Group Script for Galileo's Trial

We, the post-1543 scientists, explorers and navigators, do decree the astronomer Galileo to be innocent. For the sake of our argument we shall describe in detail the theory for which our fellow intellectual is held as heretical. This heliocentric theory of the universe places the Sun at its center, rather than our mother Earth as is widely believed. In greater detail, the Sun is stationary near the center of the Universe, with the Earth and planets revolving around in epicycles at uniform speeds and the stars fixed at a large distance. This model also dictates that the Earth have two more motions with which to explain its night and day cycle, as well as the changing of the season. As such, the Earth herself rotates on an axis, this daily rotation gives us night and day. As for the seasons, the axis on which the Earth rotates tilts annually giving us our varying temperatures at certain times of year in varying angles towards or away from the Sun. These Earthly motions account perfectly for the observed retrograde motion of our neighboring planets.  By these findings the Heliocentric model perfectly quells the chaos, and imperfections of the ancient Ptolemaic model, and achieves the celestial perfection taught to us in the word of God. It is this perfection that has lead to this conclusive model, as all should be as God commands.

We fervently support his discoveries and inventions for the betterment of the scientific community and world at large. His findings correspond with previous discoveries attributed to our group. He came to his conclusions using proper scientific techniques, diligent data gathering and analysis, and an unbiased search for knowledge. His discoveries should be trusted and would lead to the advancement of society both in terms of science and the means to make more discoveries. In particular his studies of the heavens can usher in greater star charter that would would in turn give better navigation directions. This would aid travelers across vast lands and seas. His remodeling of the telescope is ground breaking. Not only was he able to make the telescope 20 times the magnification stronger, he was able to use his telescope to make ground breaking discoveries. while the instrument was used for stargazing, he was able to discover new planets, look at the moon, and map out the phases of Venus. He was also able to observe that the moon was not a perfect-lunar sphere but a moon that had an uneven and rough surface. Such discoveries can be nothing short of the grace of god for the betterment of mankind. If we are to truly fulfill God’s wishes we must better ourselves in any way possible. It is by this reasoning that punishing said Galileo would not only be ill founded, but a detriment to our society and our progress. We would be robbing ourselves and our posterity of knowledge, and skills that are so rightfully deserved.

It is in our opinion that this is not a conflict of the Catholic Church and science, but merely a conflict between classical science with the astronomy of Ptolemy, and a newer science with the use of Galileo’s invention of the telescope and the new Copernican astronomical knowledge we had acquired. In 1611, as Galileo traveled through Rome, the Jesuit astronomers even advocated the use of his telescope and found it quite helpful in their own discoveries!  Although his discoveries are contradictions of what we believe of the Lord, our God, they have sound base and offer a new way to look at the beautiful world created by our Holy Lord. In fact, religion really has no place in this argument, as the physical realm of science is very different from the spiritual realm of the Catholic Religion. They do not partake in one another and therefore really have no substantial evidence or necessity to step into the other.

Personal Agenda for Galileo's Trial

I hope to use Galileo's trial as a means of pushing ideas that I endorse upon the scientific community as well as the Church. I hope to push the use of the empirical method into the spotlight during the trial, highlighting the advantages and benefits of using observations and facts to draw conclusions. I hope to prove to the Church that Galileo's reasoning to reach his conclusion is sound, and rather to condemn him for this, I hope that they should use this method to prove their theory instead. I do not want the Church, as great and powerful as they are, to punish the scientific community for using a sound method to draw upon conclusions that they do not agree with, rather I would like to see them implement this method which I so highly support to try and prove their theories and ideas using this method. It is crucial that I find individuals that agree with me upon this, for I shall need their help to reason this with the Church, but if I can succeed at this, it shall be a great leap for the scientific community along with the Church in finding the true ways that everything works.

Stance Upon Galileo's Trial

Looking upon Galileo's eminent trial, I am forced to choose a side in this matter. As a devout Catholic and supporter of the Church, I look only to further further the power of the Church as its humble servant. But in this case of Galileo Galilei, he has not actively challenged the Church and its ideals directly, rather he has only searched for the truth of the actions of the world through observations and factual evidence. He has stated that he is not an enemy of the Catholic Church, and he only wishes to seek the true answers of the world and to what orbits what. In this, I feel that Galileo is not guilty of these "philosophically false" and "heretic" claims that he has made. He has done no wrong here, rather he has used empirical evidence to show what he believes to be true, his goal is not to attack and disprove the ideas of the Church, but rather they are to seek the real answer of the cosmos. I feel that there should be no punishment thrust upon Galileo, and that perhaps the two sides can reconcile through perhaps an official apology from Galileo to the Church. However, I feel that the Church should not seek for Galileo to retract his findings and ideas, but rather they too seek for the true answer through the empirical method of observations and facts. I shall always support the Church, as a devout follower my entire life, but I feel that Galileo has done no wrong here.

