The Crime of Galileo

Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1955. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. xiv, 388, [2] pages. Frontis. Illustrations. Footnotes. Index. DJ has some wear, soiling, edge tears and chips. Giorgio Diaz de Santillana (30 May 1902 - 1974) was an Italian-American philosopher and historian of science, and Professor of the History of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Son of the Italian jurist David, expert of Islamic Law, Giorgio was born and mostly educated in Rome, Santillana moved to the United States in 1936 and became a naturalized US citizen in 1945. In 1941 he commenced his academic career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, becoming an Assistant Professor the following year. From 1943 to 1945 he served in the United States Army as a war correspondent. Following the war, in 1945 he returned to MIT and was made an Associate Professor in 1948, the year he was married. He became a full Professor of the History of Science in the School of Humanities in 1954. In 1969, he published a book entitled: Hamlet's Mill, An Essay on Myth and the Frame of Time with Dr. Hertha von Dechend. This book focused upon the understanding of the connection between the mythological stories of Pharaonic Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Christianity, etc. and the ancient observations pertaining to the stars, planets and, most notably, the 26,000 year precession of the equinoxes. Derived from a Kirkus review: An extensive study of the Galilean controversy as it ran its course through the first decades of the 17th century concentrates on its clerical and legalistic aspects and provides some clarifying historical perspectives. De Santillana takes up his story in 1610 when Galileo was already a well known scientist and mathematician and convinced of the validity of Copernicus' theories. Galileo employed the telescope to further his own proof of a sun centered world. But an unaccepting clergy, aptly called the first bewildered victims of the scientific age, came in the discovery's wake to swamp it temporarily by charging Galileo with heresy. The course of Galileo's trial is familiar, but it is amplified here to give a rather complete view of the prevailing personal and social conditions which made it more than purely theological. Examinations of contemporary legal and theological codes raise the questions of the validity of the injunction against Galileo and of whether or not Galileo could have managed the priests so that he could have been left free to work unhampered. An interesting character study in terms of social milieu. Of definite reference value.