Brecht Berthold
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Brecht Berthold
Life of Galileo
Bertolt Brecht
Life of Galileo
In collaboration with M. Steffin
Translation by L. Kopelev
CHARACTERS
Galileo Galilei.
Andrea Sarti.
Mrs. Sarti, Galileo's housekeeper, Andrea's mother.
Ludovico Marsili, a rich young man.
Priuli, curator of the University of Padua.
Sagredo, friend of Galileo.
Virginia, daughter of Galileo.
Federzoni, lens grinder, assistant to Galileo.
Advisors.
Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Florence.
Marshal of the yard.
Mathematician.
An elderly court lady.
Young court lady.
The Grand Duke's footman.
Two nuns.
Two soldiers.
Fat prelate.
Two scientists.
Two monks.
Two astronomers.
A very skinny monk.
A very old cardinal.
Father Christopher Clavius, astronomer.
Little monk
Cardinal Inquisitor.
Cardinal Barberini - also known as Pope Urban VIII.
Cardinal Bellarmine.
Two monks, scribes.
Two young ladies.
Filippo Mucius, scientist.
Gaffone, rector of the University of Pisa.
Street singer and his wife
Vanni, owner of the foundry.
Official.
High-ranking official.
A certain subject.
Peasant.
Border guard.
Men, women, children.
Galileo Galilei, a mathematics teacher in Padua, wants to prove it right
new teachings of Copernicus on the structure of the universe
In the year one thousand six hundred and nine
Light of true knowledge
Poured out on people
From the city of Padua, from a humble hut,
Calculated by Galileo Galilei,
That the Earth moves, but the Sun is motionless.
Galileo's poor workroom in Padua. Morning. Andrea's boy, son
the housekeeper brings Galileo a glass of milk and a bun.
Galileo (washes his face; naked to the waist, snorts, cheerful). Place the milk on the table, but don’t touch a single book there.
Andrey. Mother says that we need to pay the milkman, otherwise he will soon describe a circle around our house, Mr. Galileo.
Galileo. You need to say: “describe a circle,” Andrea.
Andrea. As you please. If we don't pay, he will draw a circle around us, Mr. Galileo.
Galileo. But the bailiff, Mr. Cambione, comes straight to us and at the same time chooses... what distance does he choose between two points?
Andrea (smirking). The shortest.
Galileo. Fine! I have something for you. Look there, behind the star tables.
Andrea (pulls out a large wooden model from behind the tables solar system. Ptolemy). What it is?
Galileo. This is an astrolabe - a thing that depicts how planets and stars move around the Earth. That's what they thought in the old days.
Andrea. What do you mean - they thought so?
Galileo. Let's explore this. First of all, describe what you see.
Andrea. There is a small ball in the middle...
Galileo. This is Earth.
Andrea. And around him, one above the other, are rings.
Galileo. How many are there?
Andrea. Eight.
Galileo. These are crystal spheres.
Andrea. Balls are attached to these rings.
Galileo. These are planets and stars.
Andrea. There are stripes, and words are written on them.
Galileo. What words?
Andrea. Star names.
Galileo. For example?
Andrea. The lowest ball is the Moon, as it is written here. And above it is the Sun.
Galileo. Now move the Sun.
Andrea (spinning the rings). It turns out beautifully. Only now... We are so bottled up.
Galileo (wiping himself off). Yes, and I felt the same way when I first saw this thing. Some people feel it. (Throws a towel to Andrea and exposes his back for him to dry.) Walls, and rings, and immobility! For two thousand years in a row, people believed that the Sun and everything celestial bodies revolve around our Earth. The Pope, cardinals, princes, scientists, captains, merchants, fishmongers and schoolchildren believed that they were sitting motionless in this crystal ball. But now we're getting out of it, Andrea. Because the old times have passed and a new time has come. For a hundred years now, humanity seems to be waiting for something.
The cities are crowded and our heads are crowded. There are superstitions, and there is the plague. But now they say: there is, but it won’t be, it won’t remain. Because everything moves, my friend.
I like to think it all started with ships. Since time immemorial, ships have been crawling along the coasts, but suddenly they left the shores and went out into the open sea. On our old continent a rumor arose: there are new continents somewhere. And since our ships reach them, on all continents, laughing, they say that the great formidable ocean is only a small body of water. A great task has arisen; people want to understand the reasons for everything that exists in the world. Why does a stone, if released from your hands, fall, but if tossed, it rises? Every day brings something new. Even centenarians demand that young men shout in their ears about new discoveries.
Much has already been discovered, but much more remains that can still be discovered. So there is something for new generations too.
As a young man in Siena, I saw how two builders changed the ancient, thousand-year-old method of moving granite blocks; after a five-minute argument, they agreed and began to use a new, more expedient device for the ropes. There I realized then that the old times had passed, that a new time was coming. Soon humanity will fully explore its home, the planet on which it lives. What is written in old books is no longer enough.
