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What really got Galileo in trouble was being an incredible prick, claiming discoveries and inventions that weren't his, etc. The pope was a childhood friend that Galileo repeatedly insulted until the pope finally relented and allowed Galileo to be punished, with strict limits imposed. Galileo was never tortured (though he was shown a torture chamber and its tools) and his "jail" was a five-room suite in the Bishop's palace, with servants.




I think that was the Pope who said that the Bible teaches how to go to Heaven and not how the Heaven's go.

The church did ban Copernicus for a time, though they warmed to it under Galileo and Tycho Brahe.

Certainly there were those who did not like Galileo's theories at all and those who justifiably wanted proof since, with the Inquisition controlling publishing, anything approved for printing could be assumed to have the Church's endorsement.

His theory of the tides which they wanted taken out the Dialogue was in fact wrong. He also refused to include the theories of Brahe, a version of Copernicus the church liked better.

I thought what got him in trouble with his friend, Pope Urban, were rumors that he put quotes from from him in the mouth of the character "simpleton", thus insulting and embarrassing him.

Though some in the church might have taught his theories, in the end the Church did ban the Dialogue for 200+ years and "officially" banned all his books - though I don't think they took it as seriously as it sounds..

Certainly there were those in the Church who took this ban and others as the Church's opposition to those theories.

Personally I am pleased with the Church's welcoming of Science and the scientific method. And, I have no problem with them requiring proof before full endorsement of a theory - that's good Science.
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Amo i Gemelli!! wink