Relive the Discoveries of Galileo September 2014 | Page 5

The Durham Region Astronomical Association

was right, and wanted to publish his conclusions. But
he was warned of the trouble he would face if he flatout declared Aristotle and Ptolemy wrong.
Meanwhile, the Church required all manuscripts be
approved by the Holy Office of the Inquisition before
publication. In order to gain the censors’ blessings,
Galileo toned down his attack and presented his
arguments by way of an imaginary conversation
between a proponent of Ptolemy’s Earth-centred
system and one who backed Copernicus’s view,
leaving it to the reader to decide. This even-handed
approach worked, and in 1632 Galileo was granted
permission to publish Dialogue on the Two Chief
World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican, another
best seller.
Although he received permis ͥ