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The Galileo Affair

According to Dan Brown, the ‘Galileo Affair’ was a simple matter; Galileo had dangerous new scientific data that the Church repressed. The reality is far, far more complex. As with the other inaccuracies, the truth would undoubtedly have bogged down Brown’s fast-paced story, but it’s important to know that while Langdon claims his (Galileo’s) “data were incontrovertible” (p28) in fact his data were not compelling, and it would take many years before experimental evidence would become persuasive. And Galileo did not know that the Geocentric model of the solar system was “dead wrong” (p168). Of course, with hindsight, we can say his hunch was an extremely good one.

It's not widely known that Galileo’s research was initially funded by the church. This is hard to reconcile with the suggestion that the church simply murdered scientists wherever they could be found. While it’s true that Galileo was forced to water-down the description of his theory so that it was merely a proposed alternate mathematical model, and then held under house arrest for the rest of his life, he was never jailed. In fact, he was permitted to continue his research, and published his most important work after the trial.

For more see The Galileo Affair and Galileo and the Sun-Centered Solar System

Email link | Printer-friendly | Feedback | Contributed by: Adrian Wyard


The Galileo Affair

Dan Brown's Angels and Demons - Introduction
Angels and Demons vs The Da Vinci Code: Similarities and Differences
Angels and Demons: Fact and/or Fiction?
Evaluating Angels and Demons: As Fiction
Evaluating Angels and Demons: As based on Facts
Anti-Matter
The God Particle
The Physics of Creation
Other Technical Notes
Galileo’s Illuminati
The Purga of 1668 and Catholic Suppression of Science
Science and Religion in Conflict
Plot Twists and Secrets in the Film and Book
Suggested Links

Source:

Adrian Wyard

Related Topics

History
Physics
Controversy

The Relation of Science and Religion