Hmm let’s look at what he was found “vehemently suspected of heresy” for.
Wikipedia: “Galileo was found “vehemently suspect of heresy”, namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He was required to “abjure, curse and detest” those opinions.”
To be specific, the notion that the Sun was unmoved at the center was heretical. Not scientifically wrong. Heretical. And it ws held that the church was the be the final arbiter of truth in all matters including scientific matters.
A couple of other points.
The issue of tides is more complicated than it looks. The tides around Italy are very messy. Things are much clearer on the borders of the Atlantic ocean. It is understandable that Galileo doubted the relationship between the tides and the moon.
Scientific progress was in this case subordinated to other, including political, considerations. A scientist should not have to be concerned whether his findings will offend those in power. This is a problem that continues to this day.
I would still argue that the decision of the Inquisition to call Galilei a heretic wasn’t done with the main goal of suppressing heliocentrism in general (much less to suppress science), but it was done as an excuse to suppress Galilei personally.
The following arguments would I mention in the support of my claim above:
Both Galilei and others did spend a lot of time and effort in searching proofs for heliocentrism. Even the pope himself knew this, and didn’t discourage Galilei and didn’t try to stop him.
There were others who handled heliocentrism as a valid (just less probable) alternative theory instead of handling it as heresy (e.g. Riccioli) and they weren’t bothered by the inquisition.
Galilei came forth with his own theological views and interpretations of the Bible, I would guess this pissed off the church much more than his scientific works.
Hmm let’s look at what he was found “vehemently suspected of heresy” for.
Wikipedia: “Galileo was found “vehemently suspect of heresy”, namely of having held the opinions that the Sun lies motionless at the centre of the universe, that the Earth is not at its centre and moves, and that one may hold and defend an opinion as probable after it has been declared contrary to Holy Scripture. He was required to “abjure, curse and detest” those opinions.”
To be specific, the notion that the Sun was unmoved at the center was heretical. Not scientifically wrong. Heretical. And it ws held that the church was the be the final arbiter of truth in all matters including scientific matters.
A couple of other points.
The issue of tides is more complicated than it looks. The tides around Italy are very messy. Things are much clearer on the borders of the Atlantic ocean. It is understandable that Galileo doubted the relationship between the tides and the moon.
Scientific progress was in this case subordinated to other, including political, considerations. A scientist should not have to be concerned whether his findings will offend those in power. This is a problem that continues to this day.
I would still argue that the decision of the Inquisition to call Galilei a heretic wasn’t done with the main goal of suppressing heliocentrism in general (much less to suppress science), but it was done as an excuse to suppress Galilei personally.
The following arguments would I mention in the support of my claim above:
Both Galilei and others did spend a lot of time and effort in searching proofs for heliocentrism. Even the pope himself knew this, and didn’t discourage Galilei and didn’t try to stop him.
There were others who handled heliocentrism as a valid (just less probable) alternative theory instead of handling it as heresy (e.g. Riccioli) and they weren’t bothered by the inquisition.
Galilei came forth with his own theological views and interpretations of the Bible, I would guess this pissed off the church much more than his scientific works.