Freedom to think

Descartes said, “I think therefore I am”. It is amazing, painful and thought provoking to see how intellectuals were denied the freedom to think, write and speak by tradition and religion. Here is a case study of what happened to astronomers Coppernicus and Galileo who fought battles to uphold a scientific truth that the Earth moved.

Even a child knows Earth moves around the Sun. Surprisingly for twenty centuries philosophers and astronomers believed the rather na?ve, ?intuitive idea that the earth was stationary and the Sun revolved around it. Even great intellectuals like Aristotle and Ptolemy held this view.

Copernicus 1473-1543

Copernicus was a Polish astronomer. He broke free from the heavy influence geocentric theory of Aristotle and Ptolemy and discovered a true model for planetary movements based on observations and analysis.

Copernicus conducted astronomical observations in 1513–1516?and in 1522–1543, using primitive instruments —the quadrant, triquetrum, armillary sphere. The telescope was not invented then. He observed the sky with naked eyes as did Aristotle and Ptolemy had done and yet came to ground breaking conclusions.

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Some time before 1514, Copernicus wrote an initial outline of his heliocentric theory,

"Commentariolus" ("Little Commentary"). He stipulated his seven basic assumptions. Thereafter he continued gathering data for a more detailed work.

At about 1532 Copernicus had basically completed his work on the manuscript of “Dē Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium” (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres); but he resisted openly publishing his views. Copernicus was still working on the manuscript in 1539. Under strong pressure from Rheticus, and having seen the favorable first general reception of his work, Copernicus finally agreed to give De Revolutionibus to his close friend, Tiedemann Giese, bishop of Che?mno, for printing.

Copernicus's theory comprises six books. The theory rests on the proposition that Sun is the centre of universe, and not the Earth. The planets are arranged according to their distances from the sun. The planets including Earth move in circular orbits around the Sun. The moon revolves around the Earth. The Earth takes one year to complete the circular journey around the Sun. The Earth rotates about its own axis once every day.

Toward the close of 1542, Copernicus was seized with apoplexy and paralysis, and he died at age 70 on 24 May 1543. Legend has it that he was presented with the final printed pages of his book on the very day that he died, The book, which became a standard reference, was dedicated to Pope Paul III.

Copernicus maintained ?a good relationship with the Catholic Church. It may come as a surprise, considering the Church banned Copernicus' book for more than 200 years. Copernicus was actually respected as a canon and regarded as a renowned astronomer. The Catholic Church was tolerant to Copernicus' theory before a wave of Protestant opposition led the Church to ban Copernican views in the 17th century.

It was Galileo who faced the ire of the Catholic Church.

Galileo 1564- 1642

Galileo's passion was the study of motions. For instance he demonstrated heavier and lighter objects fall at the same speed, while, according to Aristotle the speed is proportional to the weights, an opinion that held for two thousand years. Galileo was right. He forthrightly challenged the Aristotelian view. Galileo's quantitative analysis and experimental approach proved to be more correct than Aristotle's verbal and?qualitative reasoning. A grueling battle with Aristotle tradition started.

Then the telescope was invented in 1609 in Netherlands by spectacle makers. It was a refraction telescope. Galileo improved the design, ground his own lenses. Increased the magnifying power and used it for observing the sky.

The telescopic observations provided plenty of quality visual data: of a magnified moon with craters and hills, phases of Venus and moons of Jupiter. Galileo analysed the data and concluded that planets moved round the Sun. When Galileo defended the Heliocentric model and Copernicus, he defied tradition, Aristotle and the Church. He made enemies.

Fellow astronomers did not accept this model. They chose to follow Aristotle.

The Church saw this model as heresy. Earth was made as a home for men by God and the planets and sun served by revolving around the Earth. The Church favoured a geocentric model and Aristotle.

The data would have convinced any astronomer. But Jesuit astronomers were unwilling to see the data. They ?would not even look through his telescope to evaluate the evidence. They were driven by hate, prejudice and a persecution complex.

Galileo gave lectures on his discoveries and became popular.?His enemies moved a case against him with the Pope. In 1616 the Church called a sick Galileo to Rome and warned of imprisonment. The Church forbade him even of thinking Heliocentric much less writing and teaching.

In 1624 Galileo went to Rome and had six interviews with Pope Urban VIII. The pope gave Galileo permission to write a book about theories of the universe but warned him to treat the Copernican theory only hypothetically.

Recalcitrant astronomers betrayed science while the Church denied science.?Galileo defended his intellectual freedom and in 1632?published his “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” wherein the Copernican System – the geocentric model and the Aristotelian system - the heliocentric model are debated by two philosophers and a layman over four days. A discerning reader will note that the arguments favour Copernican system.

The church took note.

The Trial

On June 22, 1633, Galileo was put on trial in Rome. Under threat of torture, imprisonment and even burning at the stake, he was forced, on his knees, to forget that Earth moved. Galileo was charged with?heresy. “He had to renounce, with sincere heart and unfeigned faith, his belief that the sun, not Earth, was the center of the universe and that Earth moved around the sun and not vice versa, as ecclesiastical teaching dictated”.

Galileo had argued that the book of nature was written in the language of mathematics, not in biblical terms. To Galileo heliocentric model was a not a hypothesis; it was an established truth in a scientific sense. But the Church edited the result into a mere hypothesis. He faced death, burning at stake, had he not recanted. The Church was threatened by Galileo’s findings. If they were true, the Church was wrong which the Church would not admit. Astronomers and philosophers were threatened. Closely held traditional views were challenged by Galileo. He must be stopped.

Galileo was ?humiliated. He was asked to recant his findings, much against his conscience. In effect he was forced to tell a lie, “Earth does not move.”

Yet, in spite of his acquiescence, retribution awaited Galileo for publishing the Dialogue. He was to recite the seven penitential psalms once a week for three years. He was placed under house arrest for the rest of his life.

He could not take proper medical treatment for his illnesses, was depressed and became blind in 1638 when his last book “Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations Concerning Two New Sciences” was published.

Legend has it that Galileo murmured, "Eppur si muove" meaning ”And yet It moves.”

The event was first reported by Giuseppe Baretti in his book The Italian Library: ”The moment he was set at liberty, he looked up to the sky and down to the ground, and, stamping with his foot, in a contemplative mood, said, Eppur si muove, that is, still it moves, meaning the Earth.”

On 8 Jan 1642 Galileo, hailed as “Father of Science”, “Father of Modern Astronomy”, ?died, at the age of 77.

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