Hi! Thanks for the question.
The link below describes the most important astronomers in a
particular era and some information on the restrictions religions
imposed on them such as the time of Copernicus and Galileo.
People In The History Of Astronomy
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/4515/HISTORY.html
That is just the start. In this amazing article about the influence of
religion on the work of astronomers especially on the Galileo affair,
provides us with an enriching perspective. I have provided here some
snippets which is directly relevant to your question.
“The popular view is that Copernicus "discovered" that the earth
revolves around the sun. Actually, the notion is at least as old as
the ancient Greeks. But the geocentric theory, endorsed by Aristotle
and given mathematical plausibility by Ptolemy, was the prevailing
model until Copernicus. It was given additional credibility by certain
passages of Scripture, which seemed to affirm the mobility of sun and
the fixity of the earth. Most early Church Fathers simply took it for
granted; but they weren't really interested in scientific explanations
of the cosmos. As St. Ambrose wrote, ‘To discuss the nature and
position of the earth does not help us in our hope of the life to
come.’”
“The almost universal belief that the purpose of science was not to
give a final account of reality, but merely to ‘save appearances,’
accounts for how lightly the Church hierarchy initially received
Copernicus's theory. Astronomy and mathematics were regarded as the
play things of virtuosi. They were accounted as having neither
philosophical nor theological relevance. There was genuine puzzlement
among Churchmen that they had to get involved in a quarrel over
planetary orbits. It was all one to them how the ‘appearances’ were
‘saved.’ And, in fact, Copernicus, a good Catholic, published his book
at the urging of two eminent prelates and dedicated it to Pope Paul
III, who received it cordially.”
“Copernicus had delayed the publication of his book for years because
he feared, not the censure of the Church, but the mockery of
academics. It was the hide-bound Aristotelians in the schools who
offered the fiercest resistance to the new science. Aristotle was the
Master of Those Who Know; perusal of his texts was regarded as almost
superior to the study of nature itself. The Aristotelian universe
comprised two worlds, the superlunary and the sublunary. The former
consisted of the moon and everything beyond; it was perfect and
imperishable. The latter was the terrestrial globe and its atmosphere,
subject to generation and decay, the slagheap of the cosmos.”
“But Galileo was intent on ramming Copernicus down the throat of
Christendom. The irony is that when he started his campaign, he
enjoyed almost universal good will among the Catholic hierarchy. But
he managed to alienate almost everybody with his caustic manner and
aggressive tactics. His position gave the Church authorities no room
to maneuver: they either had to accept Copernicanism as a fact (even
though it had not been proved) and reinterpret Scripture accordingly;
or they had to condemn it. He refused the reasonable third position
which the Church offered him: that Copernicanism might be considered a
hypothesis, one even superior to the Ptolemiaic system, until further
proof could be adduced.”
“Galileo's other problem was that he insisted, despite the discoveries
of Kepler, that the planets orbit the sun in perfect circles. The
Jesuit astronomers could plainly see that this was untenable. Galileo
nonetheless launched his campaign with a series of pamphlets and
letters which were circulated all over Europe. Along the way, he
picked fights with a number of Churchmen on peripheral issues which
helped to stack the deck against him. And, despite the warnings of his
friends in Rome, he insisted on moving the debate onto theological
grounds.”
“The Victorian biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, who had no brief for
Catholicism, once examined the case and concluded that "the Church had
the best of it." The most striking point about the whole affair is
that until Galileo forced the issue into the realm of theology, the
Church had been a willing ombudsman for the new astronomy. It had
encouraged the work of Copernicus and sheltered Kepler against the
persecutions of Calvinists. Problems only arose when the debate went
beyond the mere question of celestial mechanics.”
The Galileo Affair
http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Issues/GalileoAffair.html
Other websites that would interest you since it has some discussion of
the religious aspect of the astronomer’s works.
Pythagoras
“Pythagoras also headed a cult known as the secret brotherhood that
worshiped numbers and numerical relationships. They attempted to find
mathematical explanations for music, the gods, the cosmos, etc.
