The Trial of Galileo Galilei - Research Paper Example

The trial of Galileo Galilei This paper is primarily based on the world famous historical issue related to the trial of one of the most eminent scientists of all times, Galileo Galilei. This issue that bagged huge controversy and attention, and received mixed public opinions rocked the world of science and religion back in the 16th century. History reports that the world saw a overwhelming conflict between science and religion when Galileo decided to come up with his theories of celestial motion, which heavily contradicted the orthodox geocentric theory. Geocentric theory proposed the incredible view that Earth maintains a centric position in the solar system and all the other planets including sun revolve around it. This theory ruled the ancient and medieval science for a very long time and it was hugely respected among all the scientists around the world. When Galileo introduced his theory and heliocentric approach, it was proposed that Earth does not occupy the central position in the solar system, rather sun is at the centre and all the other planets including Earth revolve around it. The observations made by Galileo through his own telescope revealed the scientific facts that initiated phenomenal criticism around the globe. He showed proof based on practical experience that Earth is not stationary, rather it revolves around the sun. Actually, Galileo was made liable to attend a trial in the court because his theory did not go in accordance with the traditionally and religiously accepted view. This paper is an effort to highlight and explain almost all the exposed and obscured facts related to this historical trial. Introduction Science was a sub field of religion in the medieval ages and therefore, any modification made in the scientific views directly caused offence to the religiously held views as well. In this way, science and religion had a direct relation in the medieval age and this was one of the major causes of causing the entire angry riot in regards to Galileo’s heliocentric theory. Religious concepts were highly respected and fiercely followed in the old days and Galileo’s modern scientific views seriously interfered with the religious views of then people. In fact, Galileo experienced a dual-trial since he was seriously warned in the first trial in which he was ordered not to show any tendency for publicly speaking about his scientific approach. In the second trial, he was punished by the court in terms of house arrest and ordered to stay at his home for the rest of his life. This trial raised such a pandemonium in the scientific and religious culture that it became an issue of worldwide popularity in no time. Roman Catholic Church was heavily symbolized as one of the biggest enemies of the modern science and it was seen as a major antagonist factor for suppressing the scientific revolution by many critics and philosophers for many years after the trial. Galileo is still seen as a heroic martyr of an oppressive and orthodox church, who displayed a rebellious attitude against the efforts made by the Catholic Church to suppress the scientific advancements (Lockwood 2000). Accusation of heresy during the trial Almost four hundred years ago, Galileo discovered the reality regarding the Earth’s positioning in the solar system that initiated such a catastrophic situation, which culminated in home imprisonment of such a renowned scientist as him. The conflict between geocentricism and heliocentrism defines the whole point or cause of the trial Galileo went through. He was even accused of heresy for arguing about certain religious beliefs that were not fully understood by the people back then. Majority of the influential people thought that the religious teachings imply that the earth necessarily occupies the central position. This was the sadly understood belief that encouraged Galileo to work on his own theory and make it more convincing by presenting beliefs based on solid facts to the people. When in the midst of frantically searching for the facts, a sudden inspiration dawned on him to make use of the spyglass, which he later modified to invent a telescope. Through this revolutionary technology, he discovered four of the Jupiter’s moons some four hundred years ago and with the help of this astounding discovery, he found out the solid fact that all the other planets including earth revolve around the sun, which is absolutely stationary. Especially, his discovery of the Jupiter’s moons supported facts that began to build up the structure of a heliocentric model. It was discovered back than by Galileo through the use of telescope that Jupiter’s moons, Venus, and Mercury move about centers other than the earth. This discovery, which was even supported by evidence, strengthened the concept of heliocentrism and this especially provoked the people of the medieval ages (Geocentric Theory 2010). Inescapable clash with the Catholic Church Historical reports suggest that with the publication of “Dialogues on the Two Chief Systems of the World”, which was a revolutionary book containing the evidence contradicting the long-held geocentric view, Galileo found himself in grave and inescapable trouble at the hands of the Church and common public (The Trial of Galileo Galilei n.d.). It is an acclaimed reality that the moment he found evidence for the true rotatory course of all the heavenly bodies in the solar system, he felt enough power to publicly declare that the old theories of Ptolemy were no longer true or credible. The theories of Ptolemy proposed the suggestion that Earth occupied