Meanwhile, reports Science News (12 Nov), some joker from the U. of Indiana claims that Galileo stole his discovery of the phases of Venus (the crescent-shaped illumination by the sun, proving that Venus, too, revolves round it) from a student, for "publish-or-perish" reasons. (Every gypsy, says a Czech proverb, tells fortunes by her own palm.)
My, my. In the 17th century, as Galileo well knew, it was publish and perish, especially in places where the Roman Church reigned supreme; that's why he corresponded with his fellow Copernican heretic in Prague, Johann Kepler, in cipher. There was then only a single telescope in the world strong enough to discern the phases of Venus
¾ the one invented by, and belonging to, Galileo; and the man who even as a teen-ager watched the chandeliers swing in Church and went home to write brilhant treatises on pendulums and conic sections was not exactly in need of cribbing from his students.But the facts, as usual, are secondary. We have a "problem" again, a "controversy," a "debate." God and the National Science Foundation willing, there will be research funds, doctoral theses, perhaps even an international conference or two, to settle the burning issue of our time: was Galileo Galilei, or was he not, a crafty cribbing crook?
Money is no object: whatever the outcome, the bill will be sent to you.
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Vol. 11, No. 5
Newsletter: Access to Energy Newsletter Archive Volume: Issues Issue/No.: Vol. 11, No. 5 Date: November 29, 2004 11:24 AM Title: Not since Galileo
Copyright © 2004 - Access to Energy Newsletter Archive
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