Galileo Antichrist: A Biography. by White, Michael - 2007

London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007. 1st ed.. Hardback octavo, dustjacket, very good plus condition (in very good plus dustjacket), colour & black & white photos centre spread, minimal edgewear. 284 pp. Galileo is one of a small group of historical figures known by first name alone. His achievements place him amongst the giants of science: a crucial figure in the Scientific Revolution. A martyr whose brilliance and stubbornness saw him crushed by the might of the Roman Catholic Church. Michael White investigates the man and his astronomical research, placing both in the context of a time when religious and scientific understanding became deeply and dangerously intertwined. Against the backdrop of the Counter Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, he traces the path that led to Galileo's denunciation as a heretic, and finds the story tainted by evidence of conspiracy and cover-up.