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Re: [Phys-l] Galileo was wrong



The problem for Galileo is that he had good arguments against the Aristotlean geocentric model that was supported by the church, but he did not have evidence that in fact the earth went around the sun, and the Jesuit astronomers knew that. Foucault pendulum was 1851 or so, long after this.
Basically Galileo tried to finesse the church authority and failed. That is why he was prosecuted.

joe

Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Physics
Co-Director
Northern Indiana Math Science and Engineering Collaborative
574-276-8294
inquirybellina@comcast.net




On Sep 20, 2010, at 1:10 PM, Jeffrey Schnick wrote:

It is my understanding that the Church told Galileo that it would be
okay for him to say that it is much easier to describe/predict the
motion of the planets in an inertial reference frame centered on the sun
but that he should not say that the sun IS the center of the solar
system / universe. Galileo was championing a good model for
understanding the motions of the planets but he refused to simply claim
that it was a good model and insisted on claiming that it was reality.
The arguments against the earth being the center with the stars
revolving around it were based on measurements of acceleration, e.g.
those that can be made by means of a Foucault pendulum. Is acceleration
motion?

It seems to me that a reference frame rigidly attached to the earth is a
valid reference frame. It is not an itertial reference frame and
spacetime, as viewed from that reference frame is much more complicated
than it would be as viewed from an inertial reference frame but that
just makes in an inconvenient reference frame. I don't think that
anyone can or has scientifically proved that one reference frame is more
real than another. "Which is more real?" is not a physics question.

-----Original Message-----
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-
bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Joseph Bellina
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 7:12 AM
To: betwys1@sbcglobal.net; Forum for Physics Educators
Cc: Sharing resources for high school physics;
PHYSLRNR@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Galileo was wrong

I think asymmetry in background radiation is evidence that the earth
is moving. What do others think?

I'd say that it is evidence that the earth has a non-zero velocity
relative to a reference frame in which the background radiation is
symmetric.


joe
Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Physics
Co-Director
Northern Indiana Math Science and Engineering Collaborative
574-276-8294
inquirybellina@comcast.net




On Sep 19, 2010, at 8:04 PM, brian whatcott wrote:

Galileo was a towering figure. It's generally accepted that he
was in
error in several respects - like all of the intellectual giants - of
which his most famous is the supposition that the acceleration of
a
ball released down a channel varied in a particular way with the
angle
of the wood molding. It's the nature of the game. Do you object to
people mentioning that earlier giants made errors, or just when the
Church is involved?
As to geocentrism: the only observational evidence currently
available
places Earth at the center of the inhabited universe as far as Human
like qualities are concerned. Though observing parallax differences
for
the menstrual variation in Earth's location is difficult, it is now
established quite well that Earth shows an annual displacement
consistent with an Earth orbit round a fast moving Sun. So one can
say
with some confidence "il muove".
Then there was Lamarck - another figure who was soon discredited,
and
now finds some support in the environmental effect now
discovered on
gene-expression and transmission. Well, waddaya know!

Discovery and model making, it is true, never ends.

Brian W

On 9/19/2010 6:18 PM, Bernard Cleyet wrote:
As Dean wrote, "our" work is never done:


Galileo Was Wrong


bc thinks may be a hoax

Original post:


If it didn't conflict with our upcoming NCNAAPT conference
(November 6 in Concord), I would highly recommend the upcoming
"Galileo Was Wrong! The Church was Right!" conference to be held
in the shadow of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN.

No, really; it's a serious geocentrism conference in 2010!

Lest you ever think your work as a science educator is ever done...

http://phyzblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/galileo-was-wrong-oh-i-dont-
think-so.html

Take care,
Dean
http://phyz.org
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
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_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l

_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l