Posted on 01/24/2009 4:51:38 PM PST by BuckeyeTexan
WHEN he was buried - at the insistence of the Catholic Church in unconsecrated ground - Galileo Galilei left behind at least two conundrums: how could a man with impaired eyesight have made the observations that revolutionised astronomy; and did his faulty vision alter what he saw and recorded?
When his body was moved to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, some 100 years later on the initiative of local freemasons, it gave rise to a third riddle: who was the woman found buried alongside him?
Scientists are planning now to solve all three questions with the help of genetics. Paolo Galluzzi, the director of Florence's museum of the history of science, said yesterday he had applied to the local authorities for permission to exhume Galileo's body and that of his companion in death to take samples of their DNA for examination.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
“WHEN he was buried - at the insistence of the Catholic Church in unconsecrated ground “
What did Galileo do to deserve this treatment?
My astronomy’s rusty, but I believe it was for implying the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe.
Earth revolved around the sun?????
He in insisted that the earth orbited the sun and not the other way around.
Jack
bttt
Re: his eyesight. I think at that time they did have some kind of rudimentary eyeglasses or lenses.
Many of his arguments for the Heliocentric theory, such as the tides, were seen by his contemporaries as defective. He was too stubborn to accept corrections.
Copernicus, who promulgated the Heliocentric theory, had no problems with the Church. Had Galileo been willing to accept criticism from his fellow scientists and respond to it, he probably would have been quietly accepted.
“I think its crazy to dig him up again”
I don’t.
Given what Galileo went through from the church, what right does the church have to control his remains?
The tombs of all the very famous people like Galileo and Michelangelo in Florence was my favorite part of seeing Italy. I had no idea I would be so fascinated by that.
“Let’s get the story straight. He had promised to teach the Heliocentric theory as a theory, not as a fact. He broke that promise. Indeed, he published a book in which the Pope was made out to be a fool for not believing the Heliocentric theory. That was what he was condemned for, and put under house arrest. While under house arrest, he lived on a pension from the Pope.
Many of his arguments for the Heliocentric theory, such as the tides, were seen by his contemporaries as defective. He was too stubborn to accept corrections.
Copernicus, who promulgated the Heliocentric theory, had no problems with the Church. Had Galileo been willing to accept criticism from his fellow scientists and respond to it, he probably would have been quietly accepted.”
To condense: He argued that the earth orbited the sun instead of the other way around, he crossed the Pope. sheesh.
He was insolent.
Promised to who, and why? Duress?
The presumption that the so called "Church" had the authority to determine what could be taught anywhere and at all is simply scandalous.
In the 16th Century it was the Church, in the 21st Century it'll be the Obama Administration.
That right there justifies their showing him the instruments of torture.
I think the old galoot had it coming.
≤}B^(
The woman is the one he used to spy on with his telescope. Do we have to answer every question?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.