2 GALILEO AND HIS JUDGES. 



The vast majority of men from the earliest times 

 down to the birth of Galileo believed that the Earth 

 was the centre of the universe, round which the Sun, 

 Moon, and Stars revolved every twenty-four hours ; 

 round which, also (as careful observers had perceived), 

 the Sun had an annual motion, progressing through 

 the various signs of the zodiac ; moreover, it had 

 been noticed that the planets moved round the Earth, 

 though at widely differing periods. 



Yet there had been some few men, exceptionally 

 gifted, who had guessed (and truly so) that the 

 popular conception was a wrong one. It is said 

 that the old Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, 

 taught his disciples that the Sun was the real 

 centre of our system, and that the Earth and 

 planets circulated round it ; but he does not seem to 

 have openly and explicitly published his doctrine, 

 though the tradition of his having so taught has 

 always existed. If he taught it, however, he stands 

 almost alone among the ancients. There were two 

 great authorities in particular, whose opinion carried 

 immense weight, and who were both decided in 

 holding that the Earth was the centre, and the 

 Sun a revolving planet. The first of these, Aristotle, 

 has exercised an influence over succeeding genera- 

 tions which is simply marvellous. How vast was 

 the weight of his name as a philosopher in the 

 age of the schoolmen is well known to every one 

 who has ever glanced at the greatest work of the 

 greatest intellect of that age, the " Summa " of 



