Trial of Galileo - Essay Example

Trial of Galileo Galileo is considered the father of modern science and a major figure in the history of mankind. He was an Italian physicist, astronomer, astrologer, and philosopher, belonging to a small group of thinkers who influenced the Western culture. In a way, his growing influence amongst the people led to his clashes with the religious clergies. Born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, his family moved to Florence when Galileo was 8 yrs. Science was not being as a subject at that time, but Galileo showed the scientific temperament form the early ages. Galileo matriculates as an "Arts" student from the University of Pisa in 1581. He started studying for priesthood, but the scientific inkling in him did not allow him to become a priest. He left the course and instead joined a medical degree course at the University of Pisa. But he could never complete the degree and instead started studying mathematics with Ostilio Ricci, the mathematician of the Tuscan court. The genius in him kept bubbling with enthusiasm and at the age of nineteen Galileo had discovered isochronism principle of the pendulum. He got the inspiration while watching the oscillations of a lamp in the cathedral of Pisa. He propounded that pendulums of equal length had constant oscillation periods, i.e. the oscillations are isochronous regardless of the amplitude of the oscillation. He also visited the mathematician Christopher Clavius in Rome and started a correspondence with Guildobaldo del Monte. At the age of he invented the hydrostatic balance, which he described as an accurate balance for weighing things in air and water, which was a common method for weighing precious metals like gold during those days. He was offered a lectureship, at the University of Pisa when he was barely 25 yrs and subsequently Galileo successfully earned a name for himself as a renowned scientist and an excellent lecturer. He also obtained the chair of mathematics at the University of Padua in 1592. He never looked back thereafter and was being regarded as the father of experimental physics. At the University of Padua, he started working on the Copernican theory of planetary system and supported the idea put forward by a famous German mathematician Johannes Kepler. Copernicus had put forward the heliocentric, or Sun-centered, system theory stating that the 'Sun is at the center of the universe, and that the Earth, spinning on its axis once daily, revolves yearly around the Sun'. Before this, astronomers believed in Ptolemy's geocentric universe theory, in which the Earth was told to be motionless at the center of several rotating spheres. Therefore there was widespread condemnation of Copernicus theory. But Galileo was the most vociferous supporter of Copernicus. Galileo became an ardent supporter of Copernicus theory when he discovered the Telescope and himself observed the sky. In 1609, Galileo set the telescope in his garden to see the Milky Way, the sky, the mountains and the valleys on the moon. In fact he was the first one to observe the moons of Jupiter and discuss the mountains on the moon. Galileo is also credited with determining the parabolic path of projectiles and calculated the law of free fall on the basis of experiments. And he started believing firmly in the theory put forward by Copernicus. He called upon people to come forward and see it themselves the composition of the celestial system around earth, but he was quite disappointed by the way people reacted to the theory of Copernicus. He expressed his anguish in a letter sent to Kepler in 1610. He wrote1, "My dear Kepler, what would you say of the learned here, who, replete with the pertinacity of the asp, have steadfastly refused to cast a glance through the telescope What shall we make of this Shall we laugh, or shall we cry" It became clear that the Copernican theory had its enemies." Based on his encounters with stars through telescope, in 1610 he published 'The Starry Messenger; and thereafter accepted a position as Mathematician and Philosopher to the Grand Duke of Tuscany (and a non-teaching professorship at Pisa). Late in 1610, the Collegio Romano in Rome, certified the results put forward by Galileo after his telescopic observations. His size started touching newer heights in the scientific community and soon in 1611 he became a member of a scientific society, the Academia dei Lincei. Initially Galileo took help from his disciples for convincing the people to accept the theory of Copernicus, but soon as he started acquiring a status in the society he himself boldly started raising the issue at public forums. With his typical flamboyance he worked hard to gain support amongst businessmen, gentlemen, princes, and Jesuit astronomers instead of the intellectuals from universities. Therefore he started working as a consultant in natural philosophy to all these general people who would listen to him. He started using the behavioral language to convince people about the applicability of Copernicus theory. That was the time when some people started opening opposing Galileo and his approach. In 1613 when Galileo expressed his open support in the form of a book titled 'Letters on the Solar Spots', he was criticized by a Dominican friar and professor of ecclesiastical history in Florence, Father Lorini. While preaching on All Soul's Day, father Lorini said that Copernican doctrine is against the scriptures and natural laws. Scriptures placed Earth, and not the Sun at the center of the universe. To further buttress his argument Lorini cited the religious scriptures and said, "What, if Copernicus were right, would be the sense of Joshua 10:13 which says 'So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven' or Isaiah 40:22 that speaks of 'the heavens stretched out as a curtain' above 'the circle of the earth' Though Lorini later retracted from the vociferous attack, yet the opponents seized the opportunity and started looking for