I

Galileo shows the boy Andrea Sarti, the son of his housekeeper and future student, using simple examples of the Copernican model of the solar system. Galileo says that the time has come for new knowledge, a time for revising all the old truths and the birth of new ones.

The Ptolemaic system considered the earth an immovable, reliable support. Now everything is wrong, it turns out that there are no supports - everything is moving.

The boy does not immediately believe Galileo, because he adheres to a naive picture of the world (after all, the earth is flat, not round). Nevertheless, Andrea repeats “heresy” at school for fun. His mother, Mrs. Sarti, the housekeeper of Galileo, is dissatisfied with this. She is surprised when she finds out that Galileo really shares these ideas (she considered this a figment of her son). But she is more interested in the fact that Galileo does not pay the milkman, that they have debts.

Galileo proves Andrea that his eyes are naive. The earth can be mobile, and we can stay on our feet. As an example, he sticks a chip in an apple, twists it and says that the top of the chip is always above its bottom, no matter how you turn the apple. Galileo discusses new in science. He compares the researchers with the sailors: they used to go only along the coasts, now they send ships to the open sea.

Andrea says that a rich young man, Ludovico Marsili, wants to come to Galileo to study. Galileo sees that for Ludovico science is only a fashionable hobby. Ludovico says that science offers many wonders. He saw in Holland a device in which there are 2 lenses: biconcave and biconvex. To the surprise of Ludovico, this device enlarges objects. Galileo sends Ludovico, but he thinks about something.

Priuli arrives, curator of the University of Padua. Galileo wants a salary supplement. But the curator says that the mathematics that Galileo teaches are just fun for those who finance her. We must be glad that there is. Priuli and Galileo argue: the curator says that the Inquisition does not pursue science in Venice (Giordano Bruno was given out as non-Venetians), it is possible to create freely, but in Florence and generally throughout Europe they pay more, but they persecute. Galileo says that science cannot develop without money, and that there is little good in such freedom. Priuli objects that if Galileo invented anything, he would surely have received a premium. He recalls various useful things that Galileo invented.

Galileo works on a telescope. He is talking to Andrea. He is already delighted with the discovery of Galileo, but the scientist warns the boy: this is only a hypothesis, no one can check yet. Galileo shows the pipe to the boy, and says: "This will bring us five hundred scudey."

II

Galileo shows the public his new invention - a spyglass. Everyone is thrilled. Galileo receives an increase in salary. But he is absorbed in his thoughts.

Any scientific discovery has a “double” meaning. For the uninitiated, this is just a telescope, a practical use. Ludovico had already begun to realize that Galileo had simply pouted everyone: such pipes were already sold all over Europe. But only Galileo himself realized that he had come up with a completely new application for this pipe. And on his scam, he just made money for research. Indeed, the practical benefit - but not the one that the rulers of the city and the military rejoice in.

III

January 10, 1610 Galileo with his friend Sagredo observe the moon. They see the relief, see that the moon does not emit light. Galileo says that the Moon for the Earth is the same as the Earth for the Moon. This contradicts the harmonious hierarchical system of the celestial spheres of Aristotle. "Today, humanity enters in the annals: the sky is abolished." Sagredo is scary: Giordano Bruno was burned for it.

Curator Priuli arrives, swears that Galileo dishonored him in the story of the trumpet. Galileo says he won time and money for new research. The end justifies the means - the main motto of Galileo. His discovery of new celestial mechanics will help to draw up navigational maps of the starry sky for sailors, and this will greatly help Venice. The curator does not want to listen to anything else.

Galileo and Sagredo observe the moons of Jupiter. They make sure that 4 satellites move around Jupiter and conclude that the crystalline sphere to which Jupiter is attached does not exist. All this confirms the Copernican hypothesis. Galileo is delighted. He wants to tell people about the new truth. Sagredo warns him: people will not understand. But Galileo believes that the property of truth is simplicity and comprehensibility.

In the morning comes the daughter of Galileo Virginia. Galileo has already compiled a letter to the Grand Duke of Florence - Cosimo de Medici. He calls the moons of Jupiter the names of the Medici.

