Maurice Finocchiaro (Philosophy) has just published his fourteenth book, The Trial of Galileo: Essential Documents (Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 2014). It is a collection of the most important writings leading to the 1633 Inquisition's condemnation of Galileo, who was suspected of heresy for defending Copernicus's hypothesis of the earth's motion and denying the scientific authority of Scripture. The documents are translated from Italian and Latin and are accompanied by an introduction and other critical apparatus designed to guide readers to learn the basic facts and arrive at their own conclusions. This volume draws upon Finocchiaro's previous, more erudite books published by the University of California Press, to provide a shorter, cheaper, and more user-friendly book that still contains the essentials.
