The Life of Galileo: Scene 9 Summary & Analysis

Years have gone by, and though Galileo hasn’t written anything further on the subject of Copernicus, he has amassed a group of pupils in the form of Federzoni, Andrea, and the Little Monk. The group is meeting when a former student enters. The student wishes to explain to Galileo why he recently attacked Copernicus in his book. Galileo tells the student that there’s no need: he’s perfectly in line with the Church’s teachings. Galileo pulls his proving stone from his pocket, drops it to the ground, and tells the student that he is “quite within his rights” to say that the stone has just flown to the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Virginia and Mrs. Sarti discuss Virginia’s engagement to Ludovico. Sarti feels that Virginia is taking their upcoming marriage too lightly and advises the girl not to let her father be a part of the ceremony. She also suggests that Virginia have her horoscope read by a “proper astronomer” at the University. Virginia replies that she already has. Their conversation is interrupted by the rector of Galileo’s college, who has come to drop off a book. He refuses to interrupt Galileo, however, as any minute taken away from Italy’s greatest man is a moment wasted.

The book is delivered to Federzoni, who can’t read the title, as it’s in Latin. Andrea reads it for him (it’s a book about sunspots that doesn’t interest any of them). The inscription reads “To the greatest living authority on physics, Galileo Galilei.” The group discusses what sunspots might be, though Galileo remains silent throughout.

Andrea brings them back to their work at hand, using an experiment to test Aristotle’s hypothesis that a broad flat piece of ice will float on water whereas an iron needle will sink. The Little Monk begins to present Aristotle’s argument in Latin, but Galileo demands that he translate it into Italian for Federzoni’s sake. Through the experiment, they discover that Aristotle was again wrong, and Federzoni laughs at the fact that the Church seemingly never bothered to test anything he said. The others laugh with him.

Ludovico arrives with news that the current Pope is dying. His suspected replacement is none other than Barberini. Convinced that Barberini will usher in a new age of reason for the Church, Galileo renews his research into the Earth orbiting the Sun.

Ludovico, however, is not as happy. Ludovico reminds Galileo that he signed a declaration saying he would never again promote Copernicus’ ideas. Furthermore, Ludovico is distressed because his family is very well-respected and rich; his wife (Virginia) will have to sit by him in Church. Ludovico worries that his family will lose status if Galileo again takes up this research. Galileo is undeterred, and Ludovico resorts to threatening him. He says that his family—and others like them—will have considerable leverage with the new Pope, regardless of the Pope’s love for science. Above all, the Pope must avoid the peasants questioning the established order of things, or they may begin to question him.

Federzoni replies that this surely won’t be a problem, since the peasants can’t read the Latin in which Galileo will publish his findings. Galileo, however, says that he plans on publishing in simple Italian, since his findings should be available to those who work with their hands and know how things work. At this, Ludovico leaves, asking that someone else explain their breakup to Virginia. When Virginia finds out, she faints, and the others run to her. Galileo, however, remains locked in his research, saying that he simply has to know the truth of things.