Thoughts on the Church and Its Ideas

I have always been a supporter of the Church my whole life, as a child I was raised as a Catholic in a predominantly Calvinist region, and as a thinker I still am today. What troubles me though is the Church's accusations against Galileo and his theories, his notion of a heliocentric world which he has proven clearly through his observations and undisputed facts. I do not challenge the Church, but rather I feel that its notion of strict adherence to the idea of a geocentric world even though factual evidence has been brought to the table by Galileo is counter-intuitive. We are living in a time where technology and discoveries are revealing to us the real truths behind almost everything we had been assuming for the last few centuries, and for the Church to throw away these ideas and theories as they do not completely fall in line with the Holy Scriptures is not an action that I fully agree with. Though as a pious man and a supporter of the Church, I shall not doubt them in their decisions and actions, I just seek for the truth and the furthering of science and the Church together.

Thoughts Upon Heliocentrism

As a man so invested in the empirical method, using facts and observations to help reach a conclusion, I cannot help but to agree with Galileo's claims of a heliocentric world. He has based his conclusions off of observations and facts that he has attained through his use of his telescope, which he has crafted to be able to see the planets and starts of the cosmos. Galileo brings strong evidence that cannot be disputed by any intellectual arguments. All I caution about is openly supporting it, as I fear the Church would condemn me as they are condemning Galileo, for I have been writing my piece the Treatise of the World, and if Galileo is found guilty of the crimes the Church has named against him, then I am scared to publish this work, as it will draw the same sort of punishment from the Church as it has to Galileo and his Dialogue. In my piece I have accepted Galileo's ideas and furthered upon them using the same sort of empirical reasoning, and I fear the Church would not approve of this work. I do not wish to go against the Church, even though I feel that Galileo's work is true.

Character Manifesto

René Descartes was born in plains of La Haye en Touraine, France in March of 1596 to a family of wealth and comfort. Enrolled into college at the age of twelve, Descartes developed his passion for mathematics as he studied until 1618. Descartes then joined in the Dutch States Army in Breda under the study of military engineering, and in his time there he became acquainted with Isaac Beeckman, who helped him further his scientific knowledge. While under service, Descartes gained the experiences in science that he so desired and visited the laboratories of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. After leaving the army, Descartes moved back to the Dutch Republic in 1628, enrolling and moving to different colleges while studying mathematics. He began work on his book Treatise on the World in 1629, where he accepted Galileo’s view of a heliocentric universe. The book touched upon his theory that there could be no vacuum in space and that all matter was constantly swirling to prevent a void. When Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church in 1633, Descartes abandoned his plans to publish his book in fear of his acceptance of the heliocentric theory. He would instead work on his three essays, The Meteors, Dioptrics, and Geometry, along with his introduction to these essays, Discourse on the Method, all published in 1637. His most famous work, Discourse on the Method, talked about skepticism and the notion of doubting, birthing the famous phrase “I think, therefore I am” (Descartes, Discourse on the Method). Descartes took reasoning and looked at it through a new way; he started by doubting everything, and when something that he initially doubted was decided to be irrefutable, it would then be proven as a fact. He was a big proponent of the development of empirical research, which led research away from theorizing and instead focused on the use of facts and observations to lead to a conclusion. As a supporter of empiricism, it was no surprise that Descartes agreed with Galileo’s ideas of a heliocentric universe, as Galileo used the empirical method to lead to his conclusion of this theory. When Galileo was tried by the Catholic Church in 1633, Descartes secretly supported Galileo and his work but was afraid of opposing the Church, evident by his reaction of refraining to publish his book that accepted heliocentricism. From birth, Descartes was raised a devout Catholic, and coming from a wealthy family in good standing with the Church, it only influenced him more to refrain from opposing them publicly in Galileo’s trial. He was also a member of the courts of many nobles in the Dutch Republic and northern Europe, many of which were supporters of the Church. Openly supporting Galileo and publishing his book in which he accepted heliocentrism would have derailed Descartes’s standing in Europe. Descartes’s book was finally published in 1677, twenty-seven years after his death, revealing his original acceptance of the heliocentric theory which he hid in fear of the Church.  

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/ren-descartes-37613#later-life-death-and-legacy
http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/descarts.html
http://www.iep.utm.edu/descarte/