The New School of Information Security

Chapter 3On Evidence

In 1610, Galileo published his observations of Jupiter’s moons. He used his findings to argue in favor of Copernicus’ heliocentric model, in which the sun is the center of the solar system and not the Earth, as was widely believed at the time. Four years later, the Catholic Church formally denounced Galileo’s work. In 1616, Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino committed Galileo to house arrest and instructed him not to further publicize Copernican astronomy. Galileo was punished because his findings undermined Church teachings. The Church was a tremendously powerful institution, with a bully pulpit that extended across Europe. It also had its own courts and police, and the power to excommunicate someone and damn a soul for eternity. ...