There is a problem with seeing the Galileo story as a narrative of the church denying science. It implies that science is a single, monolithic worldview. The trouble was that moons circling Jupiter or Venus circling the sun did not show that the Earth moved. Those discoveries were fully compatible with the ideas of Tycho Brahe, the most capable astronomer of the previous generation. Brahe envisioned the sun, moon and stars circling an immobile Earth, while the planets circled the sun.
But there is a more subtle problem with seeing the Galileo story as a narrative of the church denying science. It implies that science is a single, monolithic worldview based on unchanging facts that can be objectively proved. But consider Brahe. He admired Copernicus and his work, yet he argued against Copernicus. He did so based not on the Bible but on what we can recognize today as compelling scientific grounds.
By contrast, earthly things were heavy and naturally tended to rest. There was no physical explanation for how a heavy Earth might move forever around the sun. If the Earth were moving, then its motion relative to the stars should have been detected. Brahe had himself observed stars with remarkable and accurate precision; he had detected nothing. But how could anyone tell? But no one at the time understood the subtleties of telescopes. So did the Jesuit astronomer Christoph Scheiner, who noted that if the orbit of the Earth cannot be detected in a heliocentric universe but the size of a star can be, then the star must be larger than that orbit.
Every observable star would have to be larger, utterly dwarfing the sun and every other celestial body. The problem was that no one at the time understood the subtleties of telescopes. Telescopes focus imperfectly. What should be a point of light in a telescope winds up looking like a fuzzy spot. That spot was what astronomers, including Galileo, were measuring.
A full understanding of telescopes and the relative motion of the stars would not be achieved until the 19th century. Today, it is understood to be a key factor in weather patterns, and it is called the Coriolis effect, after a 19th-century scientist.
But this action alone could not explain the Mediterranean tides, which occur twice daily. To this, Galileo argued that the tidal periods in different places were determined by local characteristics that reflected the water surge back and forth within the local basin. Thus, the twice-daily tides were characteristic of the Mediterranean only.
When churchmen or a royal woman argued against Galileo, they were not denying science. Interestingly, the Grand Duke Ferdinand II a Medician tried to save his friend upon his arrival but Galileo would not let him, for it would interfere with the Pope. One can only speculate here, but it might be possible that Galileo also felt he could reason his way out of trial, or that his friendship with the Pope would somehow prevail in ensuring his safety. Whatever the case, he went to face the tribunal on April 2, Taylor Unlike how trials are run today, no lawyers, jury, or cross examination was present.
But you did have a right to defend yourself in open statements. Galileo does this by stating he had checked to make sure the book was okay and that he did not openly support either theory in the book. The tribunal found that Dialogues not only defied the church but it went against the Decree and that it clearly showed how Galileo denounced the Ptolemaic system. In an attempt to sway the tribunal, Galileo is convinced to make a declaration on April 30th during his second appearance.
He stated that he indeed had gone against church findings, that he used incorrect information in his book, and that he was ignorant of the full truth behind the Decree. May 10th would be his third visit where he would argue that if the book had not been censored that it was out of his hands and not his fault.
Besides, he argued, he was an old man who had been through enough already , His Dialogues was to become a banned book, Galileo had to publically recant his view on the Copernican Theory, and he would face prison for the rest of his life. That was commuted to house arrest, where he would remain in solitude and be unable to leave its confines.
He would later on write about physics but his work on astronomy was forever finished Brodrick, James. Consolmagno, Guy and Paul Mueller. Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? Taylor, F. Galileo and the Freedom of Thought. Marine Biology. Electrical Engineering. Computer Science. Medical Science.
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Related Articles. By Linda Crampton. By Daniel J Hurst. By Eric Caunca. By Joanne Hayle. By Saleh Mubashar. By toknowinfo. By Doug West. He was told that if he admitted to having gone too far in his treatment of heliocentrism, he would be let off with a light punishment. Galileo agreed and confessed that he had given stronger arguments to the heliocentric proponent in his dialogue than to the geocentric champion. But he insisted that he did not do so because he himself believed in heliocentrism, Kelly said.
Rather, he claimed he was simply showing off his debating skills. Galileo was never tortured, however. The pope decreed that the interrogation should stop short with the mere threat of torture. The attacker, Tom Luther, was traced through his truck and apprehended. Luther told a psychiatrist thatMary reminded him of his Following the death of Yuri Andropov four days earlier, Konstantin Chernenko takes over as the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, the ruling position in the Soviet Union.
Despite the horrendous scale of destruction, it arguably accomplished Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Great Britain. World War I. Vietnam War. Sign Up.
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