Learning lessons from Galileo

Abstract

In Bertolt Brecht's The Life of Galileo , the ongoing conflict between rationalism and religious authority is portrayed through Galileo Galilei's epic battle with the might of the Vatican. The play depicts the later years of the Italian astronomer's life as he struggles to promote the ideas of Copernicus in the face of fierce opposition from the Catholic Church. In the 17th century, claiming that the Earth rotates around the Sun was tantamount to heresy; as the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno found out to his cost in 1600, when he was burned at the stake for refusing to recant his heliocentric beliefs. According to Brecht's Galileo, Bruno's only mistake was that he had no proof.