In every generation there are people who break free from accepted tradition and change the way we think and see things. Galileo Galilei was such a person. He was the first man to raise a telescope to the skies and see beyond the limited boundaries of the Catholic Church. His way of thinking, however, was considered dangerous, and the belief was that ordinary people wouldn't be able to cope with the knowledge that Galileo's teachings brought to everyone. The church didn't want their ideas challenged, for without the fixed beliefs of Heaven and Hell, they would have no control over people.
It was time to halt Galileo in his oath before he could do any more damage.
For many hundreds of years, it had been generally accepted that the Earth was the centre of everything. It was situated between Heaven and Hell and was enclosed in revolving glass spheres. All the planets and starts were embedded in the spheres, which made music to sing the Earth to sleep as they turned. This was preached in sermons by the Church, it was written in the Bible, and very few people actually thought much about what they were hearing. They unquestioningly accepted what they were told by figures of authority.
Galileo bought and found out how to use the very latest astronomical invention - the telescope - and he would look up at the starts at night through his new instrument. He recorded everything he saw. He published a book called ``The Starry Messenger'' which detailed all of his findings. He discovered that the Earth revolved around the Sun and that the Moon was not smooth but cratered and uneven. He also discovered the nature and material of the Milky Way.
People read Galileo's book, and they were inspired and astounded. Galileo made maps of the heavens and dedicated the four newly discovered moons of Jupiter to his patron and ruler, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosino II. Soon Galileo was famous. More and more people celebrated the stars, and they honoured Galileo with spectacular statues and parades.
As the Church began to get angry, Galileo was ordered to stop believing what he could see with his own eyes. He was summoned to see the highest ruler of all - The Pope. He was tried by the Papal court, and was condemned to spend the rest of his life in his house under armed guard.
Galileo knew that his ideas were strongly opposed, and he could have kept quiet and held back the inevitable procession of scientific knowledge, but instead he chose to speak openly about his findings, and risk excommunication, and quite possibly, death.
300 years later, the Church that had punished Galileo pardoned him and admitted that he was absolutely right.
Emma Hughes and Lucy Shaw
December 9, 1999.
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