11. Galileo Galilei’s discovery of a heliocentric universe landed him in hot water with the Catholic Church.
Galileo Galilei – more commonly known by just his first name – was one of the finest scientific minds, not just of his time, but also of all time. The polymath was well known and respected in his native Italy and was widely regarded as a key critical thinker of the day. But still, he ended up living under house arrest, his theories and life’s work largely even ridiculed, and with the Catholic Church warns that he was destined for eternal damnation.
Born in 1564 in Pisa, Galileo enrolled at the University of Pisa at the age of just 16. Though he initially studied medicine, he soon expanded his learning, investigating physics and natural philosophy too. Before long, he was making a name for himself as a genuine polymath. By 1589, he was the Chair of Mathematics at the university, though three years later he moved to the University of Padua. By that point, he was undoubtedly one of Italy’s finest thinkers and enjoyed the respect of his peers, as well as enjoying the trappings of wealth that came with such academic prestige.
After the year 1600, however, his research started to make waves – in the wrong way. Galileo’s idea of heliocentrism – that is, that the Earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around – was seen as heretical. In 1615, a special Roman Catholic Inquisition was held. Galileo was hauled before it and accused of heresy. He was forced to recant his ideas, which he did. Despite this, Pope Urban VIII sentenced him to house arrest. From 1615 right up until his death in 1642, Galileo was a prisoner in his own home. He was regarded as a heretic by staunch Catholics and a sell-out by some members of the scientific community. However, his fall from grace was to be short-lived and, with the Enlightenment, he would become regarded as a scientific genius and one of the most important thinkers of all time.