Galileo’s The Dialogue compares Copernicus’s heliocentric theory and Ptolemy’s geocentric theory. Ptolemy believed Earth was the center of the solar system. Copernicus created a model that showed the Sun at the center of the universe. Copernicus explained that Earth, like other planets, revolves around the Sun. Galileo supported Copernicus’s theory. His views upset the Catholic Church, which supported Ptolemy’s theory. Church authorities forced Galileo to recant his statements about Copernicus’s theory. He was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.
The purpose of Galileo was to present the scientific way that the world works, describing why the model presented by the Copernican system which was in opposition to the Church's beliefs. The society did not respond kindly, or at least the church didn't because they accused him of heresy and the book was banned.
