Galileo: Science, Scripture, and Truth
Among the academics that fostered growth in developing European society and scholasticism, Galileo Galilei holds a hierarchy attributable to the highly dynamic time period that his life spanned, as well as an unmatchable intellect that fostered vital observations in the sixteenth century. Often defamed for his religiously controversial discoveries and scientific ideals, Galileo repeatedly rose to contest institutions, like the Catholic church and its adherents, in order to cornerstone the secularization of European science and philosophy. Evident in his “Letter to Castelli” and “Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina,” Galileo asserts that there is no use for Catholic scripture in the pursuit of science and reason, though he still gives ample merit to a better-suited purpose of purifying and saving souls. These letters demonstrate a deep opposition to putting faith-based and logically unsound Catholic opinion above calculated and certified scientific fact, which would obliterate any truth to the goal of understanding the physical world.…