Author(s): Giordano Bruno; Scott Gosnell (Translator)

Science & Natural History

In 1584, while living in the household of Michel de Castelnau, the French Ambassador to the court of Queen Elizabeth of England, Giordano Bruno completed three books of cosmological dialogues: The Ash Wednesday Supper; On Cause, Principle and Unity; and the current volume, On the Infinite, the Universe and the Worlds. Drawing on the work of Lucretius, Nicholas da Cusa, Nicholas Copernicus and others, Bruno developed the theory of an infinitely extensive universe, filled with stars like our sun and planets like our own. Giordano Bruno's heretical ideas and forceful personality led to a turbulent life in which he travelled to most of the great academic and cultural centers of Europe, culminating in his trial and execution by the Roman Inquisition in 1600. Recently, this work and Giordano Bruno were referenced in the new series of Cosmos.