Written by Muchang B. (KIS'19)
Edited by Ava S. (TBS'19)
━━ February 26, 2018 ━━
Despite being persecuted by the Church and ignored by the general public, Galileo Galilei published works supporting the (scientifically true) idea of heliocentrism. His works in the early 1600s further contributed to the onset of the scientific revolution after his death in 1642 and provided a foundation for modern studies that continue to develop in astronomy currently.
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Galileo Galilei
General Information
Born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy, Galileo Galilei is known as the “father of modern science.” He was an Italian astronomer and scientist who made significant contributions with his studies in the Scientific Revolution (1543~1600). He expressed curiosity in many subjects from an early age, especially in mathematics, physics, and astronomy. His fame grew due to his success as a professor of mathematics at various universities.
He is known for being the first to construct a telescope and for supporting the unpopular Copernican theory (an idea that also supports heliocentric beliefs). He had, in fact, published multiple books ridiculing geocentrism, which led to the church accusing him of heresy. He was placed under house arrest until his death on January 8, 1642, when he was 78.
Geocentrism Against Heliocentrism
In 1609, Galileo improved the newly invented spyglass, a device which makes distant objects appear closer, to create the telescope using his mathematics knowledge and technical skills. In 1609, using his extensive technological skills and mathematical knowledge, With the invention of the telescope, instead of looking at the seas to observe boats how most people did, Galileo shifted the glass eye towards the stars in the night sky. Fascinated by his findings, his campaign as an astronomer started. He eventually transitioned into a lifestyle where he constantly observed the night skies and the various landmasses in it, especially the moon and the planets.
He observed that the moon had different phases or positions in the sky, with different shapes due to the shadows. From many months of observing, he also found out that the moon in the sky was not smooth and round as expected, but it was mountainous and rugged, just like the Earth, contradicting Catholic dogma. Further observations had led to the discovery of four more moons orbiting around Jupiter, and he had eventually began to study Saturn, Venus, and various sunspots. Most of his new discoveries put Galileo deep into a “state of perplexity,” which was then “transformed into amazement” once he had devised a proper explanation for these phenomena.
Through years of planetary observations and calculations, he was able to conclude that the most accurate model of the solar system that explained all of the wonders in the sky was the sun-centered one. Copernicus’s idea of heliocentrism was strongly supported by Galileo. But the fact that Copernicus had founded the idea before him did not influence Galileo’s beliefs of heliocentrism; it was solely Galileo’s work that led him to the discovery of the sun-centered model.
However, during the time Galileo first announced his astronomical discoveries with his first book on the topic, Sidereus nuncius (The Starry Messenger), the idea of geocentrism (Earth-centered solar system) was the universally accepted belief . As a result of thousands of years of observation in the night skies with the naked eye, the most accepted conclusion was the geocentric model. The geocentric model displays a target-shaped model, with each planet having a “layer” that marked the path of its orbit around the earth. It shows that the center is the Earth is most closely orbited by the moon (“Lunae”), followed by Mercury (Mercurii), Venus (Veneris), the Sun (Solis), and so on (Apian). The area outside the circle of planets was believed to be a stationary “blanket” of fixed stars.
The geocentric model was also accepted in its philosophical form by Aristotle and by its mathematical form by Ptolemy, two great figures that were looked up to by the public at that time. WIth this overwhelming support, the idea of geocentrism was dogma. In addition, the Catholic Church, which had influence over all of Western Europe’s politics and the economy, had foundational Biblical beliefs based on the geocentric model. Thus, this created multiple conflicts between Galileo and not just the Church, but the general public.
Everybody had their minds firmly set to follow the geocentric model. Without many open-minded thinkers in this field, there was no one to really challenge the beliefs of the public, until the introduction of the idea of heliocentrism by Nicholas Copernicus through his published book, De revolutionibus. This idea was reinforced by Galileo’s works in his books.
Even with the fame that Galileo had at that time, the doctrines set by the Catholic Church at this time easily overthrew his so-called “insignificant” ideas and went as far as to ban his works on heliocentrism. Many people now may think that the Catholic Church acted as if they had just “clung on to their beliefs in the Bible,” rejecting Galileo’s ideas without thought. However, there were many other reasons that Copernicus and Galileo’s works weren’t successful in moving the general public’s beliefs. When Copernicus’ theory was introduced, it was mostly a mathematical model of observations and calculations. While Copernicus and Galileo both believed that heliocentrism was a fact, both scientists could not effectively put together and present the evidence to prove it. Nicholas Leveille further states that Copernicus’ model didn’t prove heliocentrism, and Galileo’s evidence of trying to explain phenomenon based off of the heliocentric model was flawed and thus refuted by other scholars.
