STS112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Galileo Affair
8 Jun 2018
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Week 7: Trial of Galileo
1616 Decree
• 73 years after his death in a 1616 decree, the Catholic Church condemns Copernicanism
• If a Catholic publicly taught that Copernicanism was true, they were guilty of heresy - Copernicanism could
be taught as a hypothesis to aid astronomy
• During 1612-1616 Galileo worked hard on promoting himself and Copernicanism
The Trial
• In 1632, Galileo summoned to Rome to face charges of heresy – he was defiant towards the Church’s
authority and he had expressly defied instructions not to promote the truth of Copernicanism
• In 1633, Galileo was found guilty of heresy and was forced to recant – he was subjected to house arrest
• With the assistance of his students managed to complete his final major work on Natural Philosophy
exploring the mathematics of motion
Impact of Galileo’s Trial
• Astronomical research and cosmological speculation was hindered in Italy - many other areas of research
continued quite strongly in areas such as dynamics and mathematics conducted by Galileo’s students
• Galileo retained support of a number of students who continued many areas of his work and were committed
to preserving his reputation
• Galileo died in 1642 same year as Newton is born
Science vs. Religion
• The Galileo affair has been regularly re-interpreted in various historical contexts especially as a symbol of
the conflict between Science and Religion or the suppression of freedom of thought
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