Galileo Trial Summary

Autumn Stern

Galileo Trial Summary + Copernicus Write Up

In the early 17th century, there was no doubt that the Catholic church held extreme power throughout Europe. They also held to the geocentric theory (all planets, heavenly bodies and the sun revolving around the earth) put forth by Ptolemy and Aristotle because of how neatly it could fit into the current teachings. Unlike this theory, however, Galileo enforced Copernicus’ heliocentric theory with inductive reasoning rather than deductive. Galileo made observations about the moons of Jupiter and their orbit around Jupiter, which he likened to a smaller version of their solar system. He published these observations in the book Sidereus Nuncius (1610). The Catholic Church had formerly opposed Copernicus already in 1543, and met Galileo with the same opposition. The Church declared any documents on heliocentric theory were to be banned and considered heretical in 1616. That same year, Galileo proposed a new theory regarding tides, and three years later one regarding comets, claiming these as proof of the earth’s motion. Eventually in 1632, Galileo published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which became very popular, much to the alarm of the Catholic Church. A year later,

This was mainly why he was so reluctant to publish his whole findings. Unlike Galileo, however, Copernicus was born Prussian in the early stages of the Renaissance in 1473. He was educated at the insisting of his uncle Lucas Watzenrode, and in one case put into a school in Krakow specializing in astronomy and mathematics. Copernicus traveled to Italy, homeplace of Galileo, for academics as well. At the end of his life, Copernicus settled down in Warmia but also took part in many political affairs. Protestants found special distaste in the heliocentric theory, despite their own controversy with the Catholic