Summary
Scene 1. "Galileo Galilei, a teacher of mathematics at Padua, sets out to prove Copernicus's new cosmogony." It is the year 1609, and Galileo Galilei is in the process of proving, "The sun is still, the earth is on the move." The first scene takes place in Galileo's "rather wretched study in Padua." The housekeeper's son, Andrea, brings Galileo some milk and a roll.
Galileo tells him to put the milk on the table and not to touch any of his books, while Andrea tells Galileo that the milkman will make a circle around their house if they don't pay the bill. Galileo quizzes Andrea about physics and astronomy, before showing him an armillary sphere, a "contraption to show how the planets move around the earth, according to our forefathers."
Galileo explains to Andrea that for many years everyone has believed that the earth is stationary and the planets and stars revolve around it, when in actuality, the earth is moving around the sun. Eventually, he posits, "The heavens, it turns out, are empty" and that the news that the earth is moving will affect the marketplace and change the way people think about their place in the world. "The universe has lost its centre overnight, and woken up to find it has countless centres. So that each one can now be seen as the centre, or none at all. Suddenly there is a lot of room," he tells Andrea.
Galileo asks Andrea if he understands what he has told him about Copernicus, and Andrea admits that he has not, as it is complicated, and he is only 10 years old. Galileo tells him, "Getting people to understand it is the reason why I go on working and buying expensive books instead of paying the milkman." Andrea is unconvinced by Galileo's theory, suggesting that they see the sun move everyday. Galileo demonstrates how the earth is actually the entity that is moving by placing Andrea in a chair and moving it.
Mrs. Sarti comes in and asks Galileo what he's doing, skeptical about his teaching methods and his theories. "Only last night he was arguing that the earth goes round the sun," she says, and explains that his parroting of Galileo's theory has led the priests at Andrea's school to come visit her and accuse Andrea of blaspheming. Galileo insists that he and Andrea have made some revolutionary discoveries together.
Andrea asks why he doesn't hang upside down at night if the earth is moving, and Galileo tries to explain it again using an apple and a splinter from a piece of firewood. In the middle of his lesson, Ludovico Marsili, "a rich young man," enters the study. He introduces himself to Galileo and tells him that people in Holland have been talking about Galileo. Ludovico tells him that his mother wants him to try out the sciences, and Galileo tells him it will cost 10 scudi a month. "What are your main interests?" Galileo asks, to which Ludovico replies, "Horses."
Hearing that Ludovico is not very interested in science, Galileo raises his price to 15 scudi. When Andrea exits with the apple, Ludovico tells Galileo about a telescope. When Galileo asks him why he does not pursue horse breeding if he is more interested in horses, Ludovico says, "Mother thinks you can't do without a bit of science. Nobody can drink a glass of wine without science these days, you know." Mrs. Sarti comes in and encourages Galileo to take on Ludovico as a student, and Galileo dismisses Ludovico.
Soon after, the procurator, a legal representative, comes in to discuss Galileo's application for a rise in salary to 1000 scudi. He regretfully informs Galileo that "mathematics...is an unproductive art," and is not as important as philosophy or theology. Galileo complains that he cannot live off his current salary, and that while his discipline is not as important as philosophy, he needs to have a salary that can afford him time to research rather than simply teach.
The procurator tells Galileo that while they cannot pay him as much as Ludovico can, the Republic "does guarantee freedom of research," pointing out that they admit Protestants into their lectures and they saved a Mr. Cremonini from the Inquisition, even though he was proven "to have made irreligious remarks." Galileo suggests that they offered no such protections to another scientist, who was invested in the teachings of Copernicus.
Galileo points out that the Republic gets away with paying teachers less by citing the fact that they protect their own. "You make up for your attitude to the Inquisition by paying lower salaries than anyone," he says, to which the procurator replies, "Every rose has its thorn, Mr. Galilei, and every ruler has his monks." He goes on to tell Galileo that while his ideas are praised abroad, they do not bring in enough economic profit to pay for him. "You made an unfortunate choice of subject, Mr. Galilei," he says.