And where faith nested for thousands of years, doubt now nests. Everyone says: yes, it’s written in the books, but let us see for ourselves. The most venerable truths are now treated lightly; they doubt something they have never doubted before.
And this created such a draft that it lifted even the gold-embroidered hems of princes’ and prelates’ clothes. And their legs become visible, fat or skinny, but the same as ours. And the skies, it turns out, are empty. Therefore, there is a cheerful laugh.
But the waters of the Earth are moving the shafts of new spinning mills, in shipyards, in rope and sailing workshops, hundreds of hands are working in a new way.
I foresee that in our lifetime astronomy will be talked about in the markets. Even the sons of fishmongers will go to school. And the people of our cities, greedy for everything new, will like the fact that new astronomy also made the Earth move. Until now, we have always been confident that celestial bodies are fixed on a crystalline vault and therefore do not fall. And now we have plucked up courage and allow them to float freely in space, nothing holds them back, and they all move along the great paths just like our ships. Nothing stops them from moving fast.
And the Earth rolls merrily around the Sun, and fishmongers, merchants, princes and cardinals, and even the Pope himself roll along with her.
The universe suddenly lost its center and immediately gained countless centers. So now any point can be considered a center, any and none. Because the world turns out to be very spacious.
Our ships sail far, far away, our planets and constellations move in boundless space, even in chess now rooks can move in new space through all squares. What did the poet say? "Oh dawn of great beginnings..."
"O dawn of great beginnings!
Oh the breath of the wind that blows
From the newly opened shores!"
But drink the milk, because soon someone will come again.
Galileo shows the boy Andrea Sarti, a future student, simple examples Copernican model of the solar system. Galileo says that the time of new knowledge is coming, the time of revision of all previous truths and the birth of new ones. The Ptolemaic system viewed the earth as a fixed, reliable support. Now everything is not so, it turns out that there are no supports - everything is movable. The boy does not immediately believe Galileo, because he adheres to a naive picture of the world (after all, the earth is flat, not round). However, Andrea repeats the “heresy” at school as a joke.His mother, Galileo's housekeeper, Mrs. Sarti, is unhappy with this. She was surprised when she learned that Galileo actually shared these ideas (she considered them her son's inventions). But she is more interested in the fact that Galileo does not pay the milkman, that they are in debt. Galileo proves to Andrea that his view is naive. The earth can be mobile, and we can still remain on our feet (sticks a sliver of wood into an apple, spins it and says that the top of the sliver is always higher than its bottom, no matter how you turn the apple). Galileo discusses what is new in science.
He compares explorers to sailors: previously they only walked along the coasts, now they send ships to the open sea. Andrea says that the young rich Ludovico Marsili wants to come to Galileo to study. Galileo sees that for Ludovico science is just a fashionable hobby. Ludovico says that science offers many wonders. He saw in Holland a certain device in which there were 2 lenses: biconcave and biconvex. To Ludovico's surprise, this device magnifies objects.
Galileo sends Ludovico away, while he thinks about something. Curator Priuli arrives from the university. Galileo wants a raise in salary. But the Curator says that the mathematics Galileo teaches is just fun for those who finance it. We must be happy with what we have. The curator and Galileo argue: The curator says that in Venice science is not persecuted by the Inquisition (Giordano Bruno was extradited as not a Venetian), there is an opportunity to create freely, but in Florence and throughout Europe in general they pay more, but they persecute. Galileo says that without money science cannot develop either, and that there is little good in such freedom. The curator says that if Galileo had invented something, he would probably have received a bonus. He remembers various useful things that Galileo came up with. Galileo is working on a telescope. He talks to Andrea. He is already delighted with Galileo’s discovery, but the scientist warns the boy: this is only a hypothesis, no one can test it yet. Galileo shows the trumpet to the boy and says: “This will bring us five hundred crowns.” A presentation of the spyglass takes place. Everyone is delighted. Galileo receives a salary increase. But he is lost in his thoughts. Any scientific discovery has a “double” meaning. For the uninitiated, this is just a telescope, a practical benefit. Ludovico had already begun to understand that Galileo had simply fooled everyone: such pipes were already being sold throughout Europe. But only Galileo himself realized that he had come up with a completely new use for this pipe. And from his scam he simply earned money for research.
