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Disclaimer: Term papers are for research purposes only.Galileo vs Darwin
"Whereas Galileo spent his last days under house arrest and was formally condemned by the Church for his scientific views, the elder Darwin was widely respected by the Anglican Church and was buried at the Westminster Abbey, an honor reserved for only the most illustrious personages of Great Britain. The reason for the two scientists' very different fortunes is simple: Galileo couldn't prove the Copernican hypothesis but Darwin was able to demonstrate the truth of his theory of evolution."
In the world of Galileo proof was what was needed to succeed with a scientific hypothesis. In the world of Darwin proof was not needed for a scientific hypothesis to succeed. There were many differences in the worlds of these two great scientists that lead to the reaction to their respective scientific hypothesize. It was not their beliefs alone that led to their peer's views it was also the way each of them conducted themselves. Galileo worked his way to become a respected scientist by most of the intellectual community but he was also despised by many because of his background and because of his attitude towards others. Darwin was well respected by the intellectual community, but the difference was the way they conducted themselves when they were dealing with their hypothesizes.
Galileo's Hypothesis
Galileo was well known for standing up for what he believed in and pushing the things he wanted. He was constantly writing letters and engaging in debates over the issue of Copernicanism. Galileo's entire reason for doing this was to make the scientific and religious communities accept that Copernicanism was actually a fact and that there was enough proof to believe it.
One example of the way Galileo strongly pushed his beliefs on others was the way he preached Copernicanism to the people of Rome in 1615. While he was in Rome trying to improve the church's opinion of him, Galileo was also debating the Aristotelians over this issue and beating them at their own game. Because of his natural talent for debate and because of his intelligence was able to outwit the Aristotelians in these debates. Galileo acted this way because he believed that he was in a position to make these kinds of statements without getting on the wrong side of the church. These actions show that Galileo was very insistent upon his ideas and upon what other people and the church thought of them. By preaching and debating Galileo was trying to force his ideas into acceptance by the church. His methods were highly unusual; he tried to force acceptance of his ideas because he believed his findings to be conclusive and had enough proof for people to accept. But when the actual facts are looked at it is very easy to come to the conclusion that there was no definitive proof that the earth and other planets orbit around the sun. Galileo in his papers and speeches tried to hide his lack of proof by focusing on only what he knew. His actions on the hypothesis are the complete opposite of the ideas of modern science. In modern science a hypothesis is always trying to be proven like Galileo was doing but it in never stated as truth until conclusive proof is demonstrated. While Galileo is considered one of the founders of modern science is very easy to see that some of his actions were not very scientific. The fact that Galileo was trying to have people accept his hypothesis, as a fact is one of the major problems with Galileo's fight for Copernicanism.Galileo's other major problem with his fight for Copernicanism was that he was too cocky and believed that since his ideas made the most sense people should give up the old paradigm and believe Copernicanism to be true. If Galileo had been more cautious about preaching his ideas and has spent more time trying to prove his hypothesis scientifically he would have most likely been better off in his later years. He would have avoided much of the controversy that surrounded him by the church and might have just gotten off with another warning.
Since Galileo was the man he was, he could not end his fight after his first warning by the church, he had to persist and write another book on the theory. In his book Dialogue on the Great Systems of the World, Galileo tried to work around the ban of his belief of the Copernican system by the church by presenting it as merely an opinion of his. But this as most people realized was just another attempt to show the benefits of the Copernican system. It was because of Galileo's inability to give in and accept defeat that he wrote this book on Copernicanism. Galileo had also thought that he had the church on his side this time since he was friends with the pope but the pope was cajoled into believing that Galileo had insulted him with the book and started and investigation to determine if Galileo had broken the decree of 1616. It took trickery and deception to bring Galileo down in his second conflict with the church but it was his pompous attitude that caused him to come to this end. If Galileo hadn't been so into proving others wrong and just worked on his theories he would have been much better off.
Darwin's Hypothesis
Charles Darwin is the man well known for bringing about the theory of Darwinism and natural selection. Darwin became a very successful scientist in his time and convinced many people that his theory was scientifically sound. By the time Darwin died he had a large group of followers the believed his ideas to be true. The reason for Darwin's success was that he was very good at convincing people of his ideas without overpowering them with arguments. Unlike Galileo's methods of convincing people Darwin preferred to tell his ideas to his close friends and allow them to spread them to others.
Darwin worked for years on his theory without telling more than a few people about it. He did this because he was worried of what other people would think of him and he didn't want to release an idea into the scientific community that was only partially though through. So for years he worked on his ideas alone and kept track of all the work he did. It took Wallace's paper to get Darwin to speed up his own work and finally publish an extract of his own at the same time as Wallace's paper was published. Once Darwin realized that someone might beat him to the punch he began to work faster and soon published His book known as The Origin of Species.
Darwin's methods of obtaining support for his newly public theory were radically different from Galileo's methods. Instead of trying to convince everyone that he was right Darwin concentrated on his research and left the preaching of his theories to his friends. Darwin's close friends Hooker and Huxley were major players in the spread of Darwin's theory. While it was his own theory his contributions to promoting it were revising his books and continuing his work further. This method of promoting his work worked extremely well for Darwin. While Darwin was seen as the figurehead of the movement he was not seen as one of its key pushers. By doing this Darwin was able to remain behind the scenes and continue his work to improve his theories. Darwin spent most of his time in his house outside of London furthering his research and remaining in contact with the efforts to popularize his theory but did not actively participate in the way Galileo did.
By staying somewhat behind the scenes and not overpowering people with his radical theory Darwin was able to gain a large number of supporters in the biological community who in turn spread his theory more and more. It was through Darwin's connections that the vast majority of people learned about evolution. Darwin was not trying to force his theory onto others as Galileo was; instead he was just presenting it as his theory, which he was still working on. It was because of this that people weren't threatened by it as in the way they were by Galileo's theory. That is not to say that people were not threatened by Darwin's theory they certainly were. Darwin's theory went against allot more in the bible than Copernicanism did. While Copernicanism only went against a few obscure passages, evolution went against much of the story of Genesis. This fact caused many people to be hostile to the theories but Darwin still remained in better standing with the church than Galileo ever was. The main reason for this is the fact that in the time Darwin lived there were more people that were educated in the ways of science which was far more progressed than in the days of Galileo. These new scientific people were more open to ideas than the more religious people of Galileo's time. If Darwin's Ideas had been introduced in Galileo's time they might have been met with the same reaction if not stronger than the actions taken against Galileo. In this manner Darwin was lucky to live in the time he did where he could present a book for publication which did not have to be subject to the approval of the Catholic Church.
Darwin and Galileo were very different men who are both remembered as great scientists of their times. While Galileo was condemned for his efforts Darwin was remembered as a hero. This was because of their different methods of presenting their ideas. Galileo was a fighter who would not back down from a fight until he was pitted against the Vatican and faced with excommunication. He tactics caused many people to despise him in his time, which lead to the ban of his book on Copernicanism. While Darwin preferred to work in his home and have others fight his battles for him. It was because of Darwin's passive promotion of his book that he made very few enemies when compared to Galileo. If Galileo was more like Darwin he may have been better off at the time of his death.
While much of the Copernican theory is know as fact now there is still a debate over Darwinism. This is because it has yet to be proven definitively. Darwin was still honored for his contribution of this theory because he did it in a scientific manner and did not impose his opinion onto others.
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