Science, Galileo and Donald Trump

Alice Horn
Aug 28, 2017 · 3 min read

With so many dramatic events occurring lately, I’ve been pondering the big arcs in history and how our time may be viewed centuries from now. This led me to dust off my middle-school knowledge of Galileo and how science (and facts!) were viewed in the 17th century. I found some alarming similarities between then and now.

In 1633, the Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei was summoned to Rome by the Inquisition under suspicion of heresy. While this now seems surreal, the Church was unhappy about Galileo’s published findings which proved that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Galileo’s work, based on years of scientific research and astronomical observations, was instantly criticized by the Catholic Church for going against established doctrine. The Earth, not the Sun was believed to be the true center of the universe.

After a lengthy trial, during which he was imprisoned and secluded, Galileo was found guilty. He was forced to recant his own scientific findings as “abjured, cursed and detested.” This caused him great personal anguish — but it saved him from being burned at the stake. Galileo agreed not to teach the heresy anymore and spent the rest of his life under house arrest. It took more than 300 years for the Church to admit that Galileo was right and to clear his name of heresy.

Like Galileo’s carefully documented research, today we have reams of charts, graphs and other studies to prove that climate-warming trends over the past century are due to human activities. A whopping 97% of climate scientists are in agreement. We see the maps of giant cracks in Antartica. We see the countless news stories of fellow Americans suffering actute distress and even fatalities caused by the increasing hurricanes, tornadoes and extreme temperatures.On top of this, most Americans and humans around the world feel the change ourselves. We know summer really does feel hotter. We know the weather has been just plain weird. Especially in coastal cities like my Miami hometown, we see flooding like never before.

Like the Church officials in Galileo’s day, President Trump and our government are in denial. True, we do not (yet) imprison scientists to suppress the truth. We no longer burn people at the stake. But when I hear angry mobs chanting “Lock ‘er up”, when I hear our president calling journalists “sick”, when I see the defunding of the EPA to suppress science,I wonder if we are not far away from literally imprisoning scientists and other truth-tellers. Based on Trumps willingness to bend the law to extremes, I am pretty sure he would be happy to imprison those he does not agree with, including scientists.

It took 300 years for the Church to come to its senses about a belief system which now seems quaint. Folks, we don’t have 300 years this time around.

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