Galileo Galilei
In 1633, the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo. Since then, historians have speculated: what were Galileo's alleged religious crimes, his heresies? For example, Pietro Redondi conjectured that maybe Catholic theologians were annoyed by Galileo’s atomism. Other historians disagreed.
In a book published in 2011, I asked: Did theologians condemn Galileo for defending pagan beliefs?
Three years later, in Rome, I found a manuscript that confirmes it.
I found that Galileo’s strongest critic of 1633, a Jesuit Consultor for the Inquisition, blamed the pagan cult leader Pythagoras as the first to assert “the heresy of the Earth’s motion,” and he denounced Galileo as a “New Pythagorean.” He accused Galileo of supporting the pagan “heresies” of the animated Earth, many worlds, and beings living on the Moon.
The Consultor's unpublished manuscript also identifies the authorities who previously had condemned such “Pythagorean” heresies: Saint Jerome, Saint Philaster, Saint Augustine, Saint Isidore, Pope Zacharias, Pope Dionysus, Pope Gelasius, the Fifth Ecumenical Council, and the Roman Inquisition in 1616, 1619, and 1633.
What were his religious crimes?
“Lies & Truth in the History of Science,” Harris Distinguished Lecture: California Institute of Technology, February 27, 2020. https://youtu.be/vAHQeZ8hVg8
“Galileo Defends the Pythagorean Doctrines Again”
Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition (London: Reaktion Books; distr. University of Chicago Press, 2018), 179-202.
“Inchofer Against the New Pythagoreans”
Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition (London: Reaktion Books; distr. University of Chicago Press, 2018), 203-10.
“Galileo in Danger”
Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition (London: Reaktion Books; distr. University of Chicago Press, 2018), 137-160.
“Galileo’s Pythagorean Heresy”
in Science Secrets: The Truth about Darwin’s Finches, Einstein’s Wife, and Other Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), 13-46.
“Melchior Inchofer, Giordano Bruno, and the Soul of the World”
Annals of Science 76, No. 3-4 (Oct. 2019), 267-302.
“Galileo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa”
in Science Secrets: The Truth about Darwin’s Finches, Einstein’s Wife, and Other Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), 1-12.
“Campanella Imprisoned and Tortured”
Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition (London: Reaktion Books; distr. University of Chicago Press, 2018), 115-22.
“Campanella Defends Galileo from Prison”
Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition (London: Reaktion Books; distr. University of Chicago Press, 2018), 171-78.
“Campanella’s Exile and Death”
Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition (London: Reaktion Books; distr. University of Chicago Press, 2018), 232-37.
“Galileo and Giordano Bruno”
All About History Magazine (UK), interview by Emily Staniforth, June 2023, forthcoming.
“CHSTM Podcast: Burned Alive: Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition,” Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, September 2021, https://www.chstm.org/content/alberto-mart%C3%ADnez-%E2%80%94-burned-alive-bruno-galileo-and-inquisition; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iB3eQcw7Cg
“Galileo and Giordano Bruno: Philosophers on Trial for Heresies,” University of Colorado at Boulder, November 1, 2019.
“Burned Alive: Giordano Bruno, Galileo and the Inquisition,” IHS Book Talk, Institute for Historical Studies, UT Austin, October 17, 2019
“Galileo Galilei and the Philosopher who was Burned Alive,” OLLI/Quest Talk, Thompson Conference Center, September 30, 2019.
“Giordano Bruno, Galileo, and the Moving Earth,” Center for Inquiry, Austin, TX, April 16, 2018.
“Giordano Bruno, Galileo, and the Cosmology of Many Worlds,” Physics Colloquium for Students and Faculty, UT Austin, John A. Wheeler Lecture Hall, March 28, 2018.
“Bruno, Galileo and the Heresy of the Soul of the World,” History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, November 11, 2017.
“The Heresies of Bruno and Galileo,” History of Science Society, Annual Conference, San Francisco, November 19, 2015.
“Galileo and the Heresy of Many Worlds,” History and Philosophy of Science Colloquium, UT Austin, October 23, 2015.
“From Bruno to Galileo: The Heresy of Many Worlds,” 12th Biennial Conference on the History of Astronomy, University of Notre Dame, June 25, 2015.
“Bruno, Galileo, Einstein: The Value of Myths,” American Physical Society Annual Conference, San Antonio, March 2, 2015.
“Galileo, Giordano Bruno and Science during the Inquisition,” Houston Community College Alief Hayes Campus, October 14, 2014.
“Galileo, Giordano Bruno and Science during the Inquisition,” Houston Community College Katy Campus, Pandora’s Box series, October 14, 2014.
“Galileo, pagan heresies, and the Catholic Inquisition,” History of Science Colloquium, UT Austin, October 28, 2011.
“La Inquisición Católica y Galileo,” 4to Centenario de los Descubrimientos de Galileo, Universidad de Puerto Rico, 17 March 2009.
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BIO
Alberto Martinez is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a professor at UT Austin, he investigates the history of science, especially Einstein and relativity theory, history of math, historical myths, and Giordano Bruno and Galileo. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He also researches myths in political news media, The Eyes of Texas, and episodes in the history of money and corruption.
Now, he's finishing writing a novel about Albert Einstein.