A book about a scientist and by a scientist, Galileo and the Science Deniers is much more than a simple biography.

Astrophysicist Mario Livio tells about the man and scientist as only a scientist could. Galileo Galilei ‘s achievements are placed in the context of present scientific knowledge. His ideas are explained clearly. His struggles hold lessons for today’s climate of science denial. I believe the perspective of a working scientist is very important to this last point.

Galileo is considered one of the great founders of modern science. Unlike many of his contemporaries , he did not believe knowledge came for the study of ancient texts but rather from observation and experimentation. His studies of motion conflicted with teaching of Aristotle.

His discoveries with the telescope lead him to believe that the Copernican theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun was probably correct. The Catholic Church doctrine was the the Ptolemaic system where the Sun revolved around the Earth. This conflict lead to the Inquisition finding him to be a suspected heretic. He managed to avoid the worst punishments by recanting his ideas and was placed under house arrest.

I especially enjoyed the last few chapters which included discussions of various current science denial controversies and various views about roles of religion and science.

As usual, I thank Netgalley for the Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC). If you’d like to see another review, here is a good one.