In conjunction, the geocentric model was the dominant belief for the past millennia because it made the most sense according to the facts gathered prior to the invention of the telescope. It had been such a widely accepted belief for such a long time that there would have to be a monumental groundbreaking discovery, followed by clear, solid evidence to actually gain the attention of the public.
Galileo’s works could have been a groundbreaking discovery, but his version of heliocentrism never had enough evidence to disprove geocentrism. The heliocentric model not being able to explain many astronomical phenomenon didn’t compel scientists at that time to even further investigate the belief. It was seen more as an alternative, incomplete, resolution with many flaws compared to geocentrism, and alternative ideas weren’t good enough.
Third, the fact that the contradictions that heliocentrism had brought up against the fundamental assertion of Aristotle’s doctrines had led to many philosophers and the Papacy thinking that the idea was absurd. The public ignored it, but the people who actually gave it attention were mostly philosophers and the Church, who openly rejected the idea. Very few people, such as Andreas Osiander, neither supported nor went against the idea of heliocentrism because they believed that Galileo was justified in stating his claims in public and having the freedom of speech.
In conclusion, while heliocentrism would have been a reasonable belief to follow at the time, it was just too small scale and had too many flaws to be of any significance compared to its competition, geocentrism. Unless there was a serious and large scale objection to the Church’s ideas, they wouldn’t reinterpret the Biblical verses (that were written under the idea of geocentrism) for small objections like the Copernican theory. With the disregarded idea of heliocentrism constantly being expressed by Galileo, the Church soon saw it as a direct contradiction to their beliefs. Given multiple warnings and bans on his work, Galileo persisted in publishing books supporting the idea of the heliocentric model until his death. Thus, even though Galileo may have stood up for a fact then, the Church still had the right and legitimacy to reject Galileo’s beliefs of the Copernican theory at the time.
Short and Long Term Results
In the 1500s, scientists who rejected their Church doctrines were persecuted by the religious authorities, who put bans on the publishing and sharing of their books. Galileo was tried for for “ holding as true a false doctrine... that the sun is immovable in the center of the world, and that the earth moves,” “having pupils whom you instructed in the same opinions,” and continuing to publish books supporting heliocentrism; his sentence was “to abandon completely... the opinion that the sun stands still at the center of the world and the earth moves, and henceforth not to hold, teach, or defend it in any way whatever, either orally or in writing.” ("Documents in the Case of Galileo: Indictment, Sentence and Abjuration of 1633")
However, Galileo’s tenacity had been crucial in igniting the development of the Scientific Revolution, when the development of modern science began. His discoveries and works played a major role in the time period, being a huge contributor to the discoveries of new ideas that eventually proved the heliocentric model correct. The Scientific Revolution, beginning with the introduction of heliocentrism by Copernicus, had been followed up by many other inventions and discoveries leading from them. For example, the invention of the spyglass in Galileo’s life had led him to improve upon the model, eventually leading to the development of the telescope. With the telescope, distant objects or extraterrestrial stars/planets could be observed more easily, and it was this invention that first led people to observe the night skies in much more detail.
Using his invention, his observations for the rest of his life led him to describe (and publicize), the rings of Saturn, the phases of Venus, sunspots on the sun, and the rugged surface of the moon. He was also able to determine that there were moons orbiting not the Earth, but other planets. He observed Jupiter to see that the spherical bodies appeared “to lie in an exact straight line parallel to the ecliptic” shape of Jupiter. With more observations, he “decided beyond all question that there existed in the heavens three stars [moons] wandering about Jupiter as do Venus and Mercury about the sun.”
These findings, leading on to the discovery of much more astronomical ones, were considered some of the great achievements during the Scientific Revolution. Galileo’s invention of the telescope, as one of the most important observational tool in astronomy, became the baseline for the study of extraterrestrial bodies up to today. Even though his stance was ignored/rejected by most, his determination in trying to open the world to the Heliocentric model had led to the development of new ideas and technologies in the Scientific Revolution. Without Galileo’s invention of the telescope and his further contributions to astronomy, humanity’s progress would have been severely faltered. It is because of these astronomical achievements that Galileo Galilei is known as the “father of modern science.”
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Bibliography:
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- Osiander, Andreas. "Foreward to Copernicus's 'On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres'" The Trial of Galileo | HTI. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
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- Williams, Matt. "What Is The Geocentric Model Of The Universe? - Universe Today." Universe Today. Universe Today, 04 Feb. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016
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