The Trial of Galileo

605 Words2 Pages

The Trial of Galileo

The trial of Galileo is an important event in the history of science.

We now know, the Roman Catholic church now recognizes, that Galileo's

view was correct. What were the arguments on both sides of the issue

as it was unfolding? Search the web for documents that chronicle the

trial and discuss briefly the case for and against Galileo in the

context of the times in which the trial occurred. Be sure to

accurately reference your web sources! Your posting should be about 2

paragraphs long, and will necessarily need to be fairly concise. End

with your opinion about whether or not a similar trial could possible

occur in today's civilizations. Support your position.

Galileo Galilei or often referred to as the "father of modern

astronomy,” was a astronomer, philosopher, and physicist. His

achievements include improvements to the telescope, a variety of

astronomical observations, the first law of motion, and effective

support for Copernicanism (theory of Copernicus that Earth rotates

daily on its axis and, with the other planets in the solar system,

revolves around the sun).”1

In 1610 he was one of the first people to use the telescope to observe

the sky. In Galileo’s time, scientific experiments were performed on

casual viewings and perceptions. Galileo was the first scientist to

base physics around mathematics, and to perform ‘fair’ experiments

where only one variable is changed. Thus, he made several important

discoveries, particularly such things as; there were 4 moons of

Jupitar, rings on Satarn, phases of Venus, and that the moon had very

similar charastics as earth did (mountains, crauters…ect).

In Ap...

... middle of paper ...

... to life

imprisonment at his villa in Arcetri.

I think now, a similar trial wouldn’t happen in present day. What was

happening in The Trial of Galileo was due to the confrontation between

religion and science; In the 1600s the religious sector ruled the

country, what went agent them, lost. Now, we have a great separation

of church and state, but people are also more open to their options.

If Galileo wrote this book now, it would be more accepted, because

there isn’t just “one way of thinking.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

2 Author unknown. “The study guide: The Trial of Galileo.” Online

posting. http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/galileo/section8.rhtml

[1] Linder, Douglas. “The Trial of Galileo.” Online posting. May 2002.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials29.htm

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