Re: Galileo and science teaching

"Steven J." <steven_j@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1186814454.313519.139580@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Aug 10, 7:16 am, Mr tiktaalik <rob_mur...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Perhaps things do not change that much.

In 1610 Galileo published an account of his telescopic observations of
the moons of Jupiter, using this observation to argue in favor of the
sun-centered, Copernican theory of the universe against the dominant
earth-centered Ptolemaic and Aristotelian theories. The next year
Galileo visited Rome in order to demonstrate his telescope to the
influential philosophers and mathematicians of the Jesuit Collegio
Romano, and to let them see with their own eyes the reality of the
four moons of Jupiter. While in Rome he was also made a member of the
Accademia dei Lincei. In 1612, opposition arose to the Sun-centered
solar system which Galileo supported. In 1614, from the pulpit of
Santa Maria Novella, Father Tommaso Caccini (1574-1648) denounced
Galileo's opinions on the motion of the Earth, judging them dangerous
and close to heresy. Galileo went to Rome to defend himself against
these accusations, but, in 1616, Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino
personally handed Galileo an admonition enjoining him neither to
advocate nor teach Copernican astronomy.

In a recent book on the "Heresy of Galileo" it details the precise
nature of this religious advice. The instruction not to teach that the
Earth revolved around the Sun was actually softened; the Cardinal
suggested that if Galileo prefaced his lessons by stating that the
Copernican theory was "only a hypothesis" that would be more
acceptable to the Church.

No prizes for picking out the analogy.

Not even a small prize? After all, ID proponents have drawn the
following analogy: Copernicus and Galileo offered an alternative to
the established paradigm based on new observations, and were shouted
down and threatened by an intolerant establishment backed up with
legal force (cf. Inquisition threatening Galileo and courts keeping ID
out of public schools). The heliocentric solar system offered an
explanation for data (e.g. the phases of Venus) that were inexplicable
under the Ptolemaic paradigm; ID offers an explanation for data (e.g.
specified and/or irreducible complexity) that is inexplicable under
the Darwinian paradigm. Well, okay, they don't actually have an
"explanation" so much as a new gap to stuff a god (excuse me, a
Designer) into, and technically, IC is explicable in terms of mutation
and natural selection. But other than that, and a few other points,
the analogy is perfect.

-- Steven J.



The IDiots don't wish you to see that the analogy breaks down because
Copernicus and Galileo published their evidence and analyses in books,
publicly available, and the Church banned the books, and jailed the authors
[well, Galileo as Copernicus was dead], rather than doing research that
produced an alternative model. The difference is that the IDiots have yet
to come up with any publications of scientific results that would change the
prevailing evolution model, which has masses of scientific evidence
accumulated over 150 years, published in peer-reviewed journals for all to
see.

--
Mike Dworetsky

(Remove pants sp*mbl*ck to reply)

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Shrinking Earth
    ... >>> It seems to me that whether the earth didn't double in size in the ... Galileo, an Italian physicist and astronomer, along with the German astronomer ... He turned from speculative physics to careful ... beginning in 1595 he preferred the Copernican theory---that the earth revolves ...
    (sci.geo.geology)
  • Re: Galileo against Copernicus
    ... Was Wrong The Church Was Right", State Line, PA: Catholic Apologetics ... See also Stillman Drake, "Galileo At Work: ... not the truth of the Copernican system that is not to be ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Teaching solar system models. Websites or software?
    ... The Copernican heliocentric model still has the entire universe ... It was not adopted until Galileo ... After that Kepler with elliptical orbits, ... accusers by presenting a letter showing he was not banned from teaching ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Trouble setting up new table saw
    ... The analogy is really aimed and encouraging people to examine the ... I don't mind attributing the role of Galileo with those who ... subsequently the quality of their woodworking) with proper alignment. ... I don't doubt that you want to know which part I think you play in the ...
    (rec.woodworking)
  • Re: Helicopter Flight Trials For EGNOS
    ... Galileo, ... You've been using GPS so it's time to pony up, ... You should look up "analogy" in your English dictionary, ... Europe has had since the Autobahn. ...
    (sci.geo.satellite-nav)