galileo affair - Henriquez 1 Paola Henriquez Professor...

Henriquez
Paola Henriquez
Professor Manheim
SC112
December 7
th
, 2016
The Galileo Affair
Galileo Galilei is a household name in every science and history classroom around the world
.
He
bore many ‘hats’ within his seventy-seven years of life
.
Inventor
,
mathematics professor
,
astrologist
,
discoverer
,
and scientist are a few titles that are associated with his name. Yet, his
experience as an author
,
is what caused him to live out the rest of his life under house arrest.
Galileo, being ahead of his time
,
supported the ‘Copernican Theory’
.
This theory, and all
evidence and teachings that support it
,
were not backed or sustained by the Catholic Church.
This essay will examine why Galileo was brought before the Inquisition
,
and what was the result
of his trial
.
What did the Copernican Theory claim and why was it dubbed a sin by the Church to anyone
who believed in it? The Copernican Theory received its name after its creator
,
Nicholas
Copernicus
.
Copernicus was a scientist who believed that “the Sun is the center, and the Earth
revolves around it as it rotates on its axis on a daily basis” (Leveillee)
.
That assertion, is the
center of what was to be formed as the “Copernican Theory”
.
This theory is based off of a
heliocentric or
,
sun-centered, system (New Mexico Space Museum). The Church finds a problem
with the heliocentric system because they believed that the Holy Scriptures state that the Earth is
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Henriquez
the center of the universe, not the sun (Leveillee)
.
Copernicus presented this theory in his book
titled “Revolutions”. This book was published in Latin, which was normal considering that all
scholarly men read in Latin. Unlike Galileo’s, who’s charge is written in Italian so that all of Italy
would be able to read it. “Copernicus faced no persecution when he was alive because he died
shortly after publishing his book, Revolutions
.