The Story of the Expulsion and Oppression of Inventors 20

Edison used to sell newspapers on trains.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian physicist, astronomer, and mathematician. Galileo was probably more qualified than anyone else to be called the founder of modern science. His well-known conflict with the Catholic Church was the central event of his philosophy.

This is because Galileo was one of the first to conclude that humanity is expected to understand how the world works, and that we can do so by looking at the real world. Galileo believed in the Copernican theory (i.e., planets orbiting the sun) early on, but only publicly supported it when he found evidence to support it.

He wrote about Copernican theory in Italian (not in plain collegiate Latin), and his views soon gained widespread support outside the university community. This angered the Aristotelian professors, who united against him and tried to persuade the Catholic Church to ban Copernicanism. Galileo was so worried about this that he rushed to Rome to appeal to the Catholic authorities in person.

He argues that the Bible does not try to tell us anything about scientific theories, and that it is usually assumed when the Bible contradicts common sense.

, it becomes a metaphor. But the Church, fearing that the scandal might hurt its fight against the Protestants, resorted to repression. In 1616, it declared Copernican Doctrine "hypocritical and false" and ordered Galileo not to "defend or uphold" the doctrine.

Galileo reluctantly accepted.

In 1623, a longtime friend of Galileo became pope. Galileo immediately tried to overturn the 1616 verdict. He failed, but he managed to get permission to write a book on Aristotelian and Copernican theories on two premises:

He cannot have a predisposition, and at the same time conclude that man cannot in any case determine how the world works, because God will achieve the same effect in ways that man cannot imagine, and man cannot limit God's omnipotence. The book, entitled Dialogue on the Two Main World Systems, was completed and published in 1632 with the full support of the Inquisitors, and was immediately hailed throughout Europe as a masterpiece of literature and philosophy. It was not long before the pope realized that the book was seen as an argument confirming Copernican doctrine and regretted allowing it to be published.

The pope pointed out that Galileo had violated the 1616 ban despite the censor's formal approval of the book. He brought Galileo before the Inquisition, declared him under house arrest for life, and ordered him to publicly renounce Copernicanism. For the second time, Galileo was forced to obey.

Galileo, Copernicus, Archimedes.