Eppur si non muove: the Vatican's half-hearted rehabilitation of Galileo will not prevent the recurrence of errors of the same kind

Article Abstract:

The Vatican failed to go far enough in admitting that the Inquisition erred in 1633 when it forced Galileo to deny that the sun rather than the Earth lies at the Solar System's center and that the Earth orbits the Sun. Having investigated Galileo's case since 1980, the Vatican now acknowledges that he was correct but also says that the Inquisition acted properly in preferring a literal reading of 'Genesis' to Galileo's astronomical evidence. Moreover, the Vatican's comments are dangerous because they suggest that common sense perceptions are appropriate criteria for judging scientific hypotheses.

Editorial, Cases, Religion and science, Inquisition

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Optical tests of Galileo's lenses

Article Abstract:

The telescopic lenses with which Galileo made his astronomical discoveries were subjected to optical analysis using modern equipment. This analysis, which included the use of a digital phase-shift Fizeau interferometer, found that the lenses produced images of almost perfect optical quality. This finding sheds light on both the history of optical apparatus and on the astronomical usefulness of the high-quality lenses that Galileo made or adapted.

Testing, Column, History, Biography, Telescope, Telescopes, Lenses, Lenses (Optics), Astronomical instruments

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Problems with Galileo

Article Abstract:

Galileo's claim that he has proven Copernicus' heliocentric theory still need to be questioned. The only accepted proof of the said theory is the discovery of the annual stellar aberration, which was only forwarded almost a century after Galileo's claim. In addition to this is the discovery of the annual stellar parallax in the 1830s, an effect which was actually predicted by the Copernican theory.

Astronomy, Observations, Parallax

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