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> Whatever the church thought of the heliocentric model, astronomers must have been convinced as soon as Copernicus proposed it. Far, in fact, from it. I don't
by nearbuy 5y ago
> Whatever the church thought of the heliocentric model, astronomers must have been convinced as soon as Copernicus proposed it. Far, in fact, from it.
I don't think this tells the whole story. The church didn't immediately view the heliocentric model as a crazy new idea.
> In 1533, Johann Albrecht Widmannstetter delivered a series of lectures in Rome outlining Copernicus's theory. Pope Clement VII and several Catholic cardinals heard the lectures and were interested in the theory. On 1 November 1536, Cardinal Nikolaus von Schönberg, Archbishop of Capua, wrote to Copernicus from Rome:
> "... Therefore with the utmost earnestness I entreat you, most learned sir, unless I inconvenience you, to communicate this discovery of yours to scholars, and at the earliest possible moment to send me your writings on the sphere of the universe together with the tables and whatever else you have that is relevant to this subject ..."
(From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus#Heliocentrism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus#Heliocentr...)
The church's stance against the heliocentric model developed later, and probably for religious and political reasons.
Secondly, rational astronomers shouldn't have been convinced of the model as soon as Copernicus proposed it. It wasn't yet proven. It's like string theory today. It may have been an elegant theory, but a good scientist shouldn't consider a theory proven until it's actually proven.
Relating this back more generally to the essay, I think there's a bias in how we retell stories from history that makes it seem like great new ideas were initially mostly considered crazy. It makes a better story when one person overcomes the odds and invents something great despite everyone telling them they're crazy. But reality, most new ideas had a mix of detractors and supporters. We just remember the detractors better and amuse ourselves thinking about how wrong they were.