400th Anniversary of the Telescope

[PPI Brian]

400 years ago, Galileo turned his telescope toward the sky and changed the way we saw the universe. Galileo and the many astronomers who followed in his footsteps shook the very foundations of our society by questioning the accepted scientific teachings of the time. Unfortunately, their discoveries incited the wrath of the church, and Galileo himself was convicted of heresay by the Inquisition in 1634. His crime? Having the audacity to speak the truth about his astronomical observations. The earth was not the center of the universe, you see; the earth actually orbited the sun just as Jupiter's moons orbited the giant planet Jupiter. Galileo's scientific research was siezed by the church and he spent the remaining years of his life under house arrest. He died on January 8, 1642.

The Inquisition's ban on reprinting Galileo's works was partially lifted in 1718, but it was not until 1835 that the church finally dropped Galileo's writings from the official Index of Prohibited Books. On October 31, 1992, Pope John Paul II expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was handled, and officially conceded that the Earth was not the center of the univese, and that the Earth was merely one of a system of planets that orbit the sun. It only took the church 350 years to officially reach this conclusion, but this year the Vatican has plans to erect a statue of Galileo to honor his legacy.

So if you have a telescope languishing in your closet, let it languish no more. Dust it off, set it up and take it outside this week to honor the memory of Galileo. Take a moment to thank him for being brave enough to stand up and speak the truth. And take a moment and admire the beauty of space that surrounds our tiny world. This humble invention that changed the world 400 years ago continues to do so today.
 
Link to a National Geographic article about Galileo's telescope:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/photogalleries/galileos-telescope-pictures-anniversary/

Link to Astronomy.com video: The Day Galileo Changed the Universe
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=7879

[PPI Jason]

I was just thinking.

In Galileo's day, new knowledge seemed to constantly come into conflict with established religious beliefs. There was a trend where people seemed to turn more and more toward reason, instead of faith, as a solution to their problems and as an answer to their questions. It seemed as if new discoveries were contradicting the bible and religious thoughts left and right making religion look like a thing of the past. Mankind seemed to think it had everything figured out during the industrial revolution as invention after invention made the world a better place and gave everyone the feeling that civilization was going to be an unending series of success and progress from here on out. Then came all the problems that came along with the industrial revolution, including terrible working conditions and lower standards of living that Brian continues to combat to this day. And while we have continued to struggle with the problems that come with technological advance, many of our new inventions have led to some of the most destructive weapons ever created and the deaths of millions in two world wars.

I'm grateful for Galileo and his contributions. I think all the great minds who have dared to question the way things have always been and dared to ask, "Why not?" have done the world a tremendous servce. I just think it's kind of interesting that in the end it seems as though religious philosphers and scientific minds have left us a legacy where many of us seem to think that we can use reason to make the world a better place but where we still like to keep faith in our pocket as a back up, just in case 

[Brian Johnson]

Wow, it looks really good for its age!

But all kidding aside, can you imagine where we would be without this wonderful invention? We would probably still think the earth was the center of the solar system.

[PPI Brian]

I was just thinking.

In Galileo's day, new knowledge seemed to constantly come into conflict with established religious beliefs. There was a trend where people seemed to turn more and more toward reason, instead of faith, as a solution to their problems and as an answer to their questions. It seemed as if new discoveries were contradicting the bible and religious thoughts left and right making religion look like a thing of the past. Mankind seemed to think it had everything figured out during the industrial revolution as invention after invention made the world a better place and gave everyone the feeling that civilization was going to be an unending series of success and progress from here on out. Then came all the problems that came along with the industrial revolution, including terrible working conditions and lower standards of living that Brian continues to combat to this day. And while we have continued to struggle with the problems that come with technological advance, many of our new inventions have led to some of the most destructive weapons ever created and the deaths of millions in two world wars.

I'm grateful for Galileo and his contributions. I think all the great minds who have dared to question the way things have always been and dared to ask, "Why not?" have done the world a tremendous servce. I just think it's kind of interesting that in the end it seems as though religious philosphers and scientific minds have left us a legacy where many of us seem to think that we can use reason to make the world a better place but where we still like to keep faith in our pocket as a back up, just in case 

Hi Jason,

Sorry for the delayed repsonse to your excellent post. I agree; there is room for science and faith to coexist in the 21st century. The Buddhists have never believed in a literal interpretation of their holy scriptures, because they believe scripture should evolve over time to best suit the spiritual needs of their people. I think that is happening happening to all mainstream religions today in the industrialized nations of the world.

