Was Copernicus Afraid? ('Bad Faith' #4)
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Did Copernicus put off publishing his theory that the Earth goes round the Sun because he was afraid of being persecuted by the Church? Not at all. He delayed publishing because it’s ‘obvious’ that the Earth is not moving, and he knew that the scientific evidence in favour of his theory was not that strong. (Even today, could you prove that the Earth goes round the Sun? It can be proved, but it is not obvious.)
With contributions from Dr Allan Chapman, (Oxford University), author of 'Slaying the Dragons: destroying myths in the history of science and faith' and 'Stargazers: Copernicus, Galileo, the Telescope and the Church,' and from James Hannam, author of 'God's Philosophers: how the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science.'
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