Galileo's mistake
Galileo's mistake: a new look at the epic confrontation between Galileo and the Church Rowland, Wade
Publisher: New York : Arcade Pub., 2003, c2001.
ISBN: 1559706848
DDC: 520.92
LCC: QB36
Edition: (alk. paper)
Summary:
"In his provocative reexamination of one of the turning points in the
history of science and thought, Wade Rowland contends that the
dispute concerned an infinitely more profound question: What is truth
and how can we know it? Ingeniously using the Socratic method - a
method Galileo himself employed - the author demonstrates that in the
epic confrontation between Galileo and the Roman Catholic Church at
the dawn of the Scientific Revolution, Galileo's mistake was to
insist that science - and only science - provides the truth about
reality. The Church rejected this idea, declaring that while science
is valid, it provides mere models for reality, models that enable
people to better understand and manipulate the world around us. Truth
is a metaphysical issue - beyond physics - and it involves such
matters as meaning and purpose, which are unquantifiable, and
therefore not amenable to scientific analysis. In asserting the
primacy of science on the territory of truth, Galileo strayed from
purely scientific inquiry into the theological realm, an act that put
him squarely on the warpath with the Church. The outcome would change
the world."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes:
"First published in Canada in 2001 by Thomas Allen Publishers and
revised for this edition"--T.p. verso.
"Distributed by AOL Time Warner Book Group"--T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [283]-289) and index.
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