The author’s main argument in Galileo’s Daughter is that Galileo is more than a scientist and a revolutionist. The book brings him to life, showing that him as a family man and a caring father. The book also looks at how his conflicts with the church affected his life and his family. The book used written letters between Galileo and his daughter Sister Maria Celeste. It gave the book a more personal point of view and actually put you in their life instead of reading a book written from a prospective of a secondary source. The book also looks at the life of Galileo’s daughter as well as Galileo himself. The book makes you view him not only as a great scientist but as loving and caring father as well. The book goes through the life of Galileo talking about his many inventions, his fight with the church and how he got forced to stop teaching and live the rest of his life under house arrest. The book is very factual and very chronological. It talks about Galileo's groundbreaking ideas regarding space, gravity, and philosophy. The book does a great job of bringing Galileo’s conflicts and relationships to life. The book really focuses on the conflict between Galileo and the Catholic Church, most notably Pope Urban VIII, once …show more content…
There are many books about Galileo and his science. This one has no new biographical facts or scientific discussions. What this book did was choose excerpts from the letters and bring Galileo to life. Reading Galileo's Daughter we hear Galileo's voice, we feel his pain and share his excitement. It really expanded on my knowledge of him and it made you look at him of just a guy instead of this mystical being that we don’t know much about other than that he changed the changed the way that the entire world looks at science and religion by challenging the church and their teachings. He wanted to prove things using fact, instead of just saying that’s what it says in the
He also made some of the first observations of nature with long-lasting implications for physics (biography.com). He is known for developing the telescope and stood by the Copernican theory, which is based on a sun-centered solar system where the planets revolve around the sun (biography.com). Galileo’s biggest issue was supporting Copernican’s theory, because it went against society (biography.com). Society once thought that the Earth was flat and they thought that the sun revolved around us. When Galileo went against that, people looked down upon him. Galileo did conform so he could make life easier (biography.com). “Church reaction against the book was swift, and Galileo was summoned to Rome. The Inquisition proceedings lasted from September 1632 to July 1633. During most of this time, Galileo was treated with respect and never imprisoned. However, in a final attempt to break him, Galileo was threatened with torture, and he finally admitted he had supported Copernican theory, but privately held that his statements were correct. He was convicted of heresy and spent his remaining years under house arrest (biography.com).”
In the midst of this, Cardinal Bellarmine wrote him a letter explaining why his ideas were not going to be accepted. He said: “But to want to affirm that the sun really is fixed in the center of the heavens and only revolves around itself (i.e., turns upon its axis) without traveling from east to west, and that the earth is situated in the third sphere and revolves with great speed around the sun, is a very dangerous thing, not only by irritating all the philosophers and scholastic theologians, but also by injuring our holy faith and rendering the Holy Scriptures false” (Document B). The Cardinal explains how Galileo is contradicting the teachings of the theologists, philosophers, and the Bible. Also, he is doing a dangerous deed because the Church was afraid of these contradicting ideas because they could have destroyed the perspective on the Church and caused a major decrease in power. Galileo contradicting the Church impacted the future by causing more people to begin and question the ways of life, leading to new
An important thing to remember is that is the 16th and 17th centuries, there was no separation between State and the Church. Most/all rules in the State had to do something with the Bible and how it had been interpreted, and it anyone had opposed the ideas of the Bible, they would not only get punished by the church, but also by the State. This made it laborious to try to prove an idea with science, just as Galileo was trying to do. Not even the smallest accusation about the church was taken lightly, “As you know, the Council [of Trent] prohibits interpreting the Scriptures contrary to the common agreement of the holy Fathers.” (Document B). At this point Galileo had only just started his discoveries, and sharing them with the public and church. Even though Galileo never explicitly vocalized that the scriptures were wrong, just by throwing the idea out that the Earth revolved around the Sun, caused disagreement from the Church and State. The timing that Galileo started to speak about his discoveries and thoughts about the universe was not the best. He started to say his ideas only a little after Bruno. Galileo supported Bruno’s idea on how the universe worked. This was probably not the best idea for Galileo, considering that Bruno had been burned to death in 1600, for the popular belief that he was going against the Bible. The main difference between
One of her best works is a historical memoir called Galileo’s Daughter. This book is written using the surviving letters from Galileo’s oldest daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, written to Galileo. Sobel translates these letters into English herself and bases her story of the information she gets from them.
In the letter Galileo explained that it would not matter if something in the Bible was disproven, the primary purpose of the Bible is salvation. He also believed that God gave him and others intellect. He reasoned that if God did not want people to gain knowledge, then God would not have gave them the ability to reason or the ability to make new discoveries. Galileo also believed that if the sacred scribes wanted us to have all the answers they would have written them, and that the Holy Ghost intended to only teach us how to get to heaven, not how heaven goes.
Scientifically, Galileo will be remembered for invention of the telescope, which allowed astronomers, sailors and other view the heavens and seas, which fed their own theories. He used his own invention to discover the four moons of Jupiter, the mountains and craters of the moon, and sunspots. His work on falling objects led to gravitational studies and mathematical theorems which are on a basic level, physics. Experimentation was used as a means to prove the laws of science along with the mathematical theories. Math, according to Galileo, was the only infallible form of logic. If a mathematical law could be formed from an event, then it was a logical, rational event. His breaking from the Catholic Church, voicing his findings and staying with his convictions broke the traditional way of thinking that the Church was the end all and be all of all things. In the end, he was proven right for most of his beliefs and vindicated for his suppression.
