PDF Galileo Revisited The Galileo Affair in Context Dom Paschal Scotti 9781621641322 Books

Download As PDF : Galileo Revisited The Galileo Affair in Context Dom Paschal Scotti 9781621641322 Books

No other work on Galileo Galilei has brought together such a complete description of the historical context in its political, cultural, philosophical, religious, scientific, and personal aspects as this volume has done. In addition to covering the whole of Galileo's life, it focuses on those things that are most pertinent to the Galileo Affair, which culminated in his condemnation by the Inquisition in 1633.

 

It also includes an extensive discussion of the relationship between religion and science in general, and of the relationship between Christianity and science in particular, without which a true understanding of the affair is much weakened. This discussion of the relationship of Christianity with science―a long, generally positive relationship―is most timely since the case of Galileo is, as many historians and Pope Benedict XVI have stated, the beginning of the alienation of the Church from much of the intellectual culture of our present age. The "warfare between science and religion" is an old myth that should finally be retired, but for many it is still axiomatic.

 

This work shows the significance of astrology in the history of society and the Church (Galileo was a master astrologer), and the importance of the internal tensions and factions within the Roman Curia in the seventeenth century. It also tells of the profound battles among Church leadership over the direction of the Church in a time of uncertainty and intellectual and cultural ferment. The Galileo Affair is not just of its time and place, and it is not just about Galileo, but it touches upon that perennial issue of how the Church deals with issues of adaptation and change.

PDF Galileo Revisited The Galileo Affair in Context Dom Paschal Scotti 9781621641322 Books

"If you are looking for a book that sheds light on Galileo and the major controversy he had with the Roman Catholic Church, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a book that goes into excruciating and wearying detail about every human being from tis period who could have had even a tangential involvement with the topic of the book's title... before it ever gets around to focusing on the topic, then perhaps this book is for you. I found it pedantic in the extreme, hard to keep reading, and when I was done I asked myself, "What was that all about?""

Product details Paperback 312 pages Publisher Ignatius Press (August 25, 2017) Language English ISBN-10 1621641325

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Galileo Revisited The Galileo Affair in Context Dom Paschal Scotti 9781621641322 Books Reviews :

Galileo Revisited The Galileo Affair in Context Dom Paschal Scotti 9781621641322 Books Reviews

• This is a very thorough book, and it does what it says. It sees Galileo in the context of his times. That context is very broad, covering a few hundred years (or more) of religion, philosophy, science, and politics. It is deep as well, introducing many, many people in their roles in this drama. It is an interesting read but hard to remember because of its detail. But the end result is an appreciation of what happened and why.
• Congratulations, Father Paschal. A bravura performance.
• Excelente libro que relata todo el proceso del juicio de Galileo con un nivel de detalle y de investigación impresionante
  Espectacular!!
• If you are looking for a book that sheds light on Galileo and the major controversy he had with the Roman Catholic Church, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a book that goes into excruciating and wearying detail about every human being from tis period who could have had even a tangential involvement with the topic of the book's title... before it ever gets around to focusing on the topic, then perhaps this book is for you. I found it pedantic in the extreme, hard to keep reading, and when I was done I asked myself, "What was that all about?"
• Dom Paschal Scotte achieves his intent of putting the "Galileo Affair" into historical, theological and political context. This background is a welcome contribution at this time when so few people who like to talk about this (and similar) controversies know little about them and their context. In this case (as in most cases), the context makes a great difference.
  
  At the time, there were many competing theologies, ideologies and understandings; the great concern was that Scripture not be undermined. Many deferred to Aristotle, who was heliocentric. Galileo was a man of considerable talent and intelligence, and of course was on to something (which we know now). The fact that Galileo had a prickly personality, developed a celebrity complex, and became enamoured of his intellectual gifts complicated the issue considerably. Add to that the fact that Pope Urban VIII was a vain and arrogant man (according to the author), you end up with a conflict that became an "affair" that should never have happened; it has put a black mark on the Church for centuries. (Agnostics and atheists use the Galileo case as their final punch.) This situation could have been handled differently, but in the context of the Counter-Reformation Church, positions had hardened and many took no prisoners. This is all part of the fascinating context Scotti relates in his book.
  
  I found the whole book engaging and informative, especially the 10-page conclusion. This book is a significant contribution to this topic, but unfortunately it was not written with the average reader in mind. It would have been helpful to have chapter subheadings to let the readers know where they are headed and to break up the long and detailed text. Including some maps (even just one or two) would have been helpful. And some pictures of the main actors and locations would have given some visual makers that are helpful. I wish writers and editors would think of such things which help make a book more readable. In addition, the author wrote about protecting Scripture; it would be helpful to present specifically which Scripture passages were considered threatened by Copernicus and Galileo. We just don't know the biblical background.
  
  The notes to the text were at the bottom of each page for easy reference, truly helpful "footnotes." The bibliography is excellent (and illustrates how much has been written on this topic--a historian's dream come true). Truly Scotti is well-read. The index is well-done, too, but probably doesn't come close to including the many names in the text, there are so many one- or two- line references to them. Scotti also mentions as he writes other good books on the topic which fill out the story. This is greatly appreciated.
  
  All considered, "Galileo Revisited" is an excellent book. I wish it had been around years ago when I was a young student. Hopefully, today's young students and many more will read the book and find it helpful.
• It is refreshing to read a historically accurate book that is not written with historical bias but with documented facts. An 18 page poem that compliments this book is Galileo Galilei's Telescope in the book Children of Heaven Children of the Seven. It is surprising that publishers have allowed books to be written that are biased and not accurate, so this book is definitely a must.
• This is the work of a capacious mind and extraordinary scholarship. Galileo Revisited The Galileo Affair in Context provides the contemporary reader with a rich portrait of late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Italy its scholarship, theology, and Galileo’s place amid the scholars and clerics of Pisa, Padua, Florence, and Rome. Dom Paschal minds the three Cs of history – context, complexity, and contingency. We follow Galileo’s hard-fought early career, his mid-life breakthroughs with the telescope, his meteoric rise to fame with his 1610 publication of The Starry Messenger, and by the 1630s his willful mocking of Pope Urban VIII in his acerbic Dialogue on Two World Systems. Throughout we see Galileo as a believer who assumed God endowed man with reason to better understand laws of nature and appreciate the majesty of Creation. We are immersed in disagreements among clerics and Church scholars (particularly Jesuits) about how the new Copernican model fit with a historic understanding of Scripture. What Dom Pascal makes abundantly clear is that this historic confrontation between “church” and “science” was no black and white confrontation of faith and reason. It was as much about personalities (Galileo’s pugnacious and egotistical; Urban VIII’s vindictive and unforgiving) and moments in history (the Counter-Reformation as a time of resistance to innovation among the bureaucracy) as about ideas. With different personalities decades earlier or even at that moment in time, this “showdown” could’ve gone the other way. A fascinating, in-depth tour through a key moment in the history of science.