Galileo, tutor and theorist, adopts emerging telescope technology in response to a challenge from a new student and discovers conclusive evidence that the earth is not the center of the universe. Science is a threat and enlightenment is a luxury in a repressive society dominated by an uneasy combination of aristocracy and clergy already weakened by the Plague and the Reformation. Faced with death at the hands of the Inquisition or recantation to a hypocritical but all-powerful Papacy, Galileo must choose between his own life and his insatiable scientific curiosity, for which he has abandoned his family, friends, and money.