Recommendations
Books Like Life of Galileo
Best books to read after Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht
Readers who love Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht are drawn to its combination of intellectual complexity, the central question of whether Galileo's recantation was cowardice or strategy, and the play's investigation of the relationship between scientific knowledge and political power — they want plays and novels that deal with the ethics of the scientist's relationship to authority, the history of science and censorship, and the Brecht epic theater tradition.
- 1Buy
Mother Courage and Her Children
by Bertolt Brecht
The companion — Mother Courage, the cart, and the Thirty Years War. Companion investigations of the same Brecht question: when is self-preservation heroic and when is it complicity? Galileo's recantation is Mother Courage's denial of her son, transposed into the intellectual sphere
- 2Buy
The Good Woman of Setzuan
by Bertolt Brecht
The companion Brecht parable play — Shen Te who must become bad to survive. Companion Brecht plays about the impossibility of maintaining principle in a bad system: Life of Galileo asks whether the scientific truth-teller can survive under religious censorship; The Good Woman asks whether the good person can survive under capitalist pressure
- 3Buy
Galileo's Daughter
by Dava Sobel
Sobel's companion investigation of Galileo's life from the perspective of his daughter — Sister Maria Celeste's letters. Companion investigations of the same historical figure from opposite formal positions: Brecht's play is the epic-theatrical investigation of the political consequences; Sobel's is the intimate biographical investigation of his personal relationships
- 4Buy
The Name of the Rose
by Umberto Eco
Eco's companion about the relationship between knowledge, power, and the Church — William of Baskerville at the medieval monastery. Companion investigations of the same question: what does the institution of the Church do to knowledge that threatens its authority?
- 5Buy
Copenhagen
by Michael Frayn
Frayn's companion about physics and moral responsibility — the 1941 meeting between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Companion dramatic investigations of the relationship between scientific knowledge and political/moral responsibility; both organized around a meeting at which the scientist's moral choice is made
- 6Buy
The Physicist
by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Dürrenmatt's companion about scientific knowledge and political power — the three physicists in the sanatorium. Companion post-war Central European dramatic investigations: what is the scientist's responsibility when the knowledge they possess could be catastrophically misused?
- 7Buy
Inherit the Wind
by Jerome Lawrence
The companion in the American drama tradition about conflict between scientific truth and religious authority — the Scopes Monkey Trial. Companion dramatic investigations of the conflict between scientific knowledge and religious authority: Brecht's the seventeenth-century version; Lawrence and Lee's the twentieth-century American version
- 8Buy
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
by Bertolt Brecht
The companion Brecht play at the opposite end of his moral spectrum. Companion Brecht plays about principle and its tests: Galileo's recantation is the failure of principle under pressure; Grusha's rescue of the baby is the persistence of principle against all practical considerations
More Life of Galileo Resources
More Reading Recommendations
View all →Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.