Pythagoras believed that all relations could be reduced to number
relations.”
http://www.arcytech.org/java/pythagoras/history.html
Ptolemy (his biography and a scientific explanation of his work)
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/claudiusptolemy/
Nicolaus Copernicus
“Opposition was first raised against the Copernican system by
Protestant theologians for Biblical reasons and strange to say it has
continued, at least sporadically, to our own days.”
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04352b.htm
Johannes Kepler
“Kepler himself defended Copernicus' scheme in a public debate.
Unfortunately for him, that ensured that he would not be offered a
faculty position at Tuebingen when he graduated. (Luther himself had
mocked at Copernicus' scheme, and quoted scripture to prove it wrong.)
Instead, Kepler was offered a professorship of astronomy in faraway
Graz, Styria (now part of Austria), where he went in 1594.”
“In 1598, Kepler's school in Graz, along with other Lutheran
institutions, was closed down by the young Archduke Ferdinand of
Hapsburg, who had decided to cleanse the Austrian provinces of the
Lutheran heresy. Kepler was allowed to stay for a while, but the next
year he was given the choice of embracing Catholicism or being
expelled from Austria. He wanted to go back to Protestant Tuebingen,
but they didn't want him, because of his known belief in
Copernicanism. Tycho invited him to come work with him, so he left for
Prague on January 1, 1600.”
http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/1995/lectures/kepler.html
Sir Isaac Newton
“Although a devout Christian, Newton was not in full agreement with
all the doctrines of the Church of England. Thus, his conscience would
not allow him to accept ordination. He was also strongly opposed to
political involvement in both religious matters and education. The
only way for Newton to keep his job was for the king to make an
exception in his case. Others who had previously asked for this had
been refused.
So Newton headed south to London for six weeks to plead his case
before the king. During his time in London, he became better
acquainted with other scientists in the Royal Society. Those who had
known him only through his letters defending his discoveries had
mistaken his confidence in his work for arrogance. His impatience to
get on with new work had been mistaken for bad temper. Now the
scientists realized what a friendly and considerate person he was and
they rallied to his aid. Fortunately, for Newton and for science, the
king granted Newton's request to continue at Trinity College without
being ordained.”
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/358.asp
Edmund Hailey
“Affiliation: Anglican, Heterodox
All of the smoke about his heterodox views must have come from some
fire, though there is cause to suspect that the extent of his
free-thinking has been exaggerated. However, it does seem clear that
Halley questioned (or better rejected) the universal authority of
Scripture--for example, in his famous paper on the cause of the deluge
and in his calculation of the age of the earth from the salinity of
the sea, which yielded an age well beyond the accepted Scriptural
chronology.”
http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Catalog/Files/halley.html
Albert Einstein
“The great scientist Albert Einstein wrote " that science without
religion is lame, religion without science is blind."1 Many today
ignore what the great scientist recognized, that both science and
religion depend on each other as they try to answer the same
questions. Why does something exist rather than nothing? How did the
universe begin? Is there a rational basis for belief in God? For
centuries the great minds of philosophers, scientists and theologians
have pondered these questions. They have developed at least three
lines of reasoning demonstrating that belief in God is rational and
provides the most reasonable framework for answering these difficult
questions.”
http://www.cccosu.org/ccc/resources/godexist.html
Stephen Hawking and his book “A Brief History of Time”
“The reason the book has sold 10 million copies, i.e., the reason for
Hawking's success as a popularizer of science, is that he addresses
the problems of meaning and purpose that concern all thinking people.
The book overlaps with Christian belief and it does so deliberately,
but graciously and without rancor. It is an important book that needs
to be treated with respect and attention.”
http://www.leaderu.com/real/ri9404/bigbang.html
The next web pages provide physics and cosmology timelines for
different eras.
Physics Time-Line to 1799
http://www.weburbia.com/pg/hist1.htm
Physics Time-Line 1800 to 1899
http://www.weburbia.com/pg/hist2.htm
Physics Time-Line 1900 to 1949
http://www.weburbia.com/pg/hist3.htm
Physics Time-Line from 1950
http://www.weburbia.com/pg/hist4.htm
Search terms used:
Astronomy versus religion
I hope these links would help you in your research. Please ask for a
clarification if you have a question or if you would need further
information. Thanks for visiting us at Google Answers.
Regards,
Easterangel-ga |
,
0 Comments
)