Galileo, Science, and the Church

Jerome J. Langford

Galileo, Science and the Church

The University of Michigan Press, Michigan, 1992

Science and the church, two things that you would not ordinarily think would go together until now, until the man Galileo came along. Galileo, a man that stuck his head out to the world, but especially to the church, when maybe he should have done things a little differently. This particular book shows many accounts of the troubles between Galileo and the church, and with other bystanders. The book goes through the ups and downs of Galileo and the church, the hardships, and friendships that people held, and how hard it was to keep those friendships during the days of Galileo. The book reveals many alliances, and loyalties, but also it also reveals distrust, and clouded minds, of both Galileo and the church.

Throughout the book you learn the different approaches of scientific belief. There was of course the Aristotelian way of the universe, and there was also the Ptolemaic way. The differences between these two were not too major, they both believed the Earth did not move. There was a new system in the works the Copernican theory, which believed that the Earth was not the center and was mobile, but the sun was the center. Copernicus did not get to back his theory the way he would have wanted but Galileo assumed the ropes and brought it to the full front.

Galileo had many problems trying to introduce the Copernican theory to be relevant. Scripture from the Holy Bible was one problem that Galileo had to face. Cardinals and many priests argued against Galileo and the theory, because it did not meet with Holy Scripture. Scripture had professed that God made the Earth the center and that it was immobile. Although many cardinals, priests, monks, and many others did not like the theory and thought it collided with scripture, there were many people of the church that believed that science had no ties to

scripture, and the theory could possibly be true. Though hit by a hard blow from the rejection of the theory, because of scripture Galileo moved onward, pursuing the acceptance of the Copernican theory.

Galileo did move on, and he did whatever it would take to try to prove his theory. He mocked church officials, and also made many enemies within the church, and in the scientific community. Galileo ran into a heap of trouble in the year 1616. The year 1616, brought about the end or silencing