Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson Page B

difference, Galileo, than that the fixed stars generate their light from within, whereas the planets, being opaque, are illuminated from without; that is, to use Bruno’s terms, the former are suns, the latter, moons or earths?
    Galileo groaned aloud. Just the sight of Bruno’s name in the same sentence as his own was enough to churn his stomach.
    Then he came to a passage that made him go chill and hot at the same time. After Kepler’s congratulations for discovering the moons of Jupiter, and his ungrounded assertion that there must be a purpose for these new moons—and a false syllogism stating that, since the Earth’s moon existed for the pleasure of the people on Earth, the moons of Jupiter must exist to please the inhabitants of Jupiter, Kepler concluded that these inhabitants—
    â€”must be very happy to behold this wonderfully varied display. The conclusion is quite clear. Our moon exists for us on the earth, not for the other globes. Those four little moons exist for Jupiter, not for us. Each planet in turn, together with its occupants, is served by its own satellites. From this line of reason we deduce with the highest degree of probability that Jupiter is inhabited
.
    Galileo threw this craziness to the floor with a curse and stalked out into his garden, wondering why his hilarity had so quickly turned to dread. “Kepler is some kind of idiot!” he shouted at Mazzoleni. “His reasoning is completely deranged! Inhabitants of Jupiter? Where the hell did
that
come from?”
    And why was it so disturbing to read it?
    The stranger … the man who had told him about the occhialino that afternoon in Venice … who had appeared after the great demonstration to the Venetian senate, and suggested he take a look at the moon—had he not said something about coming from Kepler? Quick flashes of something more—a blue like twilight—Had the stranger not come knocking at the gate one night some time ago? Had Cartophilus not joined the household soon after? What did all that mean?
    Galileo was not used to having a vague memory of anything. Normallyhe would have said that he remembered basically everything that had ever happened to him, or that he had read or thought. That, in fact, he remembered too much, as quite a bit of what he recalled stuck in his brain like splinters of glass, stealing his sleep. He kept his thoughts busy partly in order not to be stuck by anything too sharp. But in this matter, clarity did not exist. There were blurs, as if he had been sick.
    Cartophilus was picking up Kepler’s book from the floor of the arcade, dusting it off, looking at it curiously. He glanced at Galileo, who glared at him as if he could drag the truth from the old man by look alone. A nameless fear pierced Galileo: “What does this mean!” he shouted at the wizened old man, striding toward him as if to beat him. “What’s going on?”
    Cartophilus shrugged furtively, almost sullenly, and put the book on a side table, closed so that the page Galileo had been reading was lost. Inhabitants of Jupiter!
    â€œWe have to keep working on the move to Florence, sire,” he said. “I’m supposed to be packing the pots.” And he left the arcade and went inside, as if Galileo were not his master and had not just asked a question of him.

G ALILEO’S RETURN TO F LORENCE , as he was now calling his decision, continued to draw fire in Venice and Padua. Priuli was now terming it a breach of contract as well as a personal betrayal, suggesting to the Doge that it would be appropriate to ask for some salary to be returned.
    With the mood turning so hard against him, it was a great comfort to know that Fra Paolo Sarpi would remain as steadfast a friend and supporter as he had always been. Galileo had referred to him as “father and master” in his letters to him for many years. Having Sarpi on his side was important.
    One day, Sarpi was passing