The Myth of Galileo and the Church:



1) Excerpt from History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe (1890) by William Lecky

It is indeed, marvellous that science should ever have revived amid the fearful obstacles theologians cast in her way . . . The constant exaltation of blind faith, the countless miracles, the childish legends, all produced a condition of besotted ignorance, of grovelling and trembling credulity that can scarcely be paralleled except among the most degraded barbarians. [vol. I: 274-275]

2) Excerpt from The Outline of History (1920) by H. G. Wells

[Galileo] developed the astronomical views of Copernicus; but the church, still struggling gallantly against the light, decided that to believe that the earth was smaller and inferior to the sun made man and Christianity of no account, and diminished the importance of the Pope; so Galileo . . . was made to recant this view and put the earth back in its place as the immovable centre of the universe. He knelt before ten cardinals in scarlet, an assembly august enough to overawe truth itself, while he amended the creation he had disarranged. [vol. III: 859]

3) Excerpt from General Science for Today (1936) by Ralph K. Watkins & Ralph C. Bedell

Science begins again with Galileo . . .

The work of Galileo marks the opening of a new period of progress . . . [Still] the learned doctors of his university returned to Aristotle’s books . . . these learned men said that Aristotle must be right, and that they could not believe what they had actually seen and heard. This attitude . . . explains why the people of Europe failed to make any progress in science for nearly 2000 years [620-621]

4) Excerpt from The Road to Modern Science (1940) by H. A. Reason

The real hero, and the leader, of the great revolution in Science was Galileo Galilei . . . He it was who once and for all turned away from the old road of Aristotle and set his face toward the firm ground of practical experiment [55]

5) Excerpt from History of Western Philosophy (1947) by Bertrand Russell

Galileo, as everyone knows, was condemned by the Inquisition . . . He recanted, and promised never again to maintain that the earth rotates or revolves. The Inquisition was successful at putting an end to science in Italy, which did not revive there for centuries, but it failed to prevent men of science from adopting the heliocentric theory, and did considerable damage to the Church by its stupidity. Fortunately there were Protestant countries, where the clergy, however anxious to do harm to science, were unable to gain control of the State. [556]

6) Excerpt from Pale Blue Dot (1995) by Carl Sagan

Many felt that Copernicus and Galileo were up to no good and erosive of the social order. Indeed, any challenge, from any source, to the literal truth of the Bible might have such consequences. We can readily see how science began to make people nervous. [46]

7) Excerpt from A Beginner’s Guide to Astronomy (1997) by Patrick Moore

The Roman Catholic Church attacked Galileo because the [heliocentric] theory was not reconcilable with certain passages of the Bible. As a consequence, poor Galileo spent most of his life in open conflict with the Church. [12]

8) Excerpt from Milestones of Science (2000) by Curt Suplee

The period—and the process—that we now call the scientific revolution entailed a historic collision between provocative new products of the human intellect and the enduring power of orthodoxy. No single event embodied the confrontation as dramatically as the prosecution of Galileo by Catholic Church authorities in 1633 for his all-too-vivid defense of Copernican cosmology. Galileo renounced his beliefs. But the spirit he represented could not be subdued. [57]

Questions:

1) What are some of the common themes running through these excerpts?

2) What general position(s) do the excerpts take regarding Galileo and the Church specifically or science and religion generally? Be specific.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download