the central position. By gathering enough evidence to support his ideas, Galileo even played a phenomenal role in confirming various studies made by Copernicus, who had found out the reality regarding the earth’s and sun’s positioning long before Galileo but unfortunately, could not make a public declaration of his discovery owing to the lack of substantial facts. Galileo also took some ideas from the scientific studies of Arsitotle, who also identified that all the heavenly bodies i.e. the planets must move in circular motion since that is the only option for them. Galileo’s historical effort to liberate the scientific concepts regarding the rotation and positioning of heavenly bodies in the solar system from the theological shackles of the middle ages made him pay even more than he deserved, actually (Johnston n.d.). When Galileo publicly declared that heliocentrism is a scientific concept that has went largely unnoticed owing to the conservative and stubborn attitudes of the people, grave trouble automatically attacked him. This suggests that no other acclaimed scientist but Galileo had to be involved in all this pandemonium and made liable to attend the trials held at courts at two times in his life. Reason for the investigation and the trial This is the general consensus among the historians around the globe that the type of responses gained by Galileo regarding his discoveries ranged from overwhelming enthusiasm to downright hostility. Especially the heliocentric theoretical approach drew very harsh criticism from many people in the 16th century because it directly and unambiguously went against the religious beliefs of many people, as already mentioned. Galileo got an extremely harsh verdict and severe punishment when called for a trial both the first and the second time. It is identified by (Johnston n.d.) that after Galileo was called by Pope Paul V for assurance of support and general consent, he went back to Florence quite satisified. But by then, he had largely lost much interest in new scientific discoveries and instead, became fiercely intent on turning the direction of public’s opinion from geocentricism to heliocentrism. In fact, it is mentioned in some historical documents that he became so obsessive with changing the public’s opinions that his approach turned into subtle aggressiveness. He was, of course, convincing and practical in his approach and never presented any speech without the support of facts, still he became insanely intent on shoving heliocentric concept down the throat of Christendom. It is debated among various historians that had Galileo displayed a modicum of carefulness and tactfulness, he would not have received such a harsh verdict that he did receive. He also should have made allowance for human nature knowing that certain concepts have firm roots that cannot be changed very soon, especially when those concepts try to contradict both sense and well-established traditions. Main activity of the Inquisition and Galileo’s theory It is mentioned in the (The Inquisition n.d.) that the main activities of the Roman Inquisition included taking immediate actions against any step made by any person that went against the ideas of the Church, suppressing the rebellious activities of the Protestants, and inhibiting any revolutionary movements that might destabilize the integrity and solidarity of the Church. Now, it is an interesting fact that Galileo’s relentless efforts to popularize his heliocentric concept went directly against all three duties performed by the administration of the Church. This was just natural but a little bit too much of an exaggerated action made on the part of Galileo, which was just enough provoking to make the Church and the Roman Inquisition take heavy action against Galileo. Ede and Cormack (2004, 135) claim that Galileo, in 1632, defended the scientific concepts regarding heliocentrism in his world famous book. This heliocentric concept was initially introduced by Copernicus, who provoked the Roman officials so much that they imposed a ban on his works and any studies made by him. No one was allowed in Italy back then in the 16th century to show any tendency or hold any favorable opinion for the concepts introduced by Copernicus, all of which denied geocentricism. Now, the activites of Galileo went in accordance with all the concepts proposed by Copernicus and this factor seriously annoyed the high authorities. “In 1633 the Inquisition convicted him of heresy and forced him to recant (publicly withdraw) his support of Copernicus” (Galileo Galilei 2010). The bold step taken by Galileo in tough times made him suffer the worst consequences imaginable. The world acknowledged the real truth years and years after Galileo had to suffer badly owing to the ignorance of public. Majority of the people did not show any sympathy for Galileo, rather many favored his punishment. He got life imprisonment but owing to his advanced age, he was especially allowed by the court to serve time at his home instead of in jail. So, Galileo was forced by the then government to serve his term under house arrest in order to suffer the defiant behavior displayed by him (Polkinghorne n.d.). It is a real pity that the father of science had to deal with such crazy pandemonium and life imprisonment by the Roman Incquisition, even when he tried to tell the public nothing but truth. The Roman Inquisition had no choice but to condemn Galileo It is identified in some historical documents that Galileo was so aggressive and blatant in speaking about his scientific concepts which centered on helocentrism that this left no room