Where Have All the Heavens Gone?

Twenty years before his famous trial, Galileo Galilei had spent two years carefully considering how the results of his own telescopic observations of the heavens as well as his convictions about the truth of the Copernican theory could be aligned with the Catholic Church's position on biblical interpretation and the authority of the magisterium. The product of these two years was an unpublished letter to the Grand Duchess Christina of Tuscany, the mother of his patron, Cosimo II de' Medici. Much has changed since this letter was written in 1615, but much has remained the same. This collection of articles by renowned international scholars provides the historical context of the letter as well as a description of the scientific world of Galileo. It also explores those issues that make this 1615 letter a document for our time: the public role of religious authority, the truth of the Bible, and the relationship of scientific inquiry to social justice. Galileo's letter to Christina has become a classic text in the history of the relationship between science and religion in the West for good reason; this volume explores why the letter has earned its rightful place as a classic even for today. ""This singular book, at once instructive and delightful to read, returns readers to Galileo's famous letter to Grand Duchess Christina. Here Galileo shines forth not only as the iconic figure of modern science he has become, but more surprisingly as, on balance, a modern interpreter of Scripture. A very fine book indeed."" --David Tracy, Professor of Theology and the Philosophy of Religions in the Divinity School of The University of Chicago ""This remarkable interdisciplinary study of Galileo's wide-ranging work includes chapters from the perspectives of philosophy and history, theology, physics, and mathematics. His achievements stand out in such scientific thought-experiments as those on time and mechanics and in his reflections on how science and religion are related, as recorded in his fascinating letter to the Grand Duchess Christina. The authors expertly convey and distill the contemporary significance of Galileo's experiments, inventions, and understandings."" --Mary Gerhart, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies, Hobart & William Smith Colleges; co-author of New Maps for Old: Explorations in Science and Religion John P. McCarthy is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, the former chair of the Theology Department at Loyola University Chicago, and a Research Fellow at the Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey. Edmondo F. Lupieri holds the John Cardinal Cody Endowed Chair in Theology and is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Loyola University Chicago and President of ItalCultura. He is the author of In nome di Dio (2014).