“Galileo has been variously described as a cynical opportunist, a patient genius or a lucky engineer, and dies a coward or a modern Socrates.” I agree that he is a patient genius and a lucky engineer, but I do not agree that he is a cynical opportunist, a coward or a modern Socrates. Galileo was a mathematician and natural philosopher, who converted Copernicanism, that the earth revolved around the sun, into philosophy and the true nature of the world. By introducing new knowledge and using science to prove existing theories, he had caused a revolution by changing the way people perceive the world in recent centuries and questioning the authority of the Church, so as to spur more people to confront the Church. interpretations of the Bible and generate more knowledge. He was an opportunist, but not cynical. He believed that his ideas were beneficial to society as a whole, so he didn't think only of himself. He was an opportunist, no doubt, as he decided to take action and published the book The Starry Messenger which recorded his discoveries and observations of the stars and the planet, thus changing the old mentality that the Earth was the only planet with satellites and the structure heliocentric. theory. He also had plans ready in case opportunities arose so he could seize them. For example, when Baberini became Pope and Bellarmine died, he immediately sketched out a debate between the old sciences, which were geocentrism and other beliefs that the Church had, and the new sciences, which were heliocentrism and other things discovered by Galileo. He was Catholic and believed in seeking the truth of the world, so he did not seek for himself, but for the world. Under such circumstances, he was an opportunist... middle of paper... in his beliefs, and continued to write down his findings as Two New Sciences, while under house arrest. He believed that if he admitted his wrongdoings, he could continue working towards his goal of finding the true nature of the world and benefit society in that way, however, if he were killed, he would not have the chance to continue his legacy , and other people in the future may be afraid of going against the Church. Furthermore, if he were truly a coward, he would have dropped out long ago when critics lashed out at him. So Galileo was not a coward. All in all, I believe that Galileo contributed a lot to the entire field of knowledge by expressing his opinions and daring to go against the Church. So, he was a patient genius, a lucky engineer and an opportunist, but he was not a cynic, a coward or died a modern Socrates..