Portrait of the Italian philosopher, Giordano Bruno, 1548-1600. Educated at the University of Naples, Bruno entered a Dominican monastery but later left it to speak and write about his radical views: on religion, the motion of the earth, and on astronomy. He had the ability to attract huge audiences. Bruno preached the infinity of space, and the Copernican system. He travelled widely in Europe (lectured at Oxford in 1582), and his scorn for traditional opinions got him in trouble every- where. In Venice, in 1592, he was arrested by the Inquisition and charged with heresy. Refusing to recant during a seven-year trial, Bruno was burned alive at the stake.