Recently, I finished reading the sixth chapter in “The Ascent of Man,” by J. Bronowski — The Starry Messenger. It was very interesting, this time explaining astronomy’s impact on human evolution and the ideas introduced and eventually accepted about the nature of the planets. At first, astronomy was used only for timekeeping and to guide travelers. People assumed that the sun and various other planets revolved around Earth, but by the fifteenth century, Copernicus presented a different idea: he suggested that all planets, including Earth, revolved around the sun, but for several more decades, his idea went unaccepted until Galileo Galilei used his telescope to look at the stars and proved Copernicus’s theory. However, for various political reasons, those ideas were shunned by the authorities at the time. Forgeries were produced to show that Galileo had not been allowed to use the theory as a hypothesis, and despite the lack of Galileo’s signature on the documents, he was still found guilty of violating the law. I found it a morally reprehensible action to deny his claims merely because of common belief, especially since Galileo’s ideas were eventually proved true. The book provided an accurate, quick summary of astronomy, almost a timeline of what humans accomplished with astronomy, and I recommend it to anyone interested in astronomy or evolution. I would rate it 9.7/10.
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