Galileo Galilei was a very influential and controversial astronomer, scientist, mathematician, teacher, and physicist. His life began in the sixteenth century and ended in the seventeenth, in which he penned several books that supported the Copernican theory of a heliocentric solar system. In the words of Drake S. (1957) “... the works of Galileo are well written, and throw light upon the origins of modern science…”(Pg. 2) Although Galileo was soon deemed a heretic by the Roman Catholic church, he continued diligently challenging Aristotelian thought and doctrine and expressing his support of the Copernican theory. As he continued to make discoveries that supported this theory, the church continued to label him as a heretic, and eventually
In the history of the Catholic Church, no episode is so contested by so many viewpoints as the condemnation of Galileo. The Galileo case, for many, proves the Church abhors science, refuses to abandon outdated teachings, and is clearly not infallible. For staunch Catholics the episode is often a source of embarrassment and frustration. Either way it is undeniable that Galileo’s life sparked a definite change in scientific thought all across Europe and symbolised the struggle between science and the Catholic Church.
This is quite ironic, considering the Church originally did not want Galileo's findings held as true in fear that they would lose their credibility in interpretation the Bible. The Church's apology does bring unity between science and faith, with Galileo writing to the Duchess Christina of Tuscany that "He [God] would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters of direct experience," (Document A). When the Church finally recognized Galileo's studies as scientifically correct and proven, it shows that religion can coincide with science and that one can be based off of another. Although there is still conflict today regarding theological beliefs and scientific findings, the Church's apology was the stepping stone for acceptance among people and ideas globally. In conclusion, the apology to Galileo has made a profound effect on the way science and religion interact in today's society and how having an open mind to ideas everywhere can change the way one perceives the
Due to that, many philosophers have tried to search for a way to reconcile the differences in harmony. The author then shifted his focus on Galileo case and explain that the main point in Galileo case (on sun-center the universe but not the earth-center as the church interpreted from the bible), was to seek for the knowledge of nature and Bible in harmony but in not in conflict. He further explain that Galileo was in support of the view that bible teaches on salvation, that is how to go to heaven, but not how the heaven go. Knowledge of Natural world on the other hand, deals with empirical observation and reasoned demonstration. The case according to the author was rule in a political manner and Galileo was guilty and prosecuted. His friend, Pope urban VIII, turned against him. The author ended the chapter by explaining that, histories have shown that Galileo case was an argument about “enduring question of authority to produce and deliver knowledge. The church inquisitor saw Galileo’s claim as a threat to their beliefs and a challenge to their authority of power of give knowledge that why they found he
The Catholic church has performed many acts of injustice in order to retain their power and influence throughout the world. One of the most prominent acts in the world of science was the prosecution of Galileo Galilei. Galileo had become the father of modern science, due to his scientific breakthroughs revolutionizing modern technology. However, Galileo’s supporting argument for the Copernican heliocentric theory of the universe had caught the Church’s attention, and they would go on to accuse Galileo of heresy, forcing him to spend the rest of his life under house arrest. The battle between Galileo and the Holy Office was a long and treacherous one with Galileo being condemned not once, but twice. This led to a
Until the proof was put together, the ideas should only be taught as hypothesis. In 1623 Pope Gregory XV died, and Galileo's close friend Maffeo Barberini became Pope Urban VIII. The new Pope gave Galileo vague permission to ignore the ban and write a book about his opinions, so long as he did not openly support his theory. Galileo consented, and set to work writing his masterpiece, “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems.”
Galileo is concerned with obtaining the truth about the world we live in, whether religion provides an answer or science. This is evident in the letter when he is discussing the “celestial bodies” concerning the work of Copernicus. Galileo believes that it would be wholly unjustified to ban Copernicus’ work after it has been confirmed over the years, he puts it: “in my judgement to be a contravention of the truth” if this were to occur. Basically Galileo believes if something is true, the basis of the truth either, religious or scientific is equally creditable. He further states that if scientific fact is unattainable, it must be a thing of faith and religion; “where human reasoning cannot reach” and there “is no science but only opinion of faith” the truth must be in the Scripture. This is demonstrated in the letter “whether the stars are animate” or “whether or not the heavens are spherical”. Galileo believes that ultimately that the science behind a phenomena will
This document shows the sort of plea that Galileo gives to the Duchess in hope of some kind of sympathy and to prove that his new concepts are not being accepted and also that he’s being accused for the wrong reasons. And he could also be trying to impress her in way, like in the first sentence he writes, “Some years ago, as Your Serene Highness well knows, I discovered in
He was an Italian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, and engineer who played a large role in the scientific revolution (1564-1642). Galileo was often faced with controversial arguments about his findings. Based on the shared knowledge of the Catholic Church, it tried to compress the personal knowledge of Galileo. This is where the idea of personal and shared knowledge shaping each other comes into perspective, as Galileo was continuously faced with the knowledge of the Church. Continuously his personal knowledge was rejected, because shared knowledge had such an influence among the people. His hypothesis frightened both the Protestant leaders and Catholic Church because it went against their teachings and authority. If people believed that the church could be wrong about this, they would question the church teachings as well. The Church warned Galileo of his theories, however silently he continued to research. The Church's greatest fear was that Galileo's personal knowledge would ultimately change the shared knowledge of the Church. In 1632, he published a book which presented both of the ideas of Copernicus and Ptolemy, and it was clear that Galileo supported the Copernican theory which stated that the Earth moved around the Sun. Galileo was sentenced to court and found guilty. Under torture, he admitted his findings were false. Only in 1992, the Catholic Church