The Trial Of Galileo

Below is a short sample of the essay The Trial Of Galileo. If you sign up you could be reading the rest of this essay in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view the essay.

The Trial Of Galileo

The Trial of Galileo
Copernicus's De Revolutionibus of 1543 was dedicated to the Pope; yet ninety years later (1633) Galileo was tried by the inquisition for espousing Copernican views. How did this come about?
Prior to the publication of De Revolutionibus, astronomical theories proposed that the earth was the centre of the universe and all the planets revolved around the earth. This was a view that was supported by both Aristotle and Ptolemy although Ptolemy's work was based upon observations and scientific methods as opposed to Aristotle who was in effect theorising based upon religious belief. I shall outline the essential content of the De Revolutionibus and explain why it took so long for the church to condemn his book and then try Galileo for heresy as a result of his supporting Copernican ideas.
Copernicus was studying and writing during the Renaissance and arguably the Scientific Revolution. The Renaissance was a time of rebirth of old ideas and a new way of looking at things not just in the areas of science but throughout literature, arts and many other areas. It was a time when new ideas did not seem to provide solutions to all the questions that were being asked.( ) Copernicus proposed a new system of planetary motion that had the sun at the centre of the universe rather than the earth. However contrary to popular belief, this was not a new and revolutionary idea. The ancients had proposed such a solution, most notably from Aristarchus who argued that it was more plausible for the sun to be at the centre rather than the earth. However Copernicus makes no mention of Aristarchus in De Revolutionibus. Not long before Copernicus began writing, Cusa suggested this again, and it is argued that this may be where Copernicus got early inspiration from, although this is not proven. ( ) It was in the rest of his writing that Copernicus suggested ideas that were considered to be revolutionary. According to the Copernican system not only was the Earth revolving around the sun; it was revolving on its own axis. This was later to replace the idea that it was the stars that were revolving. Copernicus proposed that the earth revolved on its own axis once every day and orbited the sun throughout the period of a year. Copernicus hesitated in the publishing of the book as he was afraid that it may be heretical, even though the book when it was eventually published in 1543 was dedicated to Pope Paul the 3rd. At the time of his writing, Aristote...

The complete article is about 1807 words and 7.23 pages long.

To continue reading the complete article, subscribe below and get free instant unlimited access.

Once you have registered for an Account, No refunds can be issued.
Please make sure you look over the site before you purchase an account!!!