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Predestination versus Free Will - April 2004 by Nick Kollestrom
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This spring sees the 400 anniversary of Galileo being summoned by the Inquisition and charged with astral fatalism, on the grounds that his chart-readings were too deterministic; e.g., he would tell clients when they were going to die. Galileo was then a maths lecturer at the University of Padua, where he would lecture the medical students on how to erect decumbriture charts. The severe charge which the Holy Office of Venice came out with on 22nd April was 'to have reasoned that the stars and planets necessitate.' The Church wasn't against astrology as such, but it was heavily against fatalistic predictions of this kind. The charge was never pursued as the Church didn't want to stir up trouble with the University. The whole affair was deeply forgotten until 1992 when a Dominican friar discovered the whole thing in dusty archives. There were two other charges which the Holy Office made against Galileo in April 1604, and these were neglecting to go to Church and having rows with his mother. A special issue of Culture and Cosmos will be coming out, timed for this 400-year anniversary, giving everything you wanted to know about this event and just how much Galileo was immersed in astrology. More information about Culture and Cosmos can be found here Culture and Cosmos website |
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