From:
Galileo affair - Wikipedia
The
Galileo affair (
Italian:
il processo a Galileo Galilei) was a sequence of events, beginning around 1610,
[1] culminating with the trial and condemnation of
Galileo Galilei by the
Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633 for his support of
heliocentrism.
[2]
In 1610, Galileo published his
Sidereus Nuncius (
Starry Messenger), describing the surprising observations that he had made with the new
telescope, namely the
phases of Venus and the
Galilean moons of
Jupiter. With these observations he promoted the
heliocentric theory of
Nicolaus Copernicus (published in
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543). Galileo's initial discoveries were met with opposition within the Catholic Church, and in 1616 the Inquisition declared heliocentrism to be formally heretical. Heliocentric books were banned and Galileo was ordered to refrain from holding, teaching or defending heliocentric ideas.
[3]
Galileo went on to propose a theory of
tides in 1616, and of comets in 1619; he argued that the tides were evidence for the motion of the Earth. In 1632 Galileo published his
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which implicitly defended heliocentrism, and was immensely popular. Responding to mounting controversy over
theology,
astronomy and
philosophy, the
Roman Inquisition tried Galileo in 1633 and found him "vehemently suspect of
heresy", sentencing him to
indefinite imprisonment. Galileo was kept under house arrest until his death in 1642.
