Vatican astronomer explores ‘Real Galileo Affair’


Inside NAU Home \| NAU in the News \| Archives \| Submit a News Tip	Vol. 3 No. 12 \| March 22, 2006

Vatican astronomer to explore ‘Real Galileo Affair’

A Vatican Observatory astronomer will be at Northern Arizona University on March 27 to talk about Galileo’s life and work and how both were influenced by the time in which he lived.

Guy Consolmagno, a brother in the Jesuit Order, will examine how Galileo’s work challenged the science of the day, how it was shaped by the personal ambitions of others, and how Galileo’s standing rose and fell with the fortunes of the Spanish during the Thirty Years War.

Consolmagno’s presentation on “The Real Galileo Affair and its Effects on Church/Science Relations” will be at 7 p.m. in room 265 of the Biological Sciences building (#21).

“Science is always shaped by what is happening in the broader society that supports it, and the science of the 17th century was no different,” according to Consolmagno, who earned a doctorate from the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona.

Galileo essentially was a self-educated mathematician. He was not particularly strong in Latin, the language of scholarship, and disdainful of the prevailing style of scholarly writing.

Where the other astronomers of the day were attempting to work within a scientific framework that ultimately was inadequate, Galileo was more interested in the approval of the public than the approval of his scientific peers. He owed his living as the mathematician of the Medicis, and the sales of his books to his personal notoriety.

“But that very notoriety made him an easy target not only to his enemies, but to the political rivals of the Medici family,” Consolmagno said.

Galileo's support of the Copernican system was not well founded. His arguments were often flawed or open to other interpretations, but, Consolmagno said, “Galileo's astronomy is remembered because he was such a brilliant writer and because, ultimately, he was right.”

Consolmagno’s talk is open to the public and is presented by the NAU Department of Physics and Astronomy. For information, call (928) 523-2661.