Indeed, a practical benefit - but not one that the rulers of the city and the military enjoy. On January 10, 1610, Galileo and Sagredo observe the Moon. They see the relief, they see that Lunane is emitting light. Galileo says that the Moon is to the Earth what the Earth is to the Moon. This contradicts the harmonious hierarchical system celestial spheres Aristotle. “Today humanity writes in the chronicles: heaven has been abolished.” Sagredo is scared: Giordano Bruno was burned for this. The Curator comes and swears that Galileo disgraced him in the story with the pipe. Galileo says he won time and money for new research. The end justifies the means - Galileo's main motto. His discovery of new celestial mechanics will help create navigational charts of the starry sky for sailors, and this will greatly help Venice. The curator doesn't want to listen to anything else. Galileo and Sagredo are observing the satellites of Jupiter. They are convinced that 4 satellites are moving around Jupiter and conclude that the crystalline sphere to which Jupiter is attached does not exist. All this confirms the Copernican hypothesis. Galileo is delighted. He wants to tell people about the new truth. Sagredo warns him: people won't understand. But Galileo believes that the property of truth is simplicity and intelligibility. Virginia comes in the morning. Galileo had already composed a letter to the Duke of Florence - Cosimo de' Medici.
He names the moons of Jupiter after the Medici. Galileo and Andrea Sarti move to Florence and settle in the Medici Palace. Duke Cosimo is the same age as Andrea. Andrea shows Cosimo the Copernican model of the solar system, Cosimo prefers the Ptolemaic model. They fight, the Ptolemaic model breaks. At this moment, Galileo, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and Cosimo’s retinue enter. Mathematicians and Philosophers do not want to make observations before they have discussed whether the phenomena Galileo talks about are in principle possible. They contradict Aristotle. Brecht ironically shows the stereotyped scholastic thinking of professors through their speech. Mathematicians Philosopher remain on their own. Galileo did not achieve his goal. His observations are sent for verification to the most important astronomer of the Vatican, Christopher Clavius. There is a plague in Florence, but Galileo continues his research. Galileo does not want to leave his notes and books, he remains. Mrs. Sarti stays with him. The quarters are cordoned off. Food and water are served to Galileo on poles. Mrs. Sarti falls ill and is taken away. She will die later. Andrea returns - he jumped off the carriage to stay with Galileo. Galileo sympathizes with the boy, he is even tormented by his conscience (if he had left, then Andrea’s mother would have survived). Galileo continues to work. 1616. "Collegium Romanum" - Research institute Vatican - confirms Galileo's discovery. While waiting for Clavius' decision, the monks discuss the dire consequences if the Copernican system is proven. One of them says: “And now, in their opinion, the Earth is a star. There is nothing but stars! We will still live to see them say: there is no difference between man and animal, man is also only an animal; there is nothing but animals!” The cardinal says that man is the crown of creation, the center of the universe, and therefore the Earth is also the center. Clavius, meanwhile, confirms Galileo's correctness. One of the monks reports this in a whisper. On March 5, 1616, the Inquisition imposes a ban on the teachings of Copernicus. Cardinals Barberini and Bellarmine try to convince Galileo to abandon his theory. They hint at social significance his discoveries. The Church, Scripture - all this brings meaning to the lives of people, especially the common people, and Galileo questions the stable picture of the world.
The cardinals suggest that Galileo remain within the framework of mathematics and use his observations only for calculations, only as a mathematical hypothesis, a model. No one forbids research, but it is impossible to fully understand. Galileo is not happy with this. The Cardinal-Inquisitor speaks to Virginia, hinting to her about the ambiguity of her father’s position. The palace of the Florentine ambassador in Rome. Galileo talks with a little monk, the same one who, after the meeting of the Collegium, whispered to him the opinion of the papal astronomer. The little monk talks about his parents in Campania. They work with all their might and suffer in poverty. And what will happen to such people when it turns out that the meaning that they saw in their suffering is just a game of theologians, and not the truth? The little monk warns Galileo. But Galileo does not want to agree with this: science will open the eyes of all people. Applied inventions that will improve life and simplify work are meaningless when the common man is ignorant. Galileo increasingly fills his rhetoric with social meaning: liberation from slavery and oppressors. The little monk clearly sympathizes with Galileo, who is leading an almost revolutionary sermon, and in the end is distracted by his books and asks for clarification on something. Galileo ironically exclaims: “An apple from the tree of knowledge! He’s already biting into it.” The monk becomes a student. Galileo was unable to conduct research in his favorite field for 8 years. He and all his students are busy with mechanics. But then he learns that the scientist-Cardinal Barberini became Pope Urban VIII. Galileisnova returns to astronomy. People write to him from all over Europe, asking about sunspots.
He could not deal with them, since it was another “forbidden topic.” It is at this moment that Ludovico appears. He never married Virginia due to the unreliability of his future father-in-law. He flatters Galileo, says that Galileo has finally returned to the bosom of prudent research. He is the one who announces the new Pope. Just at this moment Galileo declares that he is returning to his research. Moreover, they will be told native language, and not in Latin, so that everyone can understand them. Galileo cannot understand how science is related to his daughter, but Ludovico is an aristocrat and cannot marry the daughter of a heretic. Galileo doesn't care. Over the next decade, Galileo's teachings spread widely among the people.
