It was on this day in 1633 that Galileo Galilei renounced what we now accept as fact: that the Earth orbits the sun, not the other way around. He was nearly burned at the stake for it

A bust of Galileo at a museum dedicated to him in Florence, Italy.

Photo by Kathryn Cook

The story of Galileo Galilei demonstrates many things, not least that science keeps evolving.

It was on this day in 1633 that the Italian scholar renounced what we now accept as fact: that the Earth orbits the sun, not the other way around.

Galileo’s discovery of Jupiter’s larger moons in 1610 made him question the prevailing assumption that the Earth was at the universe’s center. His advocacy of the heliocentric theory earned him mockery, censure and — in 1633 — a trial in Rome, at which he was forced to recant before a jury of cardinals. He vowed that he would “abjure, curse and detest” his findings.

The declaration saved him from being burned at the stake, but led to house arrest for the rest of his life. It took the Roman Catholic Church more than 350 years to acknowledge that Galileo had been wronged — though astronomers now tell us that the sun is not immobile, but orbits within the galaxy, pulling the planets along with it.

Today, Galileo’s discoveries seem obvious. But all things are easy to understand once they have been discovered, he wrote. “The point is in being able to discover them.”

Tell that to the deniers of climate change.

Thanks New York Times!