Pope praises Galileo's astronomy

[Galileo]

Pope praises Galileo's astronomy


Pope Benedict had been accused of condoning the heresy charge



Pope Benedict XVI has paid tribute to 17th-Century astronomer Galileo Galilei, whose scientific theories once drew the wrath of the Catholic Church.



The Pope was speaking at events marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo's earliest observations with a telescope.



He said an understanding of the laws of nature could stimulate appreciation of God's work.



In 1992, Pope John Paul said the church's denunciation of Galileo's work had been a tragic error.




Galileo used his scientific methods to demonstrate that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not the other way around.



His view directly challenged the church's view at the time - that the Earth was static and at the centre of the universe.



Galileo was accused of heresy in 1633 and forced to publically recant his theories.



He lived the rest of his life under house arrest at his villa in the hills outside Florence.



Pope Benedict had been criticised in the past for appearing to condone the heresy verdict against Galileo.





http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7794668.stm



After 400 years, the Truth is finally coming out!

:toast

[baseline bum]

Maybe it'll only be 400 more before the churches can accept evolution.

[johnsmith]

Wow, I bet now your "other" personality can rest easy.


What are the voices telling you to do right now?

[Galileo]

Wow, I bet now your "other" personality can rest easy.


What are the voices telling you to do right now?

May the Lord smite you!

[ploto]

Maybe it'll only be 400 more before the churches can accept evolution.


Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under God’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared that "the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36). So whether the human body was specially created or developed, we are required to hold as a matter of Catholic faith that the human soul is specially created; it did not evolve, and it is not inherited from our parents, as our bodies are.

http://www.catholic.com/library/Adam_Eve_and_Evolution.asp

[spurster]

Remember Martha Stewart!

[johnsmith]

May the Lord smite you!

That's quite an active imagination you have there.............good for you.

[Galileo]

International Year of Astronomy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
....



For other uses, see IYA.



The International Year of Astronomy is a year-long celebration of astronomy, taking place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th Century. The Year was declared by the 62nd General Assembly of the UN. A global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), has also been endorsed by UNESCO - the UN body responsible for Educational, Scientific and Cultural matters.



The International Astronomical Union and UNESCO are coordinating the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. This initiative is an opportunity for the citizens of Earth to gain a deeper insight into astronomy’s role in enriching all human cultures. Moreover, it will serve as a platform for informing the public about the latest astronomical discoveries while emphasizing the essential role of astronomy in science education.



....

Contents
1 Significance of 1609


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7.2 The Galileoscope



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7.8 Galileo Teacher Training Program



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Significance of 1609



In 1609, Galileo Galilei first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky and made astounding discoveries that changed mankind’s conception of the world forever: mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye and moons around Jupiter. Astronomical observatories around the world promise to reveal how planets and stars are formed, how galaxies assemble and evolve, and what the structure and shape of our Universe actually are. In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his work Astronomia nova in which he described the fundamental laws of planetary motions.



On 25th September 1608, Hans Lippershey, a young man from Middleburg, travelled to the Hague, the then capital of the Netherlands, to demonstrate one of his inventions to the Dutch government - the telescope. Although Hans was not awarded the patent, Galileo heard of this story and decided to use the "Dutch perspective glass" and point it towards the heavens.



....



Aims of IYA2009



Astronomy, the oldest science in history, has played an important role in most, if not all, cultures over the ages. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) is intended to be a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, stimulating worldwide interest not only in astronomy, but in science in general, with a particular slant towards young people.



The IYA2009 is intended to mark the monumental leap forward that followed Galileo’s first use of the telescope for astronomical observations, and portray astronomy as a peaceful global scientific endeavour that unites amateur and professional astronomers in an international and multicultural family that works together to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions that humankind has ever asked. The aim of the Year is to stimulate worldwide interest, especially among young people, in astronomy and science under the central theme “The Universe, Yours to Discover”.



....



100 Hours of Astronomy



100 Hours of Astronomy (100HA) is a worldwide astronomy event scheduled for April 2-5, 2009 and is part of the scheduled global activities of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. The main goals of 100HA is to have as many people throughout the world look through a telescope just as Galileo did for the first time 400 years ago. Plans include special webcasts, students and teachers activities, a schedule of events at science centers, planetariums and science museums as well as 24 hours of sidewalk astronomy, which will allow the opportunity for public observing sessions to as many people as possible.[1]


The Galileoscope
This IYA2009 program wants to share a personal experience of practical astronomical observation with as many people as possible across the world. It is collaborating with the US IYA2009 National Node to develop a simple, accessible, easy-to-assemble and easy-to-use telescope that can be distributed by the millions. In theory, every participant in an IYA2009 event should be able to take home one of these little telescopes, enabling them to observe with an instrument similar to Galileo's.



....



