Talk about a dilemma: next year has been labelled the International Year of Astronomy because it marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of the telescope. Unfortunately, as it is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, 2009 has also been appropriated as Darwin Year. Both anniversaries have good claims on our attention, so at New Scientist we find ourselves unable to decide which year matters most.It's an unfair question, of course. Galileo and Darwin worked in different fields, in different eras and under different cultural pressures. But never ones to duck a challenge, we put the issue out for peer review.The question is simple: who hasdone more to knock humanity off its pedestal? The man who showed humans to be the latest in a long line of animals? No, says Lawrence Krauss: anyone who was looking could have seen that humans were animals.
So, then, the man who demonstrated beyond doubt that the Earth is not at the centre of anything? Not for Matt Ridley: "Who cares which ball of rock goes round which?" he asks.
If it were
left to Darwin and Galileo to argue their supremacy, there is no doubt
that Galileo would come out on top. His house arrest, which lasted his
post-publication lifetime, was imposed after he defended his
convictions before one of the most formidable authorities in Europe,
the Catholic church's Inquisition, in 1633. A great polemicist, Galileo
spent much of his energy on vigorous self-justification. Darwin, on the
other hand, shrank from controversy,leaving others to argue his cause.
Was Darwin copping out, or
letting the work speak for itself? His attitude to public
pronouncements about his lost faith gives us a clue. Unwilling to
offend his wife and family with his new-found disregard for God, he
described his religious position using the newly coined term
"agnostic". Darwin was a quiet pragmatist who was unwilling to knock
anyone's pedestal from beneath them.
Having said that, Galileo's
Catholic faith was completely unshaken by his discovery. Does that
count against him when considering our question? Some will see it as a
self-imposed "so what?" for the greatest astronomical discovery of all
time.
Regardless of what each man
believed, Galileo has had more impact in the long term. Far more people
believe the Earth goes round the sun than believe people arede......
To continue please sign in with your Hotsposz ID... If you are new to Hotspotsz you can
register a new ID .
Articles similar to "Who did most to knock man off his pedestal?"
The Lake Michigan triangle is said to have similar characteristics of the Bermuda Triangle and is said to be a place of ghost ships, strange disappearances and even UFO sightings."There"s been some strange disappearances out there, there"s been many ships that have been lost that haven"tbeen found." Bill Wangemann is a historian from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He"s spent a lifetime gathering tales about the Lake Michigan triangle.According toauthor Linda S. . Godfrey in her book "Weird Michigan" (200...Goat gives birth to a human faun
In a bizarre report from Zimbabwe this week a goat has left locals in the Lower Gweru region shellshocked when it allegedly gave birth to a creature said to havethe features of a both a human and a goat."The community of LowerGweru and its surroundings in the Midlands Province was left shell-shocked when a goat gave birth to human-like creature that had the combined features of a man and agoat." View: Full Article | Source: Ta..."Time traveler" caught in museum photo ?
An intriguing photograph from the 1940s showing a man in modern clothing has been doing the rounds on the web.The photograph shows a crowd of people at the reopening of the South Fork Bridge in British Columbia, one of the people there however is wearing shades, a modern looking top and has a portable camera.But is it really a mystery ?
It’s the short description for the photograph shown at the virtual BralornePioneer Museum, from British Columbia, Canada. . The image can be seen speci...Exposing Antarcticas "ghost mountains"
Under the vast ice sheets of Antarctica there exists an extensive mountain range entirely encompassed in the ice. Now an international team of scientists who have surveyed the areahave released a first glimpse of their results."Scientists who mapped oneof the most enigmatic mountain ranges on Earth have given a first glimpse of their data. . An international team spent two months in 2008/9 surveying the Gamburtsevs in Antarctic...Amelia Earhart mystery solved ?
Researchers believe they are on the verge of solving one of aviation's greatest mysteries - the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. DNA evidence to be collected from Nikumaroro Island will reportedly show that she had ended up stranded there."It has been 72 years since famed aviatorAmelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared while attempting to fly around the world. . But the mystery remains unsolved: Nobody know...Cow jumps six feet on to roof
In a bizarre story this week home owners who thought they were being burgled when they heard a commotion on the roof of their house discovered that the real culprit was in fact a cow that had jumped six feet offthe ground."A cowhas been caught jumping six feet on to a roof, after the owners thought they had been burgled. . Neighbour William de Cothi, 17, photographed the animal after he spotted it on the roof about six feet off...Woman snaps strange winged object
Someone has photographed a strange angel-like object flying over the streets of Nuremberg.She"d been on holiday taking photographs of the city when she noticed the strange object high up in the sky, the image has been placed online to see if anyone can help to determine what it is. A woman from York captured an unexplained object in her holiday snaps this month, andwants your help identifying it. . She was on a European holiday with her boyfriend when she took a photo of this street in Nu...What happened to the Roman Ninth Legion ?
Mystery surrounds the unexplained disappearance of 5000 Roman soldiers 2000 years ago.The tale of the Ninth Legion has now become the subject of a big screen movie, but what exactly happened to them continues to puzzle historians. While some believe the disappearance happened in Scotland ( and could have even prompted theconstruction of Hadrian"s Wall ) others are under the impression that the legion disappeared in a different countryaltogether. . The disappearance of Rome"s Ninth...O.K. Corral gunfight not what it seemed ?
A new book claims that the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral may not have been quite what it seemed.An event that lasted no more than 30 seconds made an impression that lasted over 130 years. Most people accept the story as it is most often told: a simple case of Wyatt Earp attempting to enforce a ban on firearms withinTombstone. Often overlooked were the brushes with horse theft on the part of the Earps or that the McLaurys moved to Arizona from Iowa to take advantage of the abundan...Mystery of the standing brooms
The internet has been inundated recently with tales of brooms that stand upright by themselves.Videos and pictures have appeared online showing regular household brooms standing perfectly upright without any apparent means of support. The "standing broom" phenomenon has been attributed to everything from paranormal activity to solar flares. Scientists believe that the unusual balancing act is a result of a build-upof static electricity, but not one from a solar flare. "In order for th...
Foldersz is an internal bookmarking system where you can save and organise Hotspotsz content (including this article) into a Folder of your own for later reference.
Paranormal Category List (A-Z)
All our articles are sorted under categories and topics, making it easier to cross reference different subjects. Below are all the different categories the articles are sorted under alphabetically.
54(54/0) 
The Lake Michigan Triangle mystery
Goat gives birth to a human faun
"Time traveler" caught in museum photo ?
Exposing Antarcticas "ghost mountains"
Amelia Earhart mystery solved ?
Cow jumps six feet on to roof
Woman snaps strange winged object
What happened to the Roman Ninth Legion ?
O.K. Corral gunfight not what it seemed ?
Mystery of the standing brooms
