Who said earth is moving

After Sir Isaac Newton invented the reflecting telescope in , it soon became eminently clear that the Earth was not the centre of our solar system. The final nail in the coffin of geocentrism then came after Newton published his Principia Mathematica in which he definitively proves the heliocentric model first proposed by Copernicus. For who would place this lamp of a very beautiful temple in another or better place than this from which it can illuminate everything at the same time?

Home About. News Ticker. Related Articles. To complicate things further, I discovered that in the Antwerp auction house Bernaerts Auctioneers took bids on a painting entitled Galileo in Prison. It was listed as having been painted by Flemish painter Henrij Gregoir in —the same year in which Van Maldeghem painted his portrait of Galileo with the same title.

Fortunately, I was able to obtain a photograph of the painting, and although the title is the same, the artwork is very different. To make further progress, I tried to uncover more information about Van Maldeghem and his painting.

Two Flemish books on the lives and works of Flemish and Dutch artists—one by J. Immerzeel, Jr. Significantly, these two books were published while Van Maldeghem was still alive, when all the information concerning the painting was still readily available.

It was difficult, therefore, to avoid the impression that his painting was the original after all. And it was also entirely consistent with the opinions previously expressed by the Murillo experts.

Recall that one suggested that the painter was not Spanish, and another judged that the painting was from the 19th century. I could think of three main possibilities: The painting could have been sold by Jules Van Belle himself. Or it could have been inherited by a relative and perhaps sold later. Or it might have been destroyed during World War II. Following this line of thought, I decided to attempt some genealogy research.

Lot number on the list was entitled Galileo in Prison. Common practice in the art world prevents auction houses from revealing the identity of buyers, but I did find out that the painting was bought by a private collector and not by a dealer. There were two other noteworthy pieces of information that were revealed in the auction. Second, a close inspection did not find any date or signature.

This observation was confirmed by a representative from the auction house. So what can we say about the question of whether Galileo said those famous words? This makes the motto much more likely to be apocryphal. Nevertheless, it would be thrilling if perhaps as a result of the present article the current owner of Galileo in Prison will allow it to be thoroughly examined to determine its exact age.

Even if Galileo never spoke those words, they have some relevance for our current troubled times, when even provable facts are under attack by science deniers. The views expressed are those of the author s and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. Mario Livio is an astrophysicist and author. His most recent book is Galileo: And the Science Deniers. Credit: Nick Higgins.

Already a subscriber? Bejger argues that the influence of the theory is far-reaching: "We know now that neither the earth, nor the sun — not even the galaxy made up of a hundred billion stars — are in any way exceptional. In astronomy, we call this the Copernicus Principle. We also use it in the social sciences — sociology, anthropology, or even the political sciences — as evidence of the plurality of value systems and cultures".

The Copernicus Principle, says Bejger, can also help as navigate contemporary questions of post-factuality and relativity. It can give us pause to think about the those who are keen to believe in simple truisms or post-facts, without reflecting on things further.