This exhibit focuses on Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which was published in Florence in 1632 by Galileo Galilei. It was banned by Pope Urban Vlll for its views favoring heliocentrism shortly after its publication, and Galileo was accused of heresy due to inconclusive evidence. The book presents a series of dialogues among three speakers discussing Copernican and the Ptolemaic view of the world. Galileo’s heliocentric view opposes the geocentric view of Aristotle, a view supported by the church and the Roman Catholic Inquisition. The exhibit aims to display the complicated conflicts between the revolution of modern science and traditional church doctrines, acting as a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution and laying crucial foundation for the Enlightenment.
Credits
JiaYuan Liu