Galileo Condemned by Inquisition: Science vs Church
Galileo Galilei stood before the Roman Inquisition in April 1633 to answer charges of heresy for advocating the Copernican model of a sun-centered solar system in his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, published the previous year. Pope Urban VIII, who had been Galileo's friend and patron, felt personally mocked by the character Simplicio, a naive Aristotelian in the dialogue who parroted arguments the Pope had actually made. Under threat of torture, Galileo recanted his support for heliocentrism and was sentenced to house arrest for life. The legend that he muttered 'Eppur si muove' (and yet it moves) after recanting is almost certainly apocryphal. What is true is that Galileo spent his remaining nine years under house arrest writing his most important scientific work, Two New Sciences, which laid the foundations for modern physics. The Church did not formally acknowledge its error until 1992, 359 years late.
February 13, 1633
393 years ago
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