Heliocentrism

During the early 17th century, many people were still very divided on the issues concerning the motion of the earth and the sun. The church argued for geocentrism while many other scholars and individuals argued for heliocentrism. However, this fight over the Earth’s movements was not only centered around the natural sciences, but the interpretation of the bible (Westman, 11/8). This discussion included a debate on the power and authority of the church due to the Bible influencing the view of the natural world and a large part of medieval people’s life. It was clear to members of the church, like Cardinal Bellarmine and Pope Urban VIII, that heliocentrism goes against the Scriptures and thus God’s word, but people like Galileo and Foscarini…

Today, the condemnation of Galileo’s advocacy of Copernican heliocentrism is often cited as an example of how the medievals were inherently hostile to science. However, a closer examination of two factors of the Galileo controversy shows that the modern conception is incorrect. First, the history: Galileo had enjoyed the pope’s support until Galileo attacked the pope personally, and even once convicted, Galileo did not suffer under substantial persecution from the church. Second, it is necessary…

liar, But never doubt I love”(Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2, page 5). This quote alludes to an important debate in the scientific community at the time of Shakespeare, that between heliocentrism and geocentrism, the latter of “which states celestial bodies revolve around the earth [and the former of which] refers to the idea that celestial bodies revolve around the sun”(Hutchinson). At the time, geocentrism was the more commonly accepted idea, while heliocentrism was supported by a few…

While history has vindicated Galileo 's theories as being correct, the historical proceedings of the time were much more complicated, and rather than being solely a conflict between science and religion, it was also one of politics, methodological flaws in heliocentrism at the time, and broader tension over how the natural world was analyzed and the nature of scientific thought…

spherical shells was not an accurate enough as an astronomical theory. As the Church was at odds with Aristotelian theories such as the mortality of the human soul and the eternity of Earth, they were not ready to accept the Aristotelian belief that the motion of the planets was due to the movement of spherical shells. In contrast, De Revolutionibus outlines the heliocentric theory, which stipulates that the earth, moon, and stars revolve around the sun (Williams). According to the heliocentric…

the Moon to be “uneven, rough, and crowded with depressions and bulges.” He depicted the Moon as “like the face of the Earth itself, which is marked here and there with chains of mountains and depths of valleys.” He goes on to illustrate his further observations. In 1616, the Catholic Church placed De Revolutionibus, an argument for a heliocentric, or sun centered universe, by Nicolas Copernicus, on it’s index of banned books. Pope Paul V then summoned Galileo to Rome, there, he advised him to…

the human soul. These three exercises he suggested were the Christian meditation, prayers and mental exercises. He believed that to strengthen relationship with God, ‘everything was put on this faith to help carry out spiritual exercises and to be able to tell the difference between good and evil’ (Tutorial notes). Although Calvin and Loyola had differences in their beliefs, they both praised the same God and held on to what they believed in. A Renaissance astronomer named Nicolaus Copernicus…

to afford any form of higher education. Fortunately, there was a scholarship that was given out by the Duke of Württemberg to poor children with intellectual potential to have higher education. Johannes was given one of these scholarships. He later became a math teacher in Graz, Austria. Later on he got into astronomy, leading to all his accomplishments. He passed away on November 15, 1630. Without the scholarship he was given, who knows what are views of the solar system would be?…

Galileo Galilei, known by his first name Galileo, was a mathematician and astronomer, born in Pisa, Italy, in 1564. He credited with the development of the nautical spyglass into the telescope which enabled him to observe the universe as no one had before. This advancement allowed him gather evidence for, arguably, the most controversial idea of his time, heliocentrism, or the astronomical model in which the sun is the center of our solar system. Consequently, He was accused of heresy by the…

He helped usher out the transition of natural philosophy and knowledge into the modern era. His belief in the heliocentric model put him at odds with the astronomical community. Like today, groundbreaking and innovative ideas can clash with the establishment, but from those disagreements can come eventually the truth. Galileo studied many different areas including speed, velocity gravity, relativity and motion. Although the proper tools weren’t available back then as they are today, he…