Pamphleteers and street singers pick up new ideas. On the carnival night of 1632, in many cities, astronomical themes are used in the design of carnival processions of many guilds. People sing ditties in which they ridicule the church, the old order, including social ones. Galileo is hailed as the destroyer of Catholicism, a hero. Tensions are rising. 1633 Galileo and his daughter are waiting to be received by the Grand Duke. Due to intense work, Galileo loses his sight. Virginia warns her father against the machinations of the Inquisition. Vanni, a big businessman, arrives. He says that Europe has long had a different order, that all the merchants are on the side of Galileo and against the church. He warns Galileo: the duchess is his friend. Vanni invites Galileo to hide. But Galileo is against it: he loves comfort too much. Cosimo really does not help Galileo. Galileo tells his daughter that he has already prepared an escape.
But just at this moment they are invited into a carriage and taken to Rome. The Pope and the Cardinal Inquisitor discuss the fate of Galileo. The cardinal demands the most stringent measures.
He talks about social tension. The Pope is categorically against it, he defends Galileo.
However, the Pope does not understand how Galileo's navigation charts can be used if they are based on heresy. But the cardinal reports that more and more sailors are demanding star maps Galilee. The Pope finally agrees with the cardinal, but orders only to intimidate Galileo. The trial against Galileo is over. He changed almost beyond recognition during the process.
The students retreat from him. Galileo is sick, he sees very poorly. On June 22, 1633, Galileo Galilei renounces his doctrine of the rotation of the Earth at the request of the Inquisition. Andrea is outraged by his teacher’s apostasy. A fragment from Galileo’s book “Dicorsi” is read behind the stage. In an allegorical form, it is said that the price for great discoveries is great: “Isn’t it clear that a horse, falling from a height of three or four cubits, can break its legs, while for a dog it is completely harmless, and a cat falls from a height of three or four cubits without any damage?” eight or ten cubits, a dragonfly from the top of a tower, and an ant could even be from the moon.” From 1633 to 1642, Galileo Galilei lived in a country house near Florence, remaining a prisoner of the Inquisition until his death. Virginia, convinced by the cardinals, considers Galileo’s fate happy. She takes care of her father, who is almost blind. Galileo parses some quotes from scripture, which are sent to him from the Church. Virginia writes, not noticing the irony in her father's answers. They are under surveillance. Andrea arrives. He leaves for Holland. He came only because other scientists asked him to find out how Galileo was doing. But Galileo unobtrusively opens Andrea's eyes.
Galileo saved himself for science. All this time he wrote his “Discorsi” at night. Andrea repents of her attitude towards the teacher. Galileo gives him the scrolls and admonishes Andrea, and with him all science. Galileo says that he is unhappy with himself. He betrayed science by alienating knowledge from humanity. Science for science's sake is empty and even dangerous. The end does not justify the means, as he previously believed. People come first, and knowledge, civilization, and culture are secondary. “I believe that the only purpose of science is to make the difficult human existence easier. And if scientists, intimidated by selfish rulers, are content to accumulate knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself, then science may become crippled and your new machines will only bring new hardships. In time you will probably be able to discover everything that can be discovered, but your advance in science will only be a distance from humanity. And the gulf between you and humanity may be so vast that one day your triumphant cry of a new discovery will be met with a universal cry of horror.” In 1537, Andrea leaves Italy. At the border they inspect him, but inattentively: the border guards are too lazy to look through all the books. During the inspection, boys playing nearby are discussing some local witch. They ask Andrea if it is possible to fly through the air. They see Andrea's chest, which the border guards did not notice, and inform them. There are still books there, but the border guards let him through. Already from abroad, Andrea shouts to the boys: “You can’t fly through the air on a stick. To do this, it would be necessary to at least attach a machine to it. But such a machine does not exist yet. Maybe it will never exist, because man is too heavy. But, of course, this cannot be known. And we still know very little.
We have everything ahead!”
Brecht Berthold
Life of Galileo
Bertolt Brecht
Life of Galileo
In collaboration with M. Steffin
Translation by L. Kopelev
CHARACTERS
Galileo Galilei.
Andrea Sarti.
Mrs. Sarti, Galileo's housekeeper, Andrea's mother.
Ludovico Marsili, a rich young man.
Priuli, curator of the University of Padua.
Sagredo, friend of Galileo.
Virginia, daughter of Galileo.
Federzoni, lens grinder, assistant to Galileo.
Advisors.
Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Duke of Florence.
Marshal of the yard.
Mathematician.
An elderly court lady.
Young court lady.
The Grand Duke's footman.
Two nuns.
Two soldiers.
Fat prelate.
Two scientists.
Two monks.
Two astronomers.
A very skinny monk.
A very old cardinal.
Father Christopher Clavius, astronomer.