Thich Nhat Hahn and Daniel Berrigan wrote a book on this subject entitiled: "The Raft is not the Shore; Conversations Toward a Buddhist/Christian Awareness ."  In this book they illustrate why no doctrine, whether religious or philosophical, should be treated as the absolute truth, but rather serve only as a guiding means for developing awareness, tranquility and opening one's heart to others. They see organized religion as an institution parallel to society and oftentimes as bankrupt, complacent and antihuman as to make an individual's true spiritual quest by necessity one of perpetual resistance.

I too am grateful to Galileo and his contributions, and I also realize that he brought a lot of misery upon himself. Had he not written the "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems" and characterized Pope Urban VIII's arguments for a Ptolemaic or earth-centered universe through the words of a character named Simplicio, which literally meant simpleton in Italian, the church may not have reacted so negatively to his writings. Galileo said he meant no harm and felt blindsided by the reaction to his book, but the Pope did not take the suspected public ridicule lightly. I suppose I will never understand why the church thought questioning a theoretical belief system established by pagans (the ptolemaic earth-centered universe theory) was an attack on the Bible. It just doesn't make sense to me. 

[PPI Jason]

I suppose I will never understand why the church thought questioning a theoretical belief system established by pagans (the ptolemaic earth-centered universe theory) was an attack on the Bible. It just doesn't make sense to me. 

This is an interesting point. There is a huge amount of debate on this point. Some people argue that many early Christian (and by inference, Jewish) beliefs came from pagans (e.g. I just watched a documentary that compared Hercules' search for the golden apple of Hesperedes to the story of Adam and Eve and his self-sacrafice and eventual godhood to the story of Jesus). Some argue that pagans got their ideas from Christians. Some argue they developed their beliefs completely independently (in my opinion, the least likely scenario of the three). But the very fact that such debate exists to this day tells me that many of us simply aren't certain where many of our beliefs originated. Add into the mix the fact that many of us argue over what those beliefs really are.

I think the Pope, as well as many early christians, were probably simply unaware of the possibility that the earth-centered theory was pagan in origin (Just like many Christians today are unaware that many Christmas traditions have pagan origins).

And I agree with you on another point, Brian. I think Galileo's biggest problem was that he was kind of a jerk about his opinions. Just because you're right doesn't mean you have to be rude about it. I think if he understood Jesus' message better, he probably would have been more tactful in his presentation of the truth. Then again......... Jesus didn't make friends with everyone in His own day, and He certainly ticked off the authorities when He presented His own revolutionary ideas. Hmmmmmmmm.

Here's an interesting thought. Why do the people in charge get so ticked off when someone comes along with a new idea or a new way of doing things?

[PPI Brian]

I suppose I will never understand why the church thought questioning a theoretical belief system established by pagans (the ptolemaic earth-centered universe theory) was an attack on the Bible. It just doesn't make sense to me. 

This is an interesting point. There is a huge amount of debate on this point. Some people argue that many early Christian (and by inference, Jewish) beliefs came from pagans (e.g. I just watched a documentary that compared Hercules' search for the golden apple of Hesperedes to the story of Adam and Eve and his self-sacrafice and eventual godhood to the story of Jesus). Some argue that pagans got their ideas from Christians. Some argue they developed their beliefs completely independently (in my opinion, the least likely scenario of the three). But the very fact that such debate exists to this day tells me that many of us simply aren't certain where many of our beliefs originated. Add into the mix the fact that many of us argue over what those beliefs really are.

I agree; our current belief systems evolved over thousands of years, and they were not concieved from a vacuum. Each culture borrowed bits and pieces from the previous culture and built their own system to suit the spiritual needs of the time. It's ironic that people in the 21st century still argue over what those belief systems truly mean.

Here's an interesting thought. Why do the people in charge get so ticked off when someone comes along with a new idea or a new way of doing things?

I often wonder about this, because my line of work is based entirely upon questioning authority and empowering people to take control of their own destiny. There is always resistance to change, and it's always motivated by the selfishness of people in postitions of authority. People don't like to have their authority questioned, and when it is questioned, they often react in a very childish manner instead of dealing with the situation in a calm and intellectual fashion. It's all a big power trip, man.