The Life of Galileo: Scene 3 Summary & Analysis

Galileo and Sagredo are looking through his telescope at the moon. Sagredo struggles to understand what he’s seeing, because he’s been taught all of his life that the moon is a dim star. Through the telescope, however, it appears to have mountains and plains. Sagredo refuses to believe Galileo’s explanations, and he warns Galileo once again, this time mentioning Giordano Bruno, who was recently burned at the stake for advancing heretical astronomical views.

Galileo, however, continues. He says that there is “no difference” between Heaven and Earth and that this day would go down in history as the day that man “got rid of heaven.”

Mrs. Sarti interrupts the two men to introduce the Procurator. He has arrived to tell Galileo the shocking news that the telescope wasn’t an original invention. A Dutch merchant has just arrived and is unloading an entire shipment of them as they speak. The Procurator is indignant—he says Galileo has made him the laughingstock of the city—but Galileo shrugs off the Procurator’s concerns. He’s convinced, if nothing else, that the star charts he’ll be able to create with the device will more than compensate for his lies about inventing it, since they will give captains the ability to navigate the ocean by the stars. Enraged, the Procurator storms off, slamming the door.

Sagredo asks if Galileo knew about the Dutch telescopes beforehand. Galileo confirms that he did, but also that he didn’t care. He did improve on them, he says, and at any rate he absolutely had to have the money. Even with the extra money, he still has debts he can’t pay.

The two men return to the telescope, though Sagredo admits that he’s scared to see what else Galileo will show him. They look at the moons of Jupiter (which he calls stars) and discover that one’s missing. The only possible explanation is that the moon has gone behind the planet. But for this to be possible, it would somehow have to have punctured the crystal sphere that holds Jupiter. Galileo becomes extremely excited by their discovery and declares loudly that Copernicus was right—there were no spheres. He calls for Andrea, while Sagredo tries to quiet him, telling him to think more slowly and calmly. Sagredo warns him that even if what they’ve discovered is true (which he believes it is), the discovery will create a lot of trouble for Galileo.

By way of explaining, Sagredo asks Galileo where God is if He’s not in the Heavens, which angers Galileo. Galileo responds that he’s a mathematician, not a theologian. If God lives anywhere, he says, it must be within men. Sagredo contends that Galileo’s profession won’t matter to the Church, who will burn him for a heresy like that. They have, after all, done so to others—and in the not-so-distant past. Galileo replies that those men didn’t have the telescope and so they couldn’t provide the proof that he has. Since people align themselves with reason, and his proof bolsters that reason, Galileo believes that he will be safe. Sagredo, however, says that nothing in his life has ever taught him that people will act the way Galileo expects.

Still, when Virginia appears moments later, Galileo forbids her from looking through the telescope. He even downplays the invention in front of her, calling it a “flop” that has only helped him to discover some dim stars.

Galileo also tells Virginia that he’s written to the Grand Duke of Florence, asking for a job. Sagredo bristles at this, because Florence is run by monks who will not accept Galileo’s attacks on Aristotle’s system. But Galileo says he must have both the money and the time to work on his proofs. He feels confident that he will be able to “drag the monks” to the telescope if he needs to show them the validity of his work. He also plans to sweet talk the Duke by naming the newly discovered stars after the Duke’s family.