IV

Galileo and Andrea Sarti move to Florence and settle in the Medici Palace. The Duke of Cosimo is the same age as Andrea. Andrea shows Cosimo the Copernican model of the solar system; Cosimo prefers Ptolemaic. They are fighting, the Ptolemaic model is breaking. At this moment, Galileo, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Cosimo retinue enter. The mathematician and philosopher do not want to make observations before they discuss whether the phenomena that Galileo speaks of are possible in principle. They contradict Aristotle. The mathematician and philosopher remain unconvinced. Galileo did not achieve his goal. His observations are sent for verification to the most important astronomer of the Vatican - Peter Christopher Clavius.

V

There is a plague in Florence, but Galileo continues his research. Galileo does not want to leave his notes and books, he remains. Mrs. Sarti, the housekeeper, remains with him.

Quarters cordon off. Food and water served Galileo on poles. Mrs. Sarti gets sick, they take her away. Soon she is dying. Andrea returns - he jumped from the carriage to stay with Galileo. Galileo sympathizes with the boy, he is even tormented by conscience, because if he had left, then Andrea's mother would have survived. Galileo continues to work.

VI

1616 year. The Collegium Romanum, the Vatican's research institute, confirms the discovery of Galileo.

While waiting for the decision of Pater Clavius, the monks are discussing the terrible consequences if the Copernican system is proved. One of them says: “And now, in their opinion, the Earth is a star. There is nothing but stars! We will live to see what they say: there is no difference between man and animal, man is also only an animal; there is nothing but animals! ”

The Cardinal says that man is the crown of creation, the center of the universe, and therefore the Earth is also the center. Pater Clavius, meanwhile, confirms the correctness of Galileo. This is whispered by one of the monks.

VII

March 5, 1616 the Inquisition imposes a ban on the teachings of Copernicus.

Cardinals Barberini and Bellarmine are trying to convince Galileo to abandon his theory. They hint at the social significance of his discoveries. The Church, the Scriptures - all this makes sense in the life of people, especially the common people, and Galileo questions the solid picture of the world. Cardinals offer Galileo to remain within the framework of mathematics and use their observations only for calculations, only as a mathematical hypothesis, model. Nobody forbids to investigate, but it is impossible to know to the end. Galileo is not satisfied.

The Cardinal Inquisitor speaks with Virginia, alluding to her father’s ambiguity.

VIII

Palace of the Florentine Ambassador in Rome. Galileo talks with a little monk, who, after a meeting of the Collegium, whispered to him the opinion of a papal astronomer.

The little monk talks about his parents in Campagna. They work with all their might, suffer in poverty. And what will happen to such people when it turns out that the meaning that they saw in their suffering is just a game of theologians, and not the truth? The little monk warns Galileo. But Galileo does not want to agree with this. He believes that science will open the eyes of all people. Applied inventions that will improve life, simplify work - are meaningless when a simple person is ignorant.

Galileo more and more fills his rhetoric with social meaning: liberation from slavery, oppressors. The little monk clearly sympathizes with Galileo, who leads an almost revolutionary sermon, and in the end is distracted by his books, asks for clarification. Galileo exclaims ironically: “An apple from the tree of knowledge! He is already biting into it. " The monk becomes a student.

IX

Galileo for 8 years can not conduct research in his favorite field. He and all his students are engaged in mechanics. But then he learns that the scientist-Cardinal Barberini became Pope Urban VIII. Galileo returns to astronomy again. They write to him from all over Europe asking about sunspots. He cannot deal with them, since this is another “forbidden topic”.

At this moment, Ludovico appears. He never married Virginia due to the unreliability of the future father-in-law. He flatters Galileo, says that Galileo has finally returned to the bosom of prudent research. It is he who announces the new Pope. Just at this moment, Galileo declares that he is returning to his research. And he will lead them in his native language, and not in Latin, so that everyone understands them. Galileo cannot understand how science is connected with his daughter, but Ludovico is an aristocrat and cannot marry the daughter of a heretic. Galileo doesn’t care.

