Although Galileo Galilei lived and died centuries ago, his story is more relevant to our lives than we might realize. Today we face enormous challenges such as climate change that are disregarded or questioned by those who fear that their implications will damage business profitability. Others posit a false dichotomy between religion and science in order to reject scientific evidence whose implications they fear. Galileo confronted this problem 400 years ago. His discoveries were based on observation and experiment. His telescopes revealed previously unknown planets, moons orbiting other planets, and other discoveries that essentially confirmed the Copernican universe that the Church had rejected as heretical because Church theologians insisted on a literal reading of the Bible. Even St. Augustine in the fifth century maintained that the Bible pertained to the realm of faith, not reason. But when Galileo argued essentially the same position before an ecclesiastical court in Rome, he was forbidden from publishing any more books. Livio's life of Galileo shows us how the great thinker made his discoveries about the heavens and also formulated fundamental laws of physics. As an astrophysicist, Livio brings insight into how Galileo reasoned his way to his conclusions, which we know today were accurate. Along with Newton, Galileo remains one of the two great figures at the dawn of the scientific revolution. He insisted on reaching the widest audience possible, publishing his work in Italian rather than Latin as had been the case until his time, when vernacular languages were rapidly replacing Latin throughout Europe. Galileo believed that every educated person should know science as well as literature. Did Galileo actually say at the end of his trial when he was forced to recant his discoveries, as legend has it, And still it moves, referring to the motion of the earth around the sun? Not likely, says Livio, but Galileo nonetheless remains an inspiration to scientists and those who value open-minded inquiry, which as Livio reminds us, remains threatened even today.

Drawing on the lives of five great scientists, this "scholarly, insightful, and beautifully written book" (Martin Rees, author of From Here to Infinity ) illuminates the path to scientific discovery. Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein all made groundbreaking contributions to their fields--but each also stumbled badly. Darwin's theory of natural selection shouldn't have worked, according to the prevailing beliefs of his time. Lord Kelvin gravely miscalculated the age of the earth. Linus Pauling, the world's premier chemist, constructed an erroneous model for DNA in his haste to beat the competition to publication. Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle dismissed the idea of a "Big Bang" origin to the universe (ironically, the caustic name he gave to this event endured long after his erroneous objections were disproven). And Albert Einstein speculated incorrectly about the forces of the universe--and that speculation opened the door to brilliant conceptual leaps. As Mario Livio luminously explains in this "thoughtful meditation on the course of science itself" ( The New York Times Book Review ), these five scientists expanded our knowledge of life on earth, the evolution of the earth, and the evolution of the universe, despite and because of their errors. "Thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully written" ( The Washington Post ), Brilliant Blunders is a wonderfully insightful examination of the psychology of five fascinating scientists--and the mistakes as well as the achievements that made them famous.