The never-ending Galileo story

In the Service of the Reich: Aspects of Copernicus and Galileo in Nazi Germany’s Historiographical and Political Discourse

“…35 (Thüring 1942, 3f; emphasis in original) Such words once again illustrate the astonishing flexibility Galileo had in ideological and historical discourse in Nazi Germany, where even his achievements in research important to war efforts were praised. This flexibility was not first discovered by historians and politicians in Nazi Germany (Remmert 1998;Segre 1998). But Galileo proved to be an extremely suitable candidate to legitimize a vision of history in the service of National Socialist ideology and politics.…”

Honesty Still Is the Best Policy

“…The dispute on the rights and the wrongs of Galileo’s trial began much later. Its participants violate the principle of freedom of thought, as that principle exonerates Galileo a priori (Segre 1998, 393). To circumvent this obvious criticism, Galileo’s critics claim that in his clash with the Church of Rome, he was scientifically in the wrong—having defied the alleged prohibition on the publication of unverified claims.…”

“… 10 Correcting errors in a Fuller text may count as nitpicking, but there is a limit. Alexandre Koyré, it is now very well known, stressing Galileo’s a priorism, exaggerated in his description of Galileo’s experiments and was amply corrected (see Segre 1998, 405, 414-15). …”

“…Although this was the main point of Koyré, Galileo’s critics usually ignore it. Not all; see, for example, Finocchiaro (2005, 268), Renn et al (2001, 130), and Segre (1998, 407).…”

Defending Copernicus and Galileo

“… See Feyerabend (1975;, and the criticism inFinocchiaro (1980). the penultimate section of the Introduction and Section 12.5 above.54 Benítez (1999, 85-110),Segre (1998). the penultimate section of the Introduction and Section 12.5 above.54 Benítez (1999, 85-110),Segre (1998).…”