an
another, if both are finite. Hence it is unallowable to say that a
hundred thousand is a larger part of an infinite number than two,
although the former is fifty thousand times greater than the latter. If,
therefore, we consider the moving bodies, we must unquestionably regard
the motion of the earth as a much simpler process than that of the
universe; if, furthermore, we direct our attention to so many other
simplifications which may be reached only by this theory, the daily
movement of the earth must appear much more probable than the motion
of the universe without the earth, for, according to Aristotle's just
axiom, 'Frustra fit per plura, quod potest fieri per p auciora' (It is
vain to expend many means where a few are sufficient)."(2)

The work was widely circulated, and it was received with an interest
which bespeaks a wide-spread undercurrent of belief in the Copernican
doctrine. Naturally enough, it attracted immediate attention from the
church authorities. Galileo was summoned to appear at Rome to defend his
conduct. The philosopher, who was now in his seventieth year, pleaded
age and infirmity. He had no desire for personal experience of the
tribunal of the Inquisition; but the mandate was repeated, and Galileo
went to Rome. There, as every one knows, he disavowed any intention to
oppose the teachings of Scripture, and formally renounced the heretical
doctrine of the earth's motion. According to a tale which so long passed
current that every historian must still repeat it though no one now
believes it authentic, Galileo qualified his renunciation by muttering
to himself, "E pur si muove" (It does move, none the less), as he rose
to his feet and retired from the presence of his persecutors. The tale
is one of those fictions which the dramatic sense of humanity is wont
to impose upon history, but, like most such fictions, it expresses the
spirit if not the letter of truth; for just as no one believes that
Galileo's lips uttered the phrase, so no one doubts that the rebellious
words were in his mind.

After his formal renunciation, Galileo was allowed to depart, but with
the injunction that he abstain in future from heretical teaching. The
remaining ten years of his life were devoted chiefly to mechanics, where
his experiments fortunately opposed the Aristotelian rather than the
Hebrew teachings. Galileo's death occurred in 1642, a hundred years
after the death of Copernicus. Kepler had died thirteen years