Blog #5 "Life of Galileo"

Sagredo: "First and foremost you're a human being. And I'm asking: were is God in your cosmography?"

Galileo: "Within ourselves or nowhere."

Sagredo (shouting): "Like the man they burned said?"

Galileo: "Like the man they burned said."

Sagredo: "That's what they burned him for. Less than ten year back."

Galileo: "Because he couldn't prove it. Because it was just a hypothesis. Mrs. Sarti!"

(Brecht 26)

This scene in particular shows a lot to me about Galileo's character and what he knows he is going against. For example, when he sells his invention he gets 500 scudi, but during the sales pitch instead of being concerned about the legitimate science discoveries that can be made, a senator is more worried about his women not being able to bathe on the roof anymore. This shows that nobody is giving the telescope any sort of scientific importance until he shows Sagredo what only he has seen before, the moon up close and discovering that "In other words, there's no difference between the moon and earth" (Brecht 22). Also, another significant feature of this scene demonstrates that Galileo and Sagredo know what this discovery about the moon and earth can do to them. They reference Bruno, who was burnt at the stake ten years earlier for making the same hypothesis, "Ten years ago in Rome they burnt a man at the stake for that. His name was Giordano Bruno, and that is what he said" (Brecht 22). Galileo isn't very worried for he has evidence in comparison to Bruno's hypothesis. In summary, this means a lot to me because it shows that Galileo is very goal driven and is willing to put himself at risk for scientific discovery.