Little monk
Cardinal Inquisitor.
Cardinal Barberini - also known as Pope Urban VIII.
Cardinal Bellarmine.
Two monks, scribes.
Two young ladies.
Filippo Mucius, scientist.
Gaffone, rector of the University of Pisa.
Street singer and his wife
Vanni, owner of the foundry.
Official.
High-ranking official.
A certain subject.
Peasant.
Border guard.
Men, women, children.
Galileo Galilei, a mathematics teacher in Padua, wants to prove it right
new teachings of Copernicus on the structure of the universe
In the year one thousand six hundred and nine
Light of true knowledge
Poured out on people
From the city of Padua, from a humble hut,
Calculated by Galileo Galilei,
That the Earth moves, but the Sun is motionless.
Galileo's poor workroom in Padua. Morning. Andrea's boy, son
the housekeeper brings Galileo a glass of milk and a bun.
Galileo (washes his face; naked to the waist, snorts, cheerful). Place the milk on the table, but don’t touch a single book there.
Andrey. Mother says that we need to pay the milkman, otherwise he will soon describe a circle around our house, Mr. Galileo.
Galileo. You need to say: “describe a circle,” Andrea.
Andrea. As you please. If we don't pay, he will draw a circle around us, Mr. Galileo.
Galileo. But the bailiff, Mr. Cambione, comes straight to us and at the same time chooses... what distance does he choose between two points?
Andrea (smirking). The shortest.
Galileo. Fine! I have something for you. Look there, behind the star tables.
Andrea (pulls out a large wooden model of the solar system from behind the tables. Ptolemy). What it is?
Galileo. This is an astrolabe - a thing that depicts how planets and stars move around the Earth. That's what they thought in the old days.
Andrea. What do you mean - they thought so?
Galileo. Let's explore this. First of all, describe what you see.
Andrea. There is a small ball in the middle...
Galileo. This is Earth.
Andrea. And around him, one above the other, are rings.
Galileo. How many are there?
Andrea. Eight.
Galileo. These are crystal spheres.
Andrea. Balls are attached to these rings.
Galileo. These are planets and stars.
Andrea. There are stripes, and words are written on them.
Galileo. What words?
Andrea. Star names.
Galileo. For example?
Andrea. The lowest ball is the Moon, as it is written here. And above it is the Sun.
Galileo. Now move the Sun.
Andrea (spinning the rings). It turns out beautifully. Only now... We are so bottled up.
Galileo (wiping himself off). Yes, and I felt the same way when I first saw this thing. Some people feel it. (Throws a towel to Andrea and exposes his back for him to dry.) Walls, and rings, and immobility! For two thousand years in a row, people believed that the Sun and all celestial bodies revolve around our Earth. The Pope, cardinals, princes, scientists, captains, merchants, fishmongers and schoolchildren believed that they were sitting motionless in this crystal ball. But now we're getting out of it, Andrea. Because the old times have passed and a new time has come. For a hundred years now, humanity seems to be waiting for something.
The cities are crowded and our heads are crowded. There are superstitions, and there is the plague. But now they say: there is, but it won’t be, it won’t remain. Because everything moves, my friend.
I like to think it all started with ships. Since time immemorial, ships have been crawling along the coasts, but suddenly they left the shores and went out into the open sea. On our old continent a rumor arose: there are new continents somewhere. And since our ships reach them, on all continents, laughing, they say that the great formidable ocean is only a small body of water. A great task has arisen; people want to understand the reasons for everything that exists in the world. Why does a stone, if released from your hands, fall, but if tossed, it rises? Every day brings something new. Even centenarians demand that young men shout in their ears about new discoveries.
Much has already been discovered, but much more remains that can still be discovered. So there is something for new generations too.
As a young man in Siena, I saw how two builders changed the ancient, thousand-year-old method of moving granite blocks; after a five-minute argument, they agreed and began to use a new, more expedient device for the ropes. There I realized then that the old times had passed, that a new time was coming. Soon humanity will fully explore its home, the planet on which it lives. What is written in old books is no longer enough.
And where faith nested for thousands of years, doubt now nests. Everyone says: yes, it’s written in the books, but let us see for ourselves. The most venerable truths are now treated lightly; they doubt something they have never doubted before.
And this created such a draft that it lifted even the gold-embroidered hems of princes’ and prelates’ clothes. And their legs become visible, fat or skinny, but the same as ours. And the skies, it turns out, are empty. Therefore, there is a cheerful laugh.
But the waters of the Earth are moving the shafts of new spinning mills, in shipyards, in rope and sailing workshops, hundreds of hands are working in a new way.
