THE PATH OF EVOLUTION 



Rome and obliged to appear there and defend himself. 

 Notwithstanding the proofs he brought of the reality 

 of his discoveries of the truth and justice of his 

 reasoning, and the evidences he gave of his Catholi- 

 cism, nothing could prevent an assembly of the 

 theologians appointed by the Pope from declaring 

 that "To maintain that the Sun is placed immovable 

 in the centre of the world is an absurd opinion, false 

 in philosophy and positively heretical, because it is 

 contrary to the Scriptures to sustain the statement 

 that the earth is not placed at the centre of the 

 world ; that it is not immovable. And, likewise, 

 that a diurnal motion on its axis is also an absurd 

 proposition, false in philosophy and erroneous at least 

 in faith." 



Galileo, thoroughly astonished, employed every 

 argument that truth could suggest in the defense of 

 the doctrine that his observations had proved to be 

 really incontrovertible. No attention was paid to his 

 proofs or reasons; and, as he showed himself disin- 

 clined to submit to the decision of the Holy office, 

 they forbade him to profess personally from that 

 time forward the opinions that had been condemned. 

 In 161 7 Galileo returned to Florence, and, continuing 

 his astronomical labors, gave his energies to accumu- 

 lating during sixteen years the physical proofs of the 

 movement of the earth and of the constitution of the 



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