Thony on Galileo
As I have noted many times before, among historians of science, there just is no controversy about the fact that Galileo had certainly not "proven" heliocentrism, or that the Church considered the theory seriously, and found Galileo's scientific claims for it unconvincing. Here is Thony on the topic:
"One of the most persistent and pernicious myths in the history of astronomy is that Galileo, with his telescopic observations, proved the validity of the Copernican heliocentric hypothesis and thus all opposition to it from that point on was purely based on ignorance and blind religious prejudice. Strangely, this version of the story is particularly popular amongst gnu atheists. I say strangely because these are just the people who pride themselves on only believing the facts and basing all their judgements on the evidence."
Except, of course, when they don't like the facts!
"One of the most persistent and pernicious myths in the history of astronomy is that Galileo, with his telescopic observations, proved the validity of the Copernican heliocentric hypothesis and thus all opposition to it from that point on was purely based on ignorance and blind religious prejudice. Strangely, this version of the story is particularly popular amongst gnu atheists. I say strangely because these are just the people who pride themselves on only believing the facts and basing all their judgements on the evidence."
Except, of course, when they don't like the facts!
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