The image of Galileo muttering and yet it moves after his condemnation is a myth that surfaced a century after his death. This episode digs into the letters, Inquisition records and scholarly debates to show that the most infamous trial in the history of science was as much about personality, academic rivalry, amateur theology and papal politics as it was about whether the Earth moves.

The story runs from Galileo's improved 20-power telescope and the discoveries in The Starry Messenger, including the mountains of the Moon, the moons of Jupiter and the decisive phases of Venus, through the feuds that earned him a coalition of enemies his friends nicknamed the Pigeon League. It covers Cardinal Bellarmine's 1616 warning, the missing proof of stellar parallax, and the fateful decision to put Pope Urban VIII's own argument in the mouth of a char ...