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Historical Retrying Galileo 1633–1992 by Maurcie Finocchio $50.00 / Univ. of CA Press / 2005 Maurice Finocchiaro's Retrying Galileo 1633-1992 is a study of the circumstances surrounding Galileo Galilei's trial and condemnation by the Roman Catholic Church in 1633 and the debate it set in motion over the next three and a half centuries. The debate, still alive today in the creationism/evolution controversy, involved the compatibility of science and religion, the persecution of the individual by institutional authority, and the clash between scientific truth and political demands. Finocchiaro's study culminates in Pope John Paul II's 1992 "rehabilitation" of Galileo. But along the way, he covers the original formulation of the heliocentric "heresy" by Nicolaus Copernicus, the thesis that the earth revolves around the sun. He then develops Galileo's own contributions to the theory. Finally, with the publication in 1632 of the treatise Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, in which Galileo discusses Copernicanism and is "vehemently suspected of heresy" by the Inquisition. The penalty exacted for his crime is the public confession of his "errors." The immediate effect of Galileo's punishment was the self-censorship by the 17th century French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes, on his own treatise on the subject, and the polarization within the Church between Copernicans and anti-Copernicans. Finocchiaro meticulously presents the seesaw of opinion over the next few centuries as scientific discovery supported the Copernican hypothesis, with a number of heavyweight thinkers from Pascal and Voltaire to Milton, Napoleon, and a variety of pontiffs, weighing in on "philosophic freedom." The gradual "reformation" of Galileo and relaxation of the Church's strict dogmatism are described: the Church's imprimatur for the publication of the Dialogue in 1741, the lifting of the general prohibition of Copernican books in 1757, and the removal of Copernicus' and Galileo's books from the Church's official catalog of banned books in 1835. In the context of this discussion, Finocchiaro presents the text of a variety of key historical documents, from the revised "clarifications" of controversial texts to correspondence from contemporary scholars and the text of official reports. Of particular interest is the discussion of Galileo's trial in the mid-20th century by secular, left-leaning intellectuals, such as the playwrights Bertolt Brecht and Arthur Koestler. Finocchiaro's book is a fascinating read while at the same time a responsibly thorough, albeit dry depiction of the history of an idea, its suppression, and its rehabilitation over the centuries. Not only a source for historical information, Retrying Galileo presents an understanding of how any clash of ideas and beliefs can affect civilization over the course of time. —Charles Rammelkamp

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