Galileo: The Suppression of Knowledge.

It should be said that Galileo was not the first to propose that the Earth orbited around the sun but until the publication of his observations, Copernican theory, as it was known, had been tolerated by the church as a theory that aided scientists in their calculations and not the physical truth. This seems like a silly distinction but it cost Galileo his liberty.

One morning in 1613, Cosimo de' Medici and his mother, the Grand Duchess Christina began discussing the topic of Jupiter's satellites, of which Galileo was an expert as his observations had discovered them. Benedetto Castelli, Galileo's student, who was present, asked Galileo to comment on the central point of that conversation, the conflict between the Bible and Copernican theory. Galileo replied to this in his 'Letter to Grand Duchess Christina' which quickly circulated widely in manuscript form. In it, Galileo famously declared that the Bible teaches how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go. Galileo's belief in the truth of the Copernican hypothesis alarmed the church, and the Inquisition carefully examined Galileo's letter.

And so Galileo's problems with the church began.

Galileo was called to Rome about the Copernican theory on two occasions, in 1616 and in 1632. On the first occasion, in February 1616, it was agreed by the Inquisition that:

-The immobility of the Sun at the centre of the universe was absurd in philosophy and formally heretical, and that......

-The mobility of Earth was absurd in philosophy and at least erroneous in theology.


In February 1616, by authorisation of the Pope, Galileo was then summoned to Rome and warned not to speak out in defence of the Copernican theory. Rumours immediately began to circulate that Galileo had been condemned and prosecuted but wisely Galileo had secured a letter stating that this was not the case but that he had had been notified of the Papal decision to censor Copernicus' De Revolutionibus because a heliostatic claim was contrary to the literal meaning of scripture.

Galileo duly kept away from writing on cosmological matters, concentrating instead, on applying his discovery of Jupiter's satellites for determining longitude at sea.

In 1624 Galileo had an audience with the newly elected Pope Urban VIII, who was a friend and former patron. In the meetings he had with the Pope, Galileo believed he was encouraged to discuss the Copernican theory so long as it was treated as a hypothesis and began to write the 'Two Chief World Systems', which was published in 1632. The work caused an outcry because Galileo seemed to have gone against the injunction of 1616 not to advocate the physical truth of Copernicus' claim.

The sale of the book was suspended six months after its publication.

In September 1632, Galileo was summoned to Rome again and he arrived in January 1633. First the inquisitors tried to get Galileo to admit that he had earlier been officially banned from teaching Copernicus' theory as true, but Galileo produced his letter of 1616 to contradict this. A plea bargain to plead guilty to a lesser charge was scuppered, however, when Urban VIII decided in June that Galileo should be imprisoned for life. Galileo was then interrogated under threat of torture, and made to abjure the 'vehement suspicion of heresy'. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Galileo spent the rest of his life at his home at Arcetri, under house arrest with the Archbishop of Siena. Pleas for pardons or for medical treatment were refused.

so the lesson learned is that even if oppressors tell you to keep your mouth shut, keep doing what you were doing before and you will be remembered throughout history.