With Annotated Translation of His Work by Dorothea Waley Singer
Giordano Bruno was a man with dangerous thoughts. As a monk in a
backward monastery in southern Italy he first fell into disgrace
for studying the works of Erasmus. He renounced his vows, and
his life from there on was one of constant flight and
persecution until he finally perished at the stake in Rome on
February 20, 1600. Giordano Bruno is remembered as one of the
"martyrs of science." He was, in fact, among the early admirers
of Copernicus whom he followed in maintaining that the earth
moved round the sun. But he has an importance far beyond this
for his conception of the universe as infinite, devoid of center
and circumference. Many of his contributions to scientific and
philosophic thought, here treated in simple terms by Mrs.
Singer, anticipated modern physical conceptions. This is the
story of a heroic and fearless but exasperating man. The
ebullience of Bruno's thoughts, his stormy eloquence, and his
strong personality brought him a larg