In the Wake of Galileo

Michael Segre's elegant survey of Galileo takes a close look at the myths that have grown up around this figure of genius. Segre assesses Galileo's place in the scientific, cultural, and political communities of post-Renaissance Italy: What role did scientific experiments really play in Galileo's science? What scientific and philosophical questions did he leave unresolved for his followers to grapple with? How did his followers—scientists like Borelli and Torricelli—deal with Galileo's overshadowing presence after his death? How did Galileo's political and religious confrontations affect the course of science?

Segre's portrait of Galileo and science in the generation that followed him is accessible and stimulating to the general reader, the student, and the professional historian of science alike.

Michael Segre teaches history of science at the Institute for the History of Science at the University of Munich.