in scientific and philosophical thinking. Galileo as a writer was one of the most able vernacular stylists of his time. Because of this, and because of its sparkling witty clarity, the work seemed to appeal over the objections of the theological and scientific "experts" to the intelligent general reader. Worse still, the opinions holding up Aristotles view were attributed to a fictional character called Simplicitus, which satirized those held by the ruling pope, Urban VIII. The text was divided into four days of discussion. The first was devoted to explaining the Aristotelian case and running over all the stock arguments, but with liveliness and a literary skill that prevented readers from being bored. The second and third days are concerned with the diurnal rotation of the Earth and the possibility of its annual orbit around the sun. The fourth day concerned Galileos theory about tides being caused by the rotation of the earth. The Dialogue was a dangerous book. Written in Italian, its influence, its subtle arguments and its advocacy of the Copernican system could filter through to anyone who could read, and the response of the public was enormous; it quite literally sold out as it came off the press. The Pope was now determined on bitter retaliation against Galileo and everyone connected with the book. Galileo seems to have completely at a loss to understand what all the fuss was about. As far as he was concerned, he had obeyed the injunction, treating the arguments as inconclusive; he had been specifically permitted to discuss Copernicansim as a hypothesis and this is what he had done. He had been careful to reach no firm answer. However, Galileo faced trial before the inquisition in Rome.The famous second trial is still celebrated in song and myth as the final parting of ways between faith and science. The result of the trial was, of course, never in doubt. The Vatican showed that Galileo was 'suspect of heresy' having hel...
