On Trial for Reason
By Maurice A Finocchiaro
OUP, 289pp, £25/$32.95
June 22, 1633, was not the happiest of days for Galileo Galilei, though it might have been a good deal worse. His musings on the workings of the cosmos brought down the charge of “vehement suspicion of heresy” on his head. But the Inquisition did not accuse him of what the canon lawyers referred to as “formal heresy”. It was an important distinction.
The “formal” heretic was perceived as repeatedly, malevolently spreading noxious beliefs; the “suspected” heretic was the chap who made offensive statements once in a while but didn’t really want to bring Christendom to its knees.