Galileo Teacher Training Program
The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) provides an excellent opportunity to engage the formal education community in the excitement of astronomical discovery as a vehicle for improving the teaching of science in classrooms around the world. To help train teachers in effective astronomy communication and to sustain the legacy of IYA2009, the IAU — in collaboration with the National Nodes and leaders in the field such as the Global Hands-On Universe project, the US National Optical Astronomy Observatory and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific — is embarking on a unique global effort to empower teachers by developing the Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP). The GTTP goal is to create a worldwide network of certified "Galileo Ambassadors" by 2012. These Ambassadors will train "Galileo Master Teachers" in the effective use and transfer of astronomy education tools and resources into classroom science curricula. The Galileo Teachers will be equipped to train other teachers in these methodologies, leveraging the work begun during IYA2009 in classrooms everywhere.



Through workshops, online training tools and basic education kits, the products and techniques developed by this program can be adapted to reach locations with few resources of their own, as well as computer-connected areas that can take advantage of access to robotic optical and radio telescopes, webcams, astronomy exercises, cross-disciplinary resources, image processing and digital universes (web and desktop planetariums).



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See also

World Year of Physics 2005
Galileo
Telescope
Astronomy


External links

International Year of Astronomy 2009 main web site
International Astronomical Union


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The Galileoscope: millions looking at the sky astronomy2009.org
You are Galileo! Low price 10 Dollar Galileoscope for children; National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
100 Hours of Astronomy
The Galileoscope


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Galileo Teacher Training Program


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Year_of_Astronomy

[The Reckoning]

ashes to ashes...dust to dust

[Galileo]

Galileo's library recreated

Volumes that formed his personal collection on show

(ANSA) - Florence, December 23 - The books that shaped one of the greatest scientific minds in Western history are the focus of a new exhibition in this Tuscan city.

The National Library of Florence is showcasing 70 volumes that were once part of the personal collection of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642).

''The material on display was selected from the Galileo collection stored in our library,'' explained library director Antonia Idea Fontana. ''They were the source of his research and bear witness to his successes but also show the polemics, the legal arguments and the trials linked to his work''.

The renowned Tuscan astronomer, scientist and mathematician had eclectic taste in reading material, the exhibition shows.

His collection not only included scientific treatises but also copies of Dante's Divine Comedy, the romantic epic poem Orlando Furioso and works by Petrarch. In addition, the show features a number of Galileo's scientific sketches, as well as original ideas and notes he jotted down while reading the various volumes.

''While this is not the first time these books have been displayed, the idea of reconstructing Galileo's personal library is completely new,'' added Fontana. The exhibition is part of a series of events this year commemorating 400 years since Galileo produced his first telescope, revolutionising conceptions of the universe and sparking religious uproar.

He created the device in 1608 [1609], initially producing a lens able to magnify objects threefold and soon after 32-fold.

This put him in a nearly unique position, as he was one of the few people at the time with a lens powerful enough to observe the sky.

His discovery of three [four] of Jupiter's moons and his observation of Venus's phases helped him conclude that the sun was at the centre of the universe, rather than the Earth, as was commonly believed at the time.

Church opposition to Galileo's sun-centred model flared up immediately in 1612 and would dog Galileo for the rest of his life.

An exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science in Florence until the end of December explores this discovery, showing the only two surviving telescopes created by Galileo, as well as dozens of original documents and instruments.

The exhibition on Galileo's personal book collection can be visited at the National Library of Florence until February 28.

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-12-23_123289609.html

[Darrin]

Good. It only took centuries for the church to apologize for taking everything from a man who ran contrary to the teachings in the Bible. And people wonder why I look down on religion.

[Galileo]

Good. It only took centuries for the church to apologize for taking everything from a man who ran contrary to the teachings in the Bible. And people wonder why I look down on religion.

Galileo does not share your thoughts.

[Galileo]

Pope Apologizes after 500 years of Throwing Italian Designer Shoes at Galileo

Il Papa profesori, the kinder, gentler Inquisitor Ratzinger has decided to make a clean breast of it before the new year. The target of his mea culpa is astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei.

This is the 500 year anniversary of his telescopic invention that called into question the ancient Biblical assumption that the earth was the center of our planetary system. The geo-egocentric system was shaken to the core by the scientific proof that the planets revolve around the sun.

One of the former Cardinal Ratzinger's predecessors was about to execute Galileo when the pragmatic and hedinist Italian told the Pope that he was wrong and that couldn't he just have house imprisonment with vino, pasta and espresso.

Pope Benedict told Galileo's tomb that he and 500 years of Roman Catholic infallibilty were sorry about his hardships but that since they could not be wrong they couldn't really take responsibility for the problems that befall avant garde scientists. Benedict announced the Charles Darwin has been placed on the agenda for the 2508 apology conference.

http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s3i45554#this