The Church at the time accepted Aristotle's view that the heavens were made of perfect and unalterable substance called the "quintessence". This new star today known as a "Nova" occurred once again in 1604 during the time Galileo was writing about falling objects to Sarpi. By itself this "Nova" may have signaled a "Nova" approach to how the heavens were viewed and Galileo may have been one of the stars of this era in triggering the explosion of investigation and philosophical teaching known as the Renaissance. Galileo's use of the telescope to view the heavens and the discoveries that followed may have been one of the cataclysm that eventually led to the unraveling of Aristotelian science and in a way of the Roman Catholic Churches influence and domination of scientific teaching. On the other hand the lack of resolution of the Churches role in science set the stage for centuries of conflict between the Catholic Church and scientists over an increasing tide of events. .
This paper will examine Drake Stillman's "Biography of Galileo". It will focus more on how Drake views Galileo, his work and times and how events and the Church played a role in Galileo's science and the developments of the scientific method. In addition, it will detail Drake's viewpoint of Galileo and show how his pugnacious manner made enemies from fellow colleagues and how his incessant drive to reform how science is conducted inevitably came to confront the fundamental tenements of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy. It must be kept in mind that the Roman Catholic Church in Italy throughout this period was on the defense in response to the Protestant threat and in many ways attempted to squelch and extinguish through different means any threat to its authority. The most dangerous sources were the developing ideas and theories throughout Europe and Italy itself that challenged many of the ancient sciences and foundations that had been promulgated by the Church for centuries.