X

Over the next decade, the teachings of Galileo are widely distributed among the people. Pamphletists and street singers pick up new ideas. On carnival night of 1632, astronomical themes are used in the design of carnival processions of many guilds in many cities.

People sing ditties in which they mock the church, the old orders, including social ones. Galileo is proclaimed the destroyer of Catholicism, a hero. The tension is growing.

Xi

1633 year. Galileo and his daughter are awaiting reception at the Grand Duke. Because of the hard work, Galileo loses his sight. Virginia warns her father against the machinations of the Inquisition. Vanni comes in - a big businessman. He says that Europe has long had different orders, that all merchants are on the side of Galileo and against the church. He warns Galileo: the duke is not his friend. Vanni invites Galileo to hide. But Galileo is against: he loves comfort too much.

Cosimo really does not help Galileo. Galileo tells his daughter that he has already prepared an escape. But just at that moment they were invited to the carriage and taken to Rome.

XII

Dad and Cardinal Inquisitor discuss Galileo’s fate. The cardinal requires the most severe measures. He talks about social tension. Dad strongly opposed, he defends Galileo. However, the Pope does not understand how one can use Galileo's navigational charts if they are based on heresy. But the cardinal reports that more and more sailors are demanding star maps of Galileo. Dad finally agrees with the cardinal, but orders to scare Galileo.

XIII

The trial against Galileo is over. He almost unrecognizably changed during the process. The disciples retreat from him. Galileo is ill; he sees very poorly.

June 22, 1633 Galileo Galilei renounces his teaching on the rotation of the Earth at the request of the Inquisition. Andrea is outraged by the apostasy of his teacher.

Behind the scene, they read a fragment from Galileo’s book “Dicorsi”. The allegorical form says that the price of great discoveries is great: “Is it not clear that a horse falling from a height of three or four cubits can break its legs, while for a dog it is completely harmless, and a cat falls without any damage from a height of eight or ten cubits, a dragonfly from the top of the tower, and an ant could even from the moon. "

XIV

From 1633 to 1642, Galileo Galilei lives in a country house near Florence, until his death, remaining a prisoner of the Inquisition.

Virginia, convinced by the cardinals, considers Galileo's fate to be happy. She is caring for a father who is almost blind. Galileo parses some quotes from the scriptures that are sent to him from the Church. Virginia writes down without noticing the irony in her father's answers. They are under surveillance.

Andrea comes. He is leaving for Holland. He came only because other scientists asked him to find out how Galileo's health is. But Galileo unobtrusively opens Andrea's eyes. Galileo saved himself for science. All this time at night he wrote his Discorsi. Andrea repents of her attitude to the teacher. Galileo gives him the scrolls and admonishes Andrea, and with it all science.

Galileo says he is unhappy with himself. He betrayed science by alienating knowledge from humanity. Science for the sake of science is empty and even dangerous. The end does not justify the means, as he had previously believed. In the first place - a man, and knowledge, civilization, culture - are secondary.

“I believe that the only goal of science is to facilitate a difficult human existence. And if scientists, frightened by self-serving rulers, are content to accumulate knowledge for the sake of knowledge itself, then science can become crippled and your new machines will bring only new burdens. Over time, you will probably be able to discover everything that can be discovered, but your advancement in science will only be a distance from humanity. And the gap between you and humanity can be so huge that one fine day your triumphant cry for a new discovery will be met with a general cry of horror. "

XV

In 1637, Andrea left Italy. They are inspecting him at the border, but inattentively: the border guards are too lazy to review all the books. During the inspection, the boys playing nearby are discussing some local witch. They ask Andrea if it is possible to fly through the air. They see Andrea's chest, which the border guards did not notice, and inform them. There are still books there, but border guards miss it. Already from abroad, Andrea shouts to the boys: “You cannot fly on a stick in the air. To do this, it would be necessary at least to attach a car. But such a machine does not yet exist. Maybe it will never be, because the person is too heavy. But, of course, this cannot be known. And we generally know very little. We have everything ahead! ”