The Felons of Ivory Tower By Garin K. Hovannisian At the start of the 17th century, a prominent astronomer declared that the universe did not revolve around the Earth. For this, Galileo Galilee faced a torrent of societal criticism and his claims were ridiculed. In 1633, he was forced to withdraw his theory. Soon thereafter, allowed by a progressively liberal civilization, Nicholas Copernicus made the same claim, corroborating his assertion with innovative astronomical observations. It is this Copernican model that today serves as the standard and the uncontested truth. The precept of scientific relativism is rooted in the notion that...