I foresee that in our lifetime astronomy will be talked about in the markets. Even the sons of fishmongers will go to school. And the people of our cities, greedy for everything new, will like the fact that new astronomy also made the Earth move. Until now, we have always been confident that celestial bodies are fixed on a crystalline vault and therefore do not fall. And now we have plucked up courage and allow them to float freely in space, nothing holds them back, and they all move along the great paths just like our ships. Nothing stops them from moving fast.
And the Earth rolls merrily around the Sun, and fishmongers, merchants, princes and cardinals, and even the Pope himself roll along with her.
The universe suddenly lost its center and immediately gained countless centers. So now any point can be considered a center, any and none. Because the world turns out to be very spacious.
Our ships sail far, far away, our planets and constellations move in boundless space, even in chess now rooks can move in new space through all squares. What did the poet say? "Oh dawn of great beginnings..."
"O dawn of great beginnings!
Oh the breath of the wind that blows
From the newly opened shores!"
But drink the milk, because soon someone will come again.
Galileo. Did you understand well what I told you yesterday?
Andrea. About what? About this, what’s his name, Kipernik, who has everything going on?
Galileo. Yes.
Andrea. No, I don't understand. And how can I understand? This is very difficult, and I will only be eleven in October.
Galileo. I just want you to understand this too. So that everyone understands. That's why I work and buy expensive books instead of paying the milkman.
Andrea. But I myself see that the Sun is here in the evening and there in the morning. How can it stand still? No way!
Galileo. You see? What do you see? You don't see anything. You're just staring. And staring does not mean seeing. (Places an iron washbasin in the middle of the room.) Let it be the Sun. Sit down.
Andrea sits down on a chair, Galileo stands behind him.
Where is the Sun: on the right or on the left?
Andrea. Left.
Galileo. And when will it be on the right?
Andrea. When you move it to the right, of course!
Galileo. No. Not only that. (He lifts Andrea along with the chair and turns it 180o.) Where is the Sun now?
Andrea. On right.
Galileo. Did it move?
Andrea. No.
Galileo. What was moving?
Andrea. I was moving.
Galileo (yelling). Nonsense! Fool! The chair was moving!
Characters
Galileo Galilei.
Andrea Sarti.
Mrs. Sarti is Galileo's housekeeper and Andrea's mother.
Ludovico Marsili is a rich young man.
Priuli is a curator at the University of Padua.
Sagredo is Galileo's friend.
Virginia is the daughter of Galileo.
Cosimo de' Medici - Grand Duke of Florence.
Father Christopher Clavius - astronomer.
Theologian, Philosopher, Mathematician, etc.
Galileo demonstrates the Copernican model of the solar system to the boy Andrea Sarti, a future student, using simple examples. Galileo says that the time of new knowledge is coming, the time of revision of all previous truths and the birth of new ones.
The Ptolemaic system viewed the earth as a fixed, reliable support. Now everything is not so, it turns out that there are no supports - everything is moving.
The boy does not immediately believe Galileo, because he adheres to a naive picture of the world (after all, the earth is flat, not round). However, Andrea repeats the “heresy” at school as a joke. His mother, Galileo's housekeeper, Mrs. Sarti, is unhappy with this. She was surprised when she learned that Galileo actually shared these ideas (she considered them her son's inventions). But she is more interested in the fact that Galileo does not pay the milkman, that they are in debt.
Galileo proves to Andrea that his view is naive. The earth can be mobile, and we can still remain on our feet (sticks a sliver of wood into an apple, spins it and says that the top of the sliver is always higher than its bottom, no matter how you turn the apple). Galileo discusses what is new in science. He compares explorers to sailors: previously they only walked along the coasts, now they send ships to the open sea.
N.B. The image of ships leaving for the open sea, as a symbol of knowledge, is enduring and will continue to be encountered.
Andrea says that the young rich Ludovico Marsili wants to come to Galileo to study. Galileo sees that for Ludovico science is just a fashionable hobby. Ludovico says that science offers many wonders. He saw in Holland a certain device in which there were 2 lenses: biconcave and biconvex. To Ludovico's surprise, this device magnifies objects. Galileo sends Ludovico away, while he himself thinks about something.
Curator Priuli comes from the university. Galileo wants a raise in salary. But the Curator says that the mathematics Galileo teaches is just a pastime for those who fund it. We must be happy with what we have. The curator and Galileo argue: The curator says that in Venice science is not persecuted by the Inquisition (Giordano Bruno was extradited as not a Venetian), there is an opportunity to create freely, but in Florence and generally throughout Europe they pay more, but they persecute.
Galileo says that without money science cannot develop either, and that there is little good in such freedom. The curator says that if Galileo had invented something, he would probably have received a bonus. He remembers various useful things that Galileo came up with.
Galileo is working on a telescope. He talks to Andrea. He is already delighted with Galileo’s discovery, but the scientist warns the boy: this is only a hypothesis, no one can test it yet. Galileo shows the pipe to the boy and says: “This will bring us five hundred scudi.”