for the Church authorities but to strictly condemn whatsoever Galileo had to say. It is an acclaimed historical fact that a little before the time when Galileo became excessively vocal about his theoretical concepts, he enjoyed an exclusive and important position in the Catholic hierarchy. But, he gradually alienated himself owing to his brutal and scathing manner in which he preached his theory to the common public. This manner was found to be too intolerable by some people, who were already offended by what Galileo had to say. First, he was condemned by the Catholic Church to stop his activities regarding the spreading of his theoretical view among the common public. Later, when his friend Barberini got elected as Pope Urban VIII, he again felt motivated and enthused to continue his work on building up this concept and came up with the book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems that set new waves of annoyance and conflict through the Church (Owens 2002). The Catholic Church and the Roman Inquisition also considered Galileo’s theory to be heretical because it went against the Psalms of Bible, which say that the earth occupies a fixed and a central position in the solar system and it can never move. Also, it is mentioned in Ecclesiastes that the sun rises and sets and returns to its place (Babinski n.d.). Galileo said that every passage in the Bible should not be taken literally, since most of the passages are in the poetic form, which do not present any clear or direct meaning. The Roman Inquisition said that the rising and setting of sun, as mentioned in the bible explains the motion of sun but, Galileo objected to this concept thus earning the label of a heretic scientist who initiated conflict between science and religion. Galileo failed to satisfactorily support some points during the trial Galileo failed to support his facts in front of the Inquisition effectively, who managed in silencing Galileo. Actually, Galileo could not succeed in coming up with any direct proofs regarding the earth’s motion. The skeptics asked him that if the earth really orbits around the sun, where is the proof showing that motion? Now, Galileo could not answer this question even with the help of his telescope. Critics and Roman officials asked him that if the earth really moves, there should be a shift in the position of a certain star seen from the earth on one side of the earth. But, Galileo could not show any evidence to silence the skeptics and the common public regarding this point, because he could not discover the fact then. It was many years after that incident when Bessel in 1838, managed in discovering and presenting the evidence regarding the rotatory motion of the star to the public. Another mistake made by Galileo in front of Roman Inquisition was that he persisted on the point that all the planets move around the sun in exact circular orbits. The astronomers even then could plainly see that this exact circular motion was utterly unperceivable. This mistake, coupled with some other minute blunders led Galileo to suffer home imprisonment and no Catholic person was allowed to publish any of his works anymore. Even Bellarmine, who was a great theologian of that time, and Pope Urban VIII, who was a long-time friend of Galelio, became excessively influenced by the criticism made by the Catholic officials and the common public and they opposed Galileo, afraid to risk their positions as important people in the Church’s administration (Smith 1996). Conclusion Summing up, this much becomes clear from this comprehensive discussion of the trial Galileo went through that no scientific advancements are ever made without any effort, and in this case, the consequences of the discovery suffered by Galileo outweigh every other consequences any scientist has ever had to face. This paper is an effort to explain all the basic and important factors that led to Galileo’s trial and investigation by Roman Inquisition. It is also an effort to highlight the traditional and highly orthodox approach of the people of the middle ages, and it is tried to explain that this thinking was the real cause of the Galileo’s trial. References Babinski, Edwart T. “The Bible’s Geocentrism.” Talkorigins.org. n.d. http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/ce/2/part5.html Ede, Andrew, and Lesley B. Cormack. 2004. A history of science in society: from philosophy to utility. University of Toronto Press. “Galileo Galilei.” Lucidcafe.com. Accessed 2010. http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/galileo.html “Geocentric Theory.” Science.jrank.org. Accessed 2010. http://science.jrank.org/pages/2999/Geocentric-Theory.html Johnston, George S. “The Galileo Affair.” Catholiceducation.org. n.d. http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0005.html Lockwood, Robert P. “Galileo and the Catholic Church.” Catholicleague.org. Accessed March, 2000. http://www.catholicleague.org/research/galileo.html Owens, Virginia S. “Galileo and the Powers Above.” Chitorch.org. Accessed 2002. http://www.chitorch.org/index.php/chm/seventeenth-century/galileo/3/ “The Trial of Galileo Galilei.” Chnm.gmu.edu. n.d. http://chnm.gmu.edu/history/faculty/kelly/wciv/science/galileo.htm “The Inquisiton.” Muse.tau.ac.il. n.d. http://muse.tau.ac.il/museum/galileo/the_inquisition.html Polkinghorne, John. “What really happened with Galileo and Darwin?” polkinghorne.net. n.d. http://www.polkinghorne.net/galileo.html Smith, Sydney F. “ST. ROBERT FRANCIS ROMULUS BELLARMINE.” Ewtn.com. Accessed 1996. http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/02411D.HTM Read More