by Mario Biagioli
Copyright (c) 1993.
This work, now considered the definitive treatment on the Galileo saga where he was silenced for arguing for the Copernican view that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around, argues that the setting of Galileo’s story has never been well-considered. He was a courtier. He lived under the patronage of various rulers of his day and had to produce great wonders for them.
As such, his story was not one of speaking scientific truth to power, as it is often told, but a courtier trying to make a living in a new environment. He expanded beyond his original identity as a mathematician into a new natural philosopher. Since the university system was dominated by Aristotelian philosophers, his legitimacy was found at court – and at court alone. A prince and eventually the pope served as his audience and could freely support any ideas that they deemed appropriate. The professionals/courtiers were not yet bound by accreditation by groups like the Royal Society in Britain. Their “accreditation” came from the court and the patronage system alone.
Galileo’s well-told story, then, needs to be contextually situated in this light. He was trying to persuade princes to support him financially and was shut down when his patron decided to overthrow Galileo as the patron’s “favorite.” (This overthrow of the sovereign’s favorite can also be seen historically in Queen Elizabeth’s shunning of Sir Walter Raleigh after Raleigh married a court-maid.) Galileo, of course, belonged to the prior age more than the coming age. While science can speak truth to power today, its institutional identity and strong professional organizations lay as its supporting source of integrity. Without these modern innovations, scientists, academicians, and intellectuals are mere fodder for rulers.