Galileo was interrogated, forced to recant and sentenced to house arrest, he was probably never jailed or subjected to torture (Image: Harvard University Press) Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition (Painting by Cristiano Banti)
FOR evidence of religion’s centuries-old hostility toward science, Galileo is the go-to guy. His belief in a Copernican universe led to his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the church, or so the story often goes. But is it true? In his contribution to Galileo Goes to Jail, Maurice Finocchiaro explains that while Galileo was interrogated, forced to recant and sentenced to house arrest, he…
