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The part of this story that really intrigued me was the Church's view that the sun goes around the Earth. Those who clung to that theory over Galileo's theory had specific reasons for doing so. They wanted very badly to believe that there was an order to the world, that God had a plan for them, that we all have a part to play. The peasants, for instance, needed to believe that there was a reason that they had to work so hard for so little while the rich reaped the benefits. The rich wanted to keep that ordained power over the peasants. Galileo's theory threatened that power. As the Ballad Singer says, "People must keep their place, some down and some on top!"