The aim of The Galilean Library (TGL) is to provide a venue for people interested in the sciences, the arts, literature and the humanities and the possibility of learning more about them in community with others. The site is also an educational resource and hosts a library of essays and interviews aimed at all levels, from beginners wanting to better understand a subject to specialists and academics who seek an intellectual challenge. Members of the community are encouraged to suggest ways to develop the site and aid us in endeavouring to make it known as a helpful resource and a home for open-ended learning. For more detailed information, please refer to the history and philosophy of TGL.

The Galilean Library was inspired by the life of Galileo Galilei, whose ideas, arguments and experiments have influenced fields as diverse as philosophy, theology, history, literature, rhetoric, mechanics and dynamics, and later what would become science and the philosophy of science, all of which are discussed at the site named for him. His experiences have helped illuminate the relationships between history, science, philosophy and religion and remain the subject of study and debate today. His story is told in the Galileo Affair.