Nathan Mittelstaedt Western History from 1300s Professor: Lolene Blake 10/23/13 Galileos Letter to the Grand duchess

Christina of Tuscany, 1615 Galileos letter to the grand duchess of Tuscany had a grand impact on the way people studied and related to nature during that time. Most of Europe was fully committed to the church which gave the church most of the power during that era. Many people that had power during that time had already predefined the base of how nature and physics were to be understood. The problem was that the people in power did not fully understand the bible and used it as backup to their arguments. Nobody stood up to the church during that time except for one man. After reading this article, Id think that proving Newtons favor towards Galileos case. Galileo makes arguments that are very rational and very precise. Galileo gives reasons to why the church should not be charging him as a non-believer or an offender when they cant prove his findings to be wrong or fake. In the first part, Galileo sets apart the studies between the study of earthly things or science, and the study of deity or a higher law; he does this so he can prove that men whom plagiarize or discriminate the bible by taking out versus or removing valid points are making a mistake that will be answered for. Galileo believed that there was a difference between the study of spiritual and the study of sciences. Physical conclusions pertaining to the celestial motions deal with astronomical and geometrical demonstrations, founded primarily on sense experiences

and very exact observations. In other words the bible cannot explain by itself all of the physical phenomena and people need to make their own studies and search for the true understanding of science, it has the occasion to speak of any physical conclusion, but it is not necessary for the bible to prove all of the phenomenas of nature. Meaning the bible does not explain entirely the phenomenas of the earth. That alone could explain why the earth is so much wider in science and not in religion, proving Galileos point that religion is for the soul and not entirely explainable about earth. Now with these words being spoke of by Galileo its pretty obvious that Galileo was paving the way for the separation of church and government, or science. But he did not want his opposers to think that he was not a religious man. Galileo believed that his argument had nothing to do with the power of god. Galileo says, I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with senses, reason and intellect has intended us to forego their use and by some other means to give us knowledge which we can attain by him. Newton had the same belief system as well; these scientific findings were meant to prove the power of God, and not to reject him. Both of these men argued that if the sacred scribes had any intention of teaching people certain arrangements and motions of the heavenly bodies, or had they wished us to derive such knowledge from the bible, then they would not have spoken of these matters so sparingly in comparison with the infinite number of admirable conclusions which are demonstrated in that of science. This is what upset the church authorities they believed that Galileo was undermining the power of the scriptures, when all he was trying to say is that god left couch mysteries in that book, so profound and concepts so sublime that vigils, labors, and the studies of hundreds upon hundreds of the most intelligent minds have still not pierced them, even after continual investigations for thousands of years. His findings exemplify gods splendor and magnificence,

because they prove his power to create a universe so complex and divine, that even the most intelligent minds have difficulty in understanding. In a history class I heard a teacher talk of a significant thing, change! Some crazy ideas that we think of now like world peace or galaxy travel people think are impossible. This thinking, is the exact same as the members with power in the church, thought in 1615. I dont know what Idea there is out there that could help change the way our government thinks? But my hope is that one day a revolution will come. A revolution that changes the way our government, our religions, and even the pubic think. But did Galileo have any idea what was going to happen if he continued writing these letters to the grand duchess? No, he only knew what he believed in, and that was science. Basic hardcore facts that Galileo studied and went into depth to fully understand. To me that is a man of both religion and science, and he achieved the highest potential for both!

Citations Isaac newton heretic by Stephan Snobelen copyright 1999, pg 381 Makings of the west, people and culture pg 293-297 by Katherine j Lualdi.