I love these kind of stories. Such stories fills me up with an immense sense of appreciation for scientists/philosophers/thinkers from the post-middle-ages.

Also, why I'm absolutely loving the coursera class on astronomy: https://class.coursera.org/introastro-2012-001/.

If you have not peaked into it yet, the way Dr. Plesser explains concepts and bridges them with the historical advances leaves a lasting impression. I wish we had classes like this back in school.