This version is rejected by most scientists, but new evidence speaks in its favor.
In April, SpaceX will launch a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a NASA telescope called TESS. Its purpose is to search for planets outside the solar system by the method of transit photometry. Astronomers believe there are countless exoplanets. The number of those already known has exceeded 3,700, and a large part of them were discovered by the Kepler space telescope.
Ironically, the German scientist Johannes Kepler himself did not take into account any exoplanets in his theory of the structure of the Universe. Unlike the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, who was burned alive in Rome in 1600 on charges of heresy.
Giordano Bruno argued that the universe has no center, and the stars are nothing more than distant suns around which planets and moons revolve. It is noteworthy that by doing so, he outlined the main provisions of modern cosmology, while Copernicus and Kepler mistakenly considered the Universe to be a spherical object with a stationary Sun in the center. The stars, in their opinion, have a different nature from the Sun and are not surrounded by planets.
I work as a history teacher and by the nature of my work I have repeatedly refuted various historical myths. But one never gave in to me. It is believed that the Roman Inquisition sentenced Giordano Bruno to death for his ideas about the structure of the universe. Historians believe that this is not true. Let's figure it out. In the alleged dispute between the Christian Church and the scientific community, this is a burning issue. Researchers reduce the intensity of passions, recalling that Bruno was not a scientist, and the Inquisition condemned him for denying church dogmas. The Catholic Encyclopedia adheres to the same position: "Bruno was not convicted for defending the astronomical system of Copernicus and not for teaching about the plurality of inhabited worlds."
Historian Frances Yates wrote that "it is impossible to believe in the myth that Bruno was persecuted as a philosopher and burned for his bold ideas about countless worlds or about the movement of the Earth." Another historian, Michael Crowe, also rejected "the myth that Giordano Bruno became a martyr because of his pluralistic beliefs."
Not everyone agrees with this. In 2014, millions of people watched the first episode of the reboot of the documentary series Cosmos, written by Carl Sagan. The host of the program, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, bluntly stated that Bruno attracted the attention of the Inquisition precisely by his persistence in the question of the existence of an uncountable number of planets. "The punishment for such a thing in his time," explained Tyson, "was one of the most terrible forms of cruel and rare execution." Complaints came from viewers: without even reading a single work of Bruno, bloggers echoed the popular belief that the philosopher was a Hermeticist, and stubbornness and numerous blasphemy brought him to the fire.
Indeed, the verdict does not say anything about Bruno's belief in Copernicus' ideas. But the Inquisition did not like his idea that the Earth was in motion - long before Galileo had to be warned against the spread of similar ideas. In 1597, the inquisitors condemned Bruno's assertion about the movement of the earth. His theory of the existence of star-planetary systems, which he called "countless worlds" is also mentioned in the court records that have survived to this day. Nevertheless, experts deny that such views were regarded as heresy. In particular, in 2002, Lin Spruit, an expert on Giordano Bruno, stated that the philosopher's belief in many worlds was not formally considered heresy, but could be called "erroneous", "outrageous" or "blasphemous." Not the best mark, but the charge of heresy was much worse.
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However, having studied the old works on heresy and canonical church law, I realized that the situation is different. In the 90s of the 16th century, Bruno's statement was indeed considered heretical. At one time he was condemned by many: theologians, and jurists, and bishops; one emperor, three popes, five Church Fathers and nine saints. In the year 384, Bishop Philastrius of Brixia classified the faith in many worlds as heretical in his book On Heresies. This decision is also shared by subsequent sources, in particular the writings of Saints Jerome of Stridon, Augustine of Ipponis and Isidora of Egypt.
Moreover, the highest ecclesiastical authority recognized this thought as heresy. In 1582 and 1591, in the official edition of the Corps of Canon Law, published by order of Pope Gregory XIII, it was considered heresy to "hold the opinion of countless worlds." Canon law was a system of legal norms of the Catholic Church: all inquisitorial and ecclesiastical courts were obliged to obey it.
I analyzed all the accusations and found that the most convincing evidence of Bruno's guilt was, in contrast to the established opinion, his belief in the existence of other worlds. This accusation is mentioned more often than others. In particular, one of the accusers testified that in his imprisonment Bruno "brought Francesco the Neapolitan to the window and showed him a star, saying that this is the world, and that all the stars are worlds."
In ten testimonies, six witnesses thirteen times accuse Bruno of believing in many worlds. No other accusation was repeated half as often. Three declared that Bruno denied the transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, but this sin was hardly punishable by death, since the Pope decreed that Lutherans in Rome should not be offended. In addition, Bruno himself admitted that he believes in transubstantiation. Bruno called the blasphemies attributed to him slander. He zealously adhered to the tenets of the Catholic faith.
We would not agree with some of his ideas now. Among other things, he believed that the Earth is a living creature with a soul. However, both Kepler and William Hilbert - famous scientists and followers of Copernicus - also adhered to these views.
The inquisitors wondered whether Bruno questioned the integrity of the Virgin Mary, whether he said that Christ performed imaginary miracles and was a magician. Bruno answered negatively, and he never wrote this in his works. But his cosmology was described in as many as nine books. She appears in a list of ten provisions that the inquisitors recognized as heretical: "She also believes that there are many worlds, many suns, in which there are necessarily things similar in kind and form to those in this world, and even people."
In 1597, Bruno appeared before the Inquisition's court, at which the eminent theologian Roberto Bellarmine acted as the chief prosecutor. Bruno was "exhorted to renounce the delusion of other worlds." Nineteen years from now, Inquisitor Bellarmine will be leading the trial against Galileo.
In at least four testimonies, Bruno refuses to renounce his beliefs and insists that the Earth is an ordinary celestial body, and all celestial bodies constitute countless worlds. The inquisitors point out: "Regarding this answer, questioned at the seventeenth interrogation, but did not answer satisfactorily, for he returned to the same testimony." According to the instructions of the Inquisition, only heretics are returned to the same testimony.
After Bruno was executed, an eyewitness to the execution, Kaspar Shoppe, wrote two letters in which he four times noted Bruno's faith in countless worlds. Shoppe used the Latin form of mundos esse innumerabilis, which was listed as heretical.
The question arises why the Catholics considered these views heresy. Theologians explain: "just as there cannot be another Christ, so there cannot be other worlds."
Giordano Bruno was accused of several heresies, but the main one was his teaching about the many worlds. He defended not some kind of esoteric belief in non-material worlds, but integral components of modern cosmology: the provisions about the absence of a center in the Universe, about the myriad of suns around which other celestial bodies revolve, and that among them there may be an inhabited one similar to the Earth. planet.
Bruno said that he came to the idea of other worlds, reflecting on the omnipotence of the Lord. They say, possessing infinite power, God created an infinite number of worlds. Ironically, Bruno's outstripped views of the universe - closer to the truth than Copernicus’s version - are rooted in religious beliefs.
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Alberto Martínez