*, 



PREFACE. 



THERE is no name in the annals of science which has 

 been the occasion of so long and fierce a controversy 

 as that of Galileo. The historian, the astronomer, 

 and the theologian have all had a share in it. Some- 

 times there has been a pause in the strife, and the 

 question has been allowed to rest ; but after a while 

 another disputant has rekindled the embers, and the 

 struggle has recommenced, This has been the case 

 within the last few years, some writers of considerable 

 ability having appealed to the history of Galileo 

 in order to give point to opinions that they wished to 

 advance. During all this time, if there has been 

 unfairness on one side, there have been injudicious 

 zeal and inaccuracy on the other. 



These circumstances must form my apology for 

 interfering in a dispute already so prolonged and 

 so envenomed ; and it has appeared to me that I 

 may without presumption hope to amend the errors 



