When Galileo Galilei pointed his telescope to the skies, he ushered in a scientificrevolution: the Moon turned out to be covered with mountains and craters, starspopped out of nowhere, and four satellites were found to be orbiting Jupiter. Hisdiscovery of the phases of Venus in 1610 forever shattered the notion that theSun orbited the Earth and transformed humanity's sense of itself and its placein the cosmos. It also contributed to the demise of the idea that knowledge about theworld was to be found in ancient texts or supernatural authority.

Eavesdrop on an enlightening conversation, and make your own discoveries - about Galileo'slife in the Medici court, his love of wine and women, and how he came to spendhis last eight years under house arrest.