This episode received criticism accusing the writers of going out of their way to portray the church as opposing science in the segment on Giordano Bruno. The bulk of the segment was devoted to persecution Bruno received for his ideas on the nature of the universe, but the church was almost certainly much more distressed by his teachings on the nature of God and Jesus, which does get passing mention in the episode's depiction of Bruno's trial. He was probably executed more for his theology than his cosmology.
The episode won 3 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera), Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) and Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming.