Background John Heilbron's "Introduction" to the Dialogue (pages xi-xx) offers an excellent overview of the trial episode and its historical context. The following focuses on Galileo's life and career, and how it reflects the historical status of "science" in the early 1600s. For more extensive discussion, see Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter and Mario Biagioli's Galileo, Courtier (which largely form the basis of this account).
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