A presentation of the telescope is taking place. Everyone is delighted. Galileo receives a salary increase. But he is lost in his thoughts.
Any scientific discovery has a “double” meaning. For the uninitiated, this is just a telescope, a practical benefit. Ludovico had already begun to understand that Galileo had simply fooled everyone: such pipes were already being sold throughout Europe. But only Galileo himself realized that he had come up with a completely new use for this pipe. And from his scam he simply earned money for research. Indeed, there is a practical benefit - but not one that the city rulers and the military enjoy.
January 10, 1610 Galileo and Sagredo observe the Moon. They see the relief, they see that the Moon does not emit light. Galileo says that the Moon is to the Earth what the Earth is to the Moon. This contradicts Aristotle’s harmonious hierarchical system of celestial spheres. “Today humanity records: heaven is abolished.” Sagredo is scary: Giordano Bruno was burned for this.
The Curator comes and swears that Galileo disgraced him in the story with the trumpet. Galileo says he won time and money for new research. The end justifies the means - Galileo's main motto. His discovery of new celestial mechanics will help create navigational charts of the starry sky for sailors, and this will greatly help Venice. The curator doesn't want to listen to anything else.
Galileo and Sagredo observe the moons of Jupiter. They are convinced that 4 satellites are moving around Jupiter and conclude that the crystalline sphere to which Jupiter is attached does not exist. All this confirms the Copernican hypothesis. Galileo is delighted. He wants to tell people about the new truth. Sagredo warns him: people won't understand. But Galileo believes that the property of truth is simplicity and clarity.
Virginia comes in the morning. Galileo had already composed a letter to the Duke of Florence - Cosimo de' Medici. He names the moons of Jupiter after the Medici.
Galileo and Andrea Sarti move to Florence and settle in the Medici Palace. Duke Cosimo is the same age as Andrea. Andrea shows Cosimo the Copernican model of the solar system; Cosimo prefers the Ptolemaic model. They fight, the Ptolemaic model breaks down. At this moment, Galileo, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and Cosimo’s retinue enter. The Mathematician and the Philosopher do not want to make observations before they have discussed whether the phenomena that Galileo speaks of are in principle possible. They contradict Aristotle.
Brecht ironically shows the stereotyped scholastic thinking of professors through their speech. The Mathematician and the Philosopher remain on their own. Galileo did not achieve his goal. His observations are sent for verification to the most important astronomer of the Vatican, Christopher Clavius.
There is a plague in Florence, but Galileo continues his research. Galileo does not want to leave his notes and books, he remains. Mrs. Sarti stays with him.
The neighborhoods are cordoned off. Food and water are served to Galileo on poles. Mrs. Sarti falls ill and is taken away. She will die later. Andrea returns - he jumped off the carriage to stay with Galileo. Galileo sympathizes with the boy, he is even tormented by his conscience (if he had left, then Andrea’s mother would have survived). Galileo continues to work.
1616 The Collegium Romanum, a Vatican research institute, confirms Galileo's discovery.
While they await Clavius's decision, the monks discuss the dire consequences if the Copernican system is proven. One of them says: “And now, in their opinion, the Earth is a star. There is nothing but stars! We will still live to see them say: there is no difference between man and animal, man is also only an animal; there is nothing but animals!”
The cardinal says that man is the crown of creation, the center of the universe, and therefore the Earth is also the center. Clavius, meanwhile, confirms Galileo's correctness. One of the monks reports this in a whisper.
Cardinals Barberini and Bellarmine try to convince Galileo to abandon his theory. They hint at the social significance of his discoveries. The Church, Scripture - all this brings meaning to the lives of people, especially the common people, and Galileo questions the stable picture of the world. The cardinals suggest that Galileo remain within the framework of mathematics and use his observations only for calculations, only as a mathematical hypothesis, a model. No one forbids research, but it is impossible to fully understand. Galileo is not happy with this.
The Cardinal-Inquisitor speaks to Virginia, hinting to her about the ambiguity of her father's position.
Palace of the Florentine Ambassador in Rome. Galileo talks with the little monk, the same one who, after the meeting of the Collegium, whispered to him the opinion of the papal astronomer.
The little monk talks about his parents in Campania. They work with all their might and suffer in poverty. And what will happen to such people when it turns out that the meaning that they saw in their suffering is just a game of theologians, and not the truth? The little monk warns Galileo. But Galileo does not want to agree with this: science will open the eyes of all people. Applied inventions that will improve life and simplify work are meaningless when the common man is ignorant.
Galileo increasingly fills his rhetoric with social meaning: liberation from slavery and oppressors. The little monk clearly sympathizes with Galileo, who is leading an almost revolutionary sermon, and in the end is distracted by his books and asks for clarification on something. Galileo ironically exclaims: “An apple from the tree of knowledge! He’s already biting into it.” The monk becomes a disciple.
