In the following essay, Moss argues that Galileo's letter to his patron's mother, the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, in which he defends his position on Copernicus would have been more likely to save him had it stayed within his own area of expertise—mathematics—rather than strayed into theology, the specialty of his accusers.

In the following essay, Westfall summarizes the backgrounds of Galileo and his adversary, Cardinal Bellarmino (also known as Bellarmine), and argues that their conflict regarding Galileo's officially heretical belief in a Copernican or heliocentric universe began as early as 1610 with the publication of Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger).

In the following essay, Westfall argues that the heavy reliance upon and competition for patronage in the seventeenth century might have affected the truthfulness of some of the scientific conclusions and discoveries made by scientists of that period, including Galileo.

In the following essay, Shea details the theological, political, and scientific temper of the era and country in which Galileo lived, and argues that Galileo was more a victim of politics than of inflexible beliefs.

In the following excerpt, Finocchiaro describes Galileo 's personality as it clashed with the tenor of the times, and explains Copernicus 's heliocentric theory as well as its limitations, showing how, thanks to his improvements on the recently invented telescope, Galileo was able to eliminate most of those limitations.

In the following excerpt, Hummel outlines Galileo's early years, and describes the steps in Galileo's own particular scientific method.

In the following essay, first presented as a paper in 1964 and published in 1965, de Santillana argues that Galileo was the first to combine the study of science with the usefulness of technology, or "technique," in order to find out the "how" of things in nature.

In the following excerpt, Drake asserts that Galileo was revolutionary for being the first to integrate the heretofore separate disciplines of mathematics, physics, and astronomy in scientific thought.

In the following excerpt, Ball gives a nineteenth-century perspective of Galileo's life and career, focusing in particular on letters from his daughter Sister Maria Celeste.

In the following essay, originally published in 1953 and reprinted in 1967, Einstein expresses his admiration for Galileo's creativity and remarks that the theme of "Galileo's work is the passionate fight against any kind of dogma based on authority."

In the following essay, first presented as a speech in 1979 and reprinted in 1987, Pope John Paul II undertakes to reconcile the views of the Catholic Church with those of Galileo, arguing that Galileo was not in fact in opposition to the Church.