The “Scientific Revolution” of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was a cumulative process that fundamentally transformed the understanding of nature, man, and the cosmos. The early modern period saw dramatic changes in thinking about the natural world: from the rise of experimental methods and the development of new techniques for observing and describing natural objects, to the replacement of a geocentric view of the universe with the heliocentric theory. In this course we will use scientific and literary texts to understand how scientific culture evolved in Italy, from the early humanists to the Renaissance alchemist/empiricists and collectors of natural “curiosities.” Our study will culminate in an examination of the work of Galileo and a consideration of his 1633 trial by the Inquisition.