Image: Aristotelian Cosmic Map
Thoughts and Reflections on: We Discover Who We Are and Where We Live
This chapter revolves around one conflict that was very prevalent during the Renaissance, the issue of science versus religion. During the Renaissance the Catholic church was in control of basically all of the ideology. However, this was mostly due to lack of scientific prowess, no one at the time had any advance scientific equipment, therefore science was basic and slow. One of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of all time happened during this period and it all started with a man named Ptolemy, who had made a basic, earth centric map of the universe. This was made with earth in the center because that's what the Bible had said. The Bible had also stated that humans and beasts were created on different levels, and that humans were superior to beasts. However a few men were set to change this map. During this time period science was built upon previous observations, no one man can be credited with fully discovering the fact that earth was not the center of the universe. The process started with Copernicus, who proposed that earth was not in fact the center of the universe, the second man Tycho spent years just observing the path of stars, then passed his work off to Kepler, who then proved that the earth was not the center of the universe, and then Newton proposed gravity and explained the motion of the stars. Galileo was also observing the stars in the same way Tycho did, and invented a telescope in doing so. However, this cosmic change was not approved by the church. By proving the earth was not the center of the universe, these scientists were changing the meaning of the word of god. The Catholic church perused persecution, wanting Copernicus arrested seventy years after his death, and eventually sentencing Galileo to house arrest, where he eventually died. A similar thing happened when Charles Darwin published his book Origins. In this book he explained that we share a common ancestor. The church disliked this as well because it showed we were entwined with the beasts, which God had created in a different tier. However, the Japanese empire was affected very little by this as their religion stated that they orbit around the sun, which is their god. The schism between science and religion is an issue that started a long time ago but is still seen today. People reject the idea of global warming, and there is also the ever present debate of homosexuality. There is one thing that is better though, the church can no longer imprison scientists and people who think differently of the church.
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