Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems)

The book that led to Galileo's trial

In this book Galileo compared the Earth-centred Ptolemaic and Sun-centred Copernican systems. He wrote in Italian, rather than the Latin of scholars, to reach a wider audience. Galileo clearly favoured the Copernican system, but he misjudged the reception the book would receive from the Catholic Church. He was tried for heresy, forced to recant his ideas, and ended his life under house imprisonment.