Today in History, February 22, 1632:
Galileo Galilei delivers his book Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems to his patron, Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
The book was sold (bestseller) as a discussion of the Copernican System, which stated that the Earth and planets orbited around the sun, and the Ptolemaic System, which allowed that the entire universe orbited around the Earth.
The next year Galileo was convicted of suspicion of heresy and the book, which leaned heavily towards the Copernican system was banned, a status that was not lifted until 1835.
To the scientists of Galileo’s time, the Ptolemaic system was “settled science”. Perhaps in another 2 hundred years or so, the “settled science” of Global Warming will be truly settled.
Mark Loves History! 