Galileo suggests that the limits placed on his research have to do with the free market. "Free trading in research, is that it?" he says, and the procurator scolds him for suggesting that this is a bad thing. "Don't underrate trade, Mr. Galilei. Nobody here would stand for the slightest interference with your work or let outsiders make difficulties for you." Galileo, despairingly, cannot help but agree, as procurator asks Galileo to produce more research that might yield economic profit.
At this point, Galileo pleads with the procurator for more money, so that he can follow his hunches more easily. "I am 46 years old and have achieved nothing that satisfies me," he says. The procurator leaves, and Andrea comes back in. When he sees Andrea, Galileo tells the boy not to tell anyone about their ideas. "The big shots won't allow it," he says, explaining that they have to prove Copernicus' hypotheses, but privately. "I'd like to be a physicist too, Mr. Galilei," Andrea says.
Scene 2. "Galileo presents the Venetian Republic with a new invention."
At the great arsenal of Venice, Senators, including the Doge, gather. Among the throngs are Galileo's friend Sagredo and Virginia Galilei, his daughter, who is 15. Galileo presents the telescope to the crowd, reverently. After presenting it, Galileo whispers to Sagredo that the invention is a "waste of time," but Sagredo reminds him that it will make him some money. The procurator makes a speech about the fact that the telescope will now be a lucrative product.
As the group marvels at the telescope, Galileo confides in Sagredo that he turned the telescope towards the moon the previous night and discovered that the moon doesn't generate its own light. A senator calls Galileo over and protests, "That contraption lets you see too much. I'll have to tell my women they can't take baths on the roof any longer." Galileo simply replies, "Know what the Milky Way consists of?" but the senator does not.
Virginia brings Ludovico up to Galileo to congratulate him. Then the Doge, "a fat unassuming man" comes up and congratulates Galileo, before leading him over towards the group of senators.
Analysis
The play begins with Galileo revealing his most famous scientific observation—that the earth rotates around the sun, rather than the other way around—to the housekeeper's son, Andrea. Before we know anything else about the eccentric scientist, he explains his theory to the young boy who brings the milk to his study. He is a passionate and single-minded scientist, laying out his conception of how the universe works in clear and strong terms to the young Andrea.
At the heart of Galileo's scientific discovery is not only a physical or astronomical theory, but a more philosophical theory as well. In the widely accepted understanding of how the universe works, people believe that the planets and the stars revolve around the earth, and, as Andrea puts it, "That's great. But we're so shut in." After Galileo reveals that this is actually false and the earth is moving, he posits a revolutionary idea: that the world is much larger and filled with more possibilities than anyone could have imagined, and that the fact that "everything is in motion" means that mankind's understanding of their place in the universe will shift drastically with this information.
Galileo is making bold and innovative discoveries, yet we learn quickly that he is out of step with his times. His proposition that the earth moves around the sun is considered a blasphemous theory, as it goes against the teachings of the church. Furthermore, as the procurator tells him in response to his application for a salary raise, mathematics is not considered as useful a discipline as theology or philosophy. From a modern reader's perspective, Galileo is brilliant and ahead of his time, but to his contemporaries, he is perceived as out of touch.
Not only is there a general intellectual skepticism about Galileo's area of study; the church actively suppresses Galileo's scientific research by the church. This is not only a religious question, but a social one. Desiring to keep the traditional hierarchies in place, the church discourages anything that would question the current structure of the marketplace, economic system, and social order. As the procurator tells Galileo, many foreign entities have "applauded" his research, but he adds, "...the people who applaud don't pay Padua University what you cost it." The devaluing of Galileo's work as a scientist and researcher is not simply a matter of religion and philosophy versus science, but of the free market and trade versus science. Thus, we see that Galileo is about freedom of research and knowledge versus a corrupt and inequitable economic system.
Bertolt Brecht, as a playwright, was known for his investment in the epic theater movement of the early 20th century, which emphasized an audience's response to events taking place onstage in favor of the traditional attachment to creating a "suspension of disbelief." Brecht was known for prioritizing the function of a play rather than simply its form and content, meaning that he was invested in his plays having a political lens or a rhetorical standpoint, rather than simply representing some kind of naturalistic image of psychological realism.