Galileo was unable to conduct research in his favorite field for 8 years. He and all his students are busy with mechanics. But then he learns that the scientist-Cardinal Barberini became Pope Urban VIII. Galileo returns to astronomy again. People write to him from all over Europe asking about sunspots. He could not deal with them, since it was another “forbidden topic.”
It is at this moment that Ludovico appears. He never married Virginia due to the unreliability of his future father-in-law. He flatters Galileo, says that Galileo has finally returned to the bosom of prudent research. He is the one who announces the new Pope. Just at this moment, Galileo declares that he is returning to his research. Moreover, he will conduct them in his native language, and not in Latin, so that everyone can understand them. Galileo cannot understand how science is related to his daughter, but Ludovico is an aristocrat and cannot marry the daughter of a heretic. Galileo doesn't care.
Over the next decade, Galileo's teachings spread widely among the people. Pamphleteers and street singers pick up new ideas. On the Carnival night of 1632, many cities used astronomical themes in the decoration of carnival processions of many guilds.
People sing ditties that ridicule the church and the old order, including social ones. Galileo is hailed as the destroyer of Catholicism, a hero. Tensions are rising.
1633 Galileo and his daughter are waiting to be received by the Grand Duke. Due to intense work, Galileo loses his sight. Virginia warns her father against the machinations of the Inquisition. Vanni, a big businessman, arrives. He says that Europe has long had a different order, that all the merchants are on the side of Galileo and against the church. He warns Galileo: the Duke is not his friend. Vanni invites Galileo to hide. But Galileo is against it: he loves comfort too much.
Cosimo really doesn't help Galileo. Galileo tells his daughter that he has already prepared an escape. But just at this moment they are invited into a carriage and taken to Rome.
The Pope and the Cardinal Inquisitor discuss Galileo's fate. The cardinal demands the most stringent measures. He talks about social tension. The Pope is categorically against it, he defends Galileo. However, the Pope does not understand how Galileo's navigation charts can be used if they are based on heresy. But the cardinal reports that more and more sailors are demanding Galileo's star charts. The Pope finally agrees with the cardinal, but only orders to intimidate Galileo.
The trial against Galileo is over. He changed almost beyond recognition during the process. The students retreat from him. Galileo is sick, he sees very poorly.
On June 22, 1633, Galileo Galilei renounces his doctrine of the rotation of the Earth at the request of the Inquisition. Andrea is outraged by his teacher's defection.
A fragment from Galileo's book “Dicorsi” is read behind the stage. In an allegorical form, it is said that the price for great discoveries is great: “Isn’t it clear that a horse, falling from a height of three or four cubits, can break its legs, while for a dog it is completely harmless, and a cat falls without any damage?” from a height of eight or ten cubits, a dragonfly from the top of a tower, and an ant could even be from the moon.”
From 1633 to 1642, Galileo Galilei lived in a country house near Florence, remaining a prisoner of the Inquisition until his death.
Virginia, convinced by the cardinals, considers Galileo's fate a happy one. She takes care of her father, who is almost blind. Galileo is analyzing some quotes from the Holy Scriptures that were sent to him from the Church. Virginia writes, not noticing the irony in her father's answers. They are under surveillance.
Andrea arrives. He leaves for Holland. He came only because other scientists asked him to find out how Galileo was doing. But Galileo unobtrusively opens Andrea's eyes. Galileo saved himself for science. All this time he wrote his “Discorsi” at night. Andrea repents of her attitude towards the teacher. Galileo gives him the scrolls and admonishes Andrea, and with him all science.
Galileo says that he is unhappy with himself. He betrayed science by alienating knowledge from humanity. Science for science's sake is empty and even dangerous. The end does not justify the means, as he previously believed. People come first, and knowledge, civilization, and culture are secondary.
“I believe that the only purpose of science is to make the difficult human existence easier. And if scientists, intimidated by selfish rulers, are content to accumulate knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself, then science may become crippled and your new machines will only bring new hardships. In time you will probably be able to discover everything that can be discovered, but your advance in science will only be a distance from humanity. And the gulf between you and humanity may be so great that one day your triumphant cry for a new discovery will be met with a universal cry of horror.”
In 1537 Andrea leaves Italy. At the border they inspect him, but inattentively: the border guards are too lazy to look through all the books. During the inspection, boys playing nearby are discussing some local witch. They ask Andrea if it is possible to fly through the air. They see Andrea's chest, which the border guards did not notice, and inform them.
There are still books there, but the border guards let him through. Already from abroad, Andrea shouts to the boys: “You can’t fly through the air on a stick. To do this, it would be necessary to at least attach a machine to it. But such a machine does not exist yet. Maybe it will never exist, because the person is too heavy. But, of course, this cannot be known. And we still know very little. We have everything ahead!”