to most of the other books in the Great Discoveries series, one example being The Georgian Star, which are much more memorable.
Galileo and the Telescope
The author's best work in the book is near the beginning when he discusses Galileo's improvements to the telescope (Galileo did not invent it). Galileo's work on optics and his generous donations of hand built instruments to prominent citizens of the world probably did more to promote science and human curiosity than any act undertaken before or since.
The telescope was of seminal importance in allowing Galileo to make the observations that led him to conclude that the heliocentric model of Copernicus was likely correct. He also observed that the moon was not a perfect crystalline sphere as claimed by Aristotle. Trouble was brewing.
Galileo and the Church
Galileo found himself at odds with Catholic doctrine after he published his landmark Dialog Concerning the Two Chief World Systems in 1632. In the Dialog, Galileo set up two opposing debaters (and a neutral party), one taking the view that the earth rotated around the sun (the Copernican system), and the other that the earth was fixed (the Ptolemaic and Aristotelian systems). It was clear which side got the best of the arguments.
Even though it appears that Galileo obtained the tacit approval of the Vatican to publish the Dialog (which made him famous throughout the world upon it's appearance), he was called to Rome to face a tribunal, accused of holding and teaching views contrary to the truths contained in Holy Scriptures.
It seems as though the actual trial of Galileo was not very interesting, since it never seems worthy of taking center stage in The Earth Moves. Perhaps the records of the time do not facilitate a blow-by-blow recounting of the discourse—or perhaps there was little discourse at all. In either case, it isn't the major focus of Hofstadter's research. Instead, communications between Galileo's friends and foes, both in and out of the Church are described, analyzed and explained. Various meetings, back door dealings, and political considerations were the principle avenues for deciding Galileo's fate. Historically accurate—yes. Interesting reading?—Not so much.
The famous scientist's data had no bearing on the case. He was accused of something short of heresy, in his "rash" support of the heliocentric theory. Everyone knows what the final result was, and it has left an unpleasant pall over the relations between church and science ever since.
References
Hofstadter, Dan. The Earth Moves. New York, NY: W. W. Norton and Company, 2009.
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