opportunities to take on Galileo. In 1623 Galileo published 'The Assayer' in which he dealt with the nature of comets. He claimed that the book of nature is written in language of mathematics. In 1632, he came out with another controversial title 'Dialogues concerning the Two Great World Systems'. But the book raised many eyebrows and invited lots of heated discussion and controversies. Shortly thereafter the book was denounced and banned by the Inquisition and Galileo was asked to appear before the trial court in Rome. He was accused of declaring God to be an accident and doubting miracles. Galileo tried hard to convince the religious leaders like seventy-four-year old Cardinal Bellarmine, but unfortunately he could not convince them. The conservative society saw the Copernican universe as a potential threat to damage the social order. Therefore he was ordered to depose before the Holy office of the Inquisition in Rome. Galileo was suffering from plague when he got the call for appearance. Nonetheless he started off the journey from Florence to Rome on 20th January 1633 and after completing his twenty-three day trip took up lodging in the Florentine embassy. He was deposed before the Inquisition from 12 to 30th April. He was detained in an apartment of the building of the Inquisition. Charges are framed against Galileo. Deliberations continued for weeks and Inquisitors too appeared to be in a fix as what should be done to this old scientist. Finally, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, a moderating influence on the panel of ten judges was entrusted with the task of convincing Galileo to admit his mistake in propagating the Copernicus theory, so that he be awarded a lenient sentence. Cardinal Francesco Barberini had to really work hard in persuading Galileo to admit his sin. And subsequently he succeeded in his mission when, Galileo admitted that he was wrong in talking about the Copernicus theory. Galileo testified that "I held, as I still hold, as most true and indisputable, the opinion of Ptolemy, that is to say, the stability of the Earth and the motion of the Sun." Galileo's renunciation of Copernicus theory ended with the words, "I affirm, therefore, on my conscience, that I do not now hold the condemned opinion and have not held it since the decision of authorities....I am here in your hands--do with me what you please." On June 22, 1633, he was taken to the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. He was ordered to kneel before while his sentence was being read. It was declared that Galileo as "vehemently suspect of heresy". Galileo was made to recite and sign a formal abjuration, which read; "I have been judged vehemently suspect of heresy, that is, of having held and belived that the sun is in the centre of the universe and immoveable, and that the earth is not at the centre of same, and that it does move. Wishing however, to remove from the minds of your eminence and all faithful Christians this vehement suspicion reasonably conceived against me, I abjure with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I curse and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally all and every error, heresy, and sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church (Quoted in Shea and Artigas 194)." Thus came to an end the illustrious career and zeal of a promising scientist, who opened many vistas of knowledge for the mankind. After his admittance Galileo was not imprisoned but his sentence was commuted to house arrest for rest of his life. As part of the 'deal' for lesser punishment, Galileo was also supposed to write another book, without any mention of Copernicus, thus denouncing the theory which he propagated for many years. Galileo was allowed to retire to his villa in Arcetri in Florence to write the book, where he was not allowed to have contact with people. During this time he finished his last book, "Discourses on the two New Sciences". This book published in July 1638, in Holland does not have any mention of Copernicus at all. It is worthwhile here to mention that even before the publishing of his last book, Galileo had become totally blind in January 1938. He experienced a life full of tortures before he died on January 8, 1642. The Galileo episode has remained a subject of intense discussion for many years. While on the one end the Orthodox Church has been criticized for being so nave and conservative in its approach. It is argued that the Church could have adopted a more rational approach towards the theories propounded by a well known scientist, and instead of punishing the scientist, the Church could have undertaken an exercise of introspection. But, apparently some of the powerful people within the Church appeared threatened by the popularity being gained by Galileo and his theory. They took it as a direct challenge to their authority and therefore took advantage of the scriptures in punishing the scientist. Similarly there are historians who criticize Galileo who did the 'unthinkable'. In their view, Galileo continued to be a vociferous supporter of Copernicus theory for most part of his life, worked to prove the theory, but at the fag end of his illustrious career, when he should have been well convinced by his experiments and observations, he chose to retract and kneel before the church. What is more intriguing for the scientific community is the way Galileo wrote his last book, without any reference to the Copernicus theory. Such historians see Galileo's decision to admit error as a "final self-degradation." References: 1. Linder, Douglas (2002). 'The Trial of Galileo'. Available online at http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/galileo/galileoaccount.html (Apr 2, 2007) 2. Stanford University of Philosophy (2005). 'Galileo Galilei' http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/galileo/ (Apr 2, 2007) 3. Galileo Timeline. Available online at http://galileo.rice.edu/chron/galileo.html (Apr 3, 2007) Read More