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The Rise of Science
by Ted Tripp
We have already noted that education in the 14th and 15th centuries was dogmatic due to a shortage in books which forced reliance on scholasticism. The unique nature of our Earth formed one of the corner-stones of orthodox Christianity, so that anyone that ventured even to conjecture the existence of other worlds similar to our own was liable to incur very special displeasure from the Church.
Nevertheless, we find a cardinal, Nicholas of Cusa, by virtue of his position a pillar of the Church, writing in 1440; "I have long considered that this Earth is not fixed, but moves as do the other stars
To my mind, the Earth turns upon its axis once every day and night." That he escaped conflict with the Church was probably because it did not yet realize the full implications of this supposition, but it was soon to show its antagonism against others that began to expound this heresy.
e towards the centre of the Earth and to come to rest there, the Earth itself could have no tendency to move in any direction, with the assertion that gravity was a universal force which could be attributed to all other bodies, consequently there was no longer any reason to prefer the Earth as the centre. He supposed, therefore, that the Earth was a planet moving like the other planets round the sun, and showed in this way the stations, retrogressions and progressions of the planets could be accounted for in a simple way.
By withholding the publication of his great work until after his death Copernicus slipped beyond the reach of the Church which was now thoroughly alive to the threat both to orthodoxy and to its authority in any promulgations of Copernican doctrines. The out-cry was not limited to the Church of Rome, but Luther and Calvin joined in the denunciation of the upstart astrologer who had dared to set his authority above that of Holy Scripture;" thus, the two main factions of the Church were at one in their desire to stamp out inquiry after the truth. Yet the terrors of religion, while they may have delayed, certainly failed to arrest the progress of science.
The religious terror continued right through the sixteenth century. Tens of thousands suffered agonising tortures and death with assurance of everlasting damnation, for an offence of which not only were they innocent, but of which it is impossible that anyone should ever be guilty. The records of the 16th century are ghastly in their revelation of the triumph of bloody superstition. In a single year four hundred persons were burned for sorcery at Toulouse; in another year, five hundred at Geneva, six hundred at Bamberg and in many other centres. The city of Treves alone is said to have seen in the course of the century no less than seven thousand executions for witchcraft and sorcery.
Despite the terror, spectacular triumphs were made in science by the 17th Century. So much so that this century is considered the period in which the modern world begins. Copernicus in the 16th century made the discovery that the sun was the centre of the universe: that the Earth has a daily rotation and an annual revolution around the sun. In this he was the first to show that the beliefs of ancient times could now be shown to be false. This was followed by Kepler (1571-1630) who proved the motion of the planets to be elliptical, thus forcing the abandonment of the aesthetic bias believed from the time of Plato that the movement of heavenly bodies could not be anything else than that of a circle, this being more natural to their spiritual quality than that of an ellipse. Then Galielo (1564-1642), whose construction of the telescope substantiated the theory of Copernicus bringing down on his head the whole concentrated fury of the Church. He was condemned by the Inquisition, privately in 1616 and then publicly in 1623, on the occasion of which he recanted promising never again to maintain that the Earth rotates or revolves.
The Inquisition triumphed in Italy for centuries. It failed, however, to stop the progress of science; instead, it did considerable damage to the Church by its stupidity. Protestant churches were just as eager to do harm to science but as they were unable like Italy to gain control of the state their attacks were weakened.
The Renaissance accelerated the decline of mediaeval scholasticism and paved the way for the beginning of modern philosophy from the 17th century onward. Two Englishmen, Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes inaugurated modern materialism.
[to be continued]
by Ted Tripp
We have already noted that education in the 14th and 15th centuries was dogmatic due to a shortage in books which forced reliance on scholasticism. The unique nature of our Earth formed one of the corner-stones of orthodox Christianity, so that anyone that ventured even to conjecture the existence of other worlds similar to our own was liable to incur very special displeasure from the Church.
Nevertheless, we find a cardinal, Nicholas of Cusa, by virtue of his position a pillar of the Church, writing in 1440; "I have long considered that this Earth is not fixed, but moves as do the other stars
To my mind, the Earth turns upon its axis once every day and night." That he escaped conflict with the Church was probably because it did not yet realize the full implications of this supposition, but it was soon to show its antagonism against others that began to expound this heresy.
e towards the centre of the Earth and to come to rest there, the Earth itself could have no tendency to move in any direction, with the assertion that gravity was a universal force which could be attributed to all other bodies, consequently there was no longer any reason to prefer the Earth as the centre. He supposed, therefore, that the Earth was a planet moving like the other planets round the sun, and showed in this way the stations, retrogressions and progressions of the planets could be accounted for in a simple way.
By withholding the publication of his great work until after his death Copernicus slipped beyond the reach of the Church which was now thoroughly alive to the threat both to orthodoxy and to its authority in any promulgations of Copernican doctrines. The out-cry was not limited to the Church of Rome, but Luther and Calvin joined in the denunciation of the upstart astrologer who had dared to set his authority above that of Holy Scripture;" thus, the two main factions of the Church were at one in their desire to stamp out inquiry after the truth. Yet the terrors of religion, while they may have delayed, certainly failed to arrest the progress of science.
The religious terror continued right through the sixteenth century. Tens of thousands suffered agonising tortures and death with assurance of everlasting damnation, for an offence of which not only were they innocent, but of which it is impossible that anyone should ever be guilty. The records of the 16th century are ghastly in their revelation of the triumph of bloody superstition. In a single year four hundred persons were burned for sorcery at Toulouse; in another year, five hundred at Geneva, six hundred at Bamberg and in many other centres. The city of Treves alone is said to have seen in the course of the century no less than seven thousand executions for witchcraft and sorcery.
Despite the terror, spectacular triumphs were made in science by the 17th Century. So much so that this century is considered the period in which the modern world begins. Copernicus in the 16th century made the discovery that the sun was the centre of the universe: that the Earth has a daily rotation and an annual revolution around the sun. In this he was the first to show that the beliefs of ancient times could now be shown to be false. This was followed by Kepler (1571-1630) who proved the motion of the planets to be elliptical, thus forcing the abandonment of the aesthetic bias believed from the time of Plato that the movement of heavenly bodies could not be anything else than that of a circle, this being more natural to their spiritual quality than that of an ellipse. Then Galielo (1564-1642), whose construction of the telescope substantiated the theory of Copernicus bringing down on his head the whole concentrated fury of the Church. He was condemned by the Inquisition, privately in 1616 and then publicly in 1623, on the occasion of which he recanted promising never again to maintain that the Earth rotates or revolves.
The Inquisition triumphed in Italy for centuries. It failed, however, to stop the progress of science; instead, it did considerable damage to the Church by its stupidity. Protestant churches were just as eager to do harm to science but as they were unable like Italy to gain control of the state their attacks were weakened.
The Renaissance accelerated the decline of mediaeval scholasticism and paved the way for the beginning of modern philosophy from the 17th century onward. Two Englishmen, Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes inaugurated modern materialism.
[to be continued]