Product Description

In a startling reinterpretation of the evidence, Stillman Drake advances the hypothesis that Galileo's trial and condemnation by the Inquisition was caused not by his defiance of the Church, but by the hostility of contemporary philosophers. Galileo's own beautifully lucid arguments are used to show how his scientific method was utterly divorced from the Aristotelian approach to physics in that it was based on a search not for causes but for laws. Galileo's method was of overwhelming significance for the development of modern physics, and led to a final parting of the ways between science and philosophy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #363201 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 152 pages

Review
"An interesting and stimulating introduction to the life and works of Galileo by the doyen of Galilean studies. The author studies the interplay of mathematical reasoning and physical experimentation in the genesis of the law of free fall and in the employment of Galileo's methodology."--Mathematical Reviews

About the Author
Stillman Drake, FRSC, was Emeritus Professor of the History of Science, University of Toronto, and author of Galileo: His Scientific Biography (1978). His translations of Galileo's scientific works include Cause, Experiment, and Science (1981) and Telescopes, Tides, and Tactics (1983).