Hardships
As a result of his own study, Galileo decided to support Copernicus' view of the solar system. At that time, the Catholic Church was as powerful as the most stringent dictatorship today. Everything that was done or said or thought had to be pre-approved by the Church. The Pope allowed Galileo to write a book on his views. Then one of Galileo's enemies caused Galileo to go before an Inquisition, saying that his discoveries went against the Church's teachings. He spent the rest of his life under house arrest but managed to write another book, which was secretly published in Holland. The Catholic Church would have had him burned if they had found out about this book.