The Sleepwalkers (208 page)

"Necessity"
in
this
context
meant
once
again:
if
and
when
convincing
proof
was
shown
of
the
reality
of
the
earth's
motion.
But
all
this
did
not
affect
free
discussion
of
the
relative
advantages
of
the
Ptolemaic,
Tychonic
or
Copernican
systems
as
mathematical
hypotheses.

There
the
matter
could
have
rested,
and
probably
would
have
rested,
but
for
Galileo's
hypersensitivity
to
criticism,
and
his
irrepressible
urge
to
get
involved
in
controversy.
Towards
the
end
of
1612,
he
was
staying
in
the
villa,
near
Florence,
of
his
friend
Filippo
Salviati
(whom
he
immortalized
in
his
two
great
Dialogues
),
when
some
gossip
reached
him
to
the
effect
that
a
Dominican
Father,
Niccolo
Lorini,
had
attacked
his
views
in
a
private
conversation.
Galileo
immediately
wrote
to
Lorini,
asking
for
an
explanation.
Lorini
was
a
gentleman
of
seventy,
and
professor
of
ecclesiastical
history
in
Florence.
He
wrote
back:

"I
have
never
dreamt
of
getting
involved
in
such
matters...
I
am
at
a
loss
to
know
what
grounds
there
can
be
for
such
a
suspicion,
as
this
thing
has
never
occurred
to
me.
It
is
indeed
true
that
I,
not
with
a
desire
to
argue,
but
merely
to
avoid
giving
the
impression
of
a
blockhead
when
the
discussion
was
started
by
others,
did
say
a
few
words
just
to
show
I
was
alive.
I
said,
as
I
still
say,
that
this
opinion
of
Ipernicus
–
or
whatever
his
name
is
–
would
appear
to
be
hostile
to
divine
Scripture.
But
it
is
of
little
consequence
to
me,
for
I
have
other
things
to
do..."
¹¹

The
next
year,
1613,
brought
the
publication
of
the
"Sunspots",
and
general
public
acclaim;
including,
as
mentioned,
the
future
Pope's.
All
was
sunshine.
Then
another
piece
of
gossip
reached
Galileo,
this
time
from
Pisa.
It
concerned
an
after-dinner
conversation
at
Duke
Cosimo's
table.
This
banal
incident
was
the
beginning
of
what
became
"the
greatest
scandal
in
Christendom".

3.
The Shifting of the Burden

Faithful
Father
Castelli,
now
Professor
of
Mathematics
at
Pisa,
the
post
from
which
Galileo
had
started
his
career,
had
been
invited
for
dinner
at
Court.
An
illustrious
company
was
present,
including
the
Duke's
mother,
the
Dowager
Duchess
Christina
of
Lorraine,
his
wife
Madeleine
of
Austria,
and
several
other
guests,
among
them
Dr.
Boscaglia,
a
professor
of
philosophy.

The
conversation
was
led
by
Madame
Christina,
who
appears
to
have
conformed
to
the
idea
of
a
bossy,
talkative
and
scatterbrained
Dowager.
During
dinner
she
felt
the
sudden
urge
"to
learn
all
about"
those
Mediciean
planets.
First
she
wanted
to
know
their
positions,
then
whether
they
were
real
or
just
illusions.
Both
Castelli
and
Boscaglia
solemnly
confirmed
that
they
were
real.
Soon
after
that,
dinner
was
over,
and
Father
Castelli
left.

"But
I
had
hardly
come
out
of
the
palace
when
Madame
Christina's
porter
overtook
me
and
told
me
that
she
wished
me
to
return,"
Castelli's
report
to
Galileo
continued.
"Now
before
I
tell
you
what
ensued,
you
must
first
know
that
while
we
were
at
table,
Dr.
Boscaglia
had
had
the
ear
of
Madame
for
a
while;
and
conceding
as
true
all
the
new
things
you
have
discovered
in
the
sky,
he
said
that
only
the
motion
of
the
earth
had
something
incredible
in
it,
and
could
not
take
place,
in
particular
because
Holy
Scripture
was
obviously
contrary
to
this
view."

When
Castelli
returned
to
the
drawing-room,
"Madame
began,
after
some
questions
about
myself,
to
argue
Holy
Scripture
against
me.
Thereupon,
after
having
made
suitable
disclaimers,
I
commenced
to
play
the
theologian
and
...
carried
things
off
like
a
paladine."
Everybody
took
the
side
of
Castelli
and
Galileo,
"only
Madame
Christina
remained
against
me,
but
from
her
manner
I
judged
that
she
did
this
only
to
hear
my
answers.
Professor
Boscaglia
never
said
a
word."
¹²

In
subsequent
letters,
Castelli
reported
that
Boscaglia
had
once
more
been
defeated
in
debate,
that
even
the
irascible
Dowager
had
been
won
over,
and
that
the
subject
had
been
dropped.