In the beginning of Galileo, we are shown a picture of the scientific Galileo, the Galileo of history books, as he tutors Andrea, the child of a friend, regarding the movements of the planets. Andrea brings Galileo a present from the court of Naples which is what Galileo recognizes as "a map of the sky according to the wise men of ancient Greece" (47). Instead of it being a model of the heliocentric solar system that we know exists today, it is a configuration of eight rings representing crystal shells all wrapped around the stationary earth. Even though this may seem odd, all empirical observations point to the earth being a stationary body around which all heavenly bodies orbit, as the conversation between Andrea and Galileo shows us. Andrea points out that, although the map may seem foolish and outdated, it stands to reason that all bodies do, in fact, revolve around the Earth, since the Earth never seems to move. However, in a quick demonstration involving Galileo moving Andrea from one point in the room on a chair to another point, Galileo shows Andrea that, although appearances may make the truth hard to perceive as the truth is well hidden amidst a sea of lies and false observations, through scientific understanding and scientific method, we can tear down any walls of falsehood to reach the ultimate and universal truth. "The millennium of faith had ended, said I, this is the millennium of doubt," (49) Galileo claims with a strong exuberance and fervor for life. So here, in Galileo Galilei, we have our champion of truth and understanding. Or do we?.
Further on in the first scene, we meet Ludovico, the son of a wealthy Campagnese family, who is interested in obtaining lessons in science from Galileo. He begins talking about a telescope device which he has seen in Holland, whereupon Galileo quickly realizes the potential of this device and draws his own sketches of the device.
