Galileo Scientific Revolution Analysis

Scientific Revolution: Galileo Galilei The scientific revolution is truly a revolution in that people started to question commonly held beliefs and replace them with new ideas that not only made people rethink the universe they lived in but also their religious beliefs. The early scholars discussed in Chapter 16 of Joshua Cole and Carol Syme’s textbook Western Civilizations did not set out to change people’s religious beliefs, rather bring better explanations for these commonly held beliefs. An example of this is Cole and Syme’s statement about Galileo’s intentions: “[He] made the case for a new relationship between religion and science, challenging in the process some of the most powerful churchmen of his day” (525.) Because of this challenge by Galileo, I believe he had the greatest impact on the scientific revolution. Galileo is arguably one of the most famous scientist of this time. He is known for his accomplishments in mathematics and astronomy. Cole and Syme’s Western Civilizations list establishing support for the Copernican model of the universe, the creation of the telescope, and the discovery of some of Jupiter’s moons as some of his
Copernicus’ model of the universe as heliocentric rather than the commonly believed (and religiously accepted) earth centered universe proposed by Ptolemy wasn’t exactly new. In fact, Ptolemy’s view actually contradicted earlier beliefs by the ancient philosopher Aristarchus of Samos (Cole and Symes 523.) To give Copernicus due credit, I must admit that challenging such a widely held view was a great accomplishment and a milestone for the beginning of science, however Galileo’s outright challenge of the churches belief about the universe rather than Copernicus’ attempt to entertain church officials makes Galileo more influential in the understanding of the