Using quotes, we often forget about the people to whom these words belong. Meanwhile, every phrase that has become a catchphrase has not only an author, but also a history of its occurrence. Who said, "And yet she is spinning?" This phrase also has its own story and its author, although most of us do not know about it.
The catch phrase "And yet it turns" - what is it about?
Since ancient Greece, the only correct model of the universe was the geocentric model. Simply put, the Earth was the center of the universe, and the Sun, moon, stars and other celestial bodies revolved around it. It was believed that the Earth was prevented from falling by some kind of support - some of the ancient scientists assumed that our planet rests on three huge elephants, which in turn stand on a giant tortoise, someone believed that such a support is the oceans or compressed air . In any case, regardless of the type of support and the shape of the Earth, it was this theory that was accepted by the Catholic Church as corresponding to the Holy Scriptures.
During the first scientific revolution that took place in the Renaissance, the heliocentric theory of the universe was widely used, according to which the Sun is in the center of the universe, and all other objects revolve around it. Strictly speaking, the heliocentric model appeared much earlier - ancient thinkers spoke about this order of motion of celestial bodies.
Where did this saying come from?
In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church zealously controlled all scientific works and hypotheses, and scholars who expressed thoughts that were different from church ideas about the universe were persecuted. When astronomers began to say that the Earth is not the center of the universe, but only revolves around the Sun, the clergy did not accept a new version of the structure of the universe.
According to a popular legend, the scientist who claimed that the center of the universe is the Sun, and all other celestial bodies (including the Earth, including) revolve around it, was sentenced by the Holy Inquisition to be burned at the stake for heretical glances. And before the execution of the sentence, he stamped his foot on the platform and said: "And yet it spins!" Who is the real scientist in this legend? In a mysterious way, three great personalities of that time mixed in it at once - Galileo Galilei, Nikolai Copernicus and Giordano Bruno.
Nikolai Copernicus
Nikolai Copernicus is a Polish astronomer who laid the foundation for new views on the structure and order of motion of bodies in the universe. It is he who is considered the author of the heliocentric system of the world, which has become one of the impetus for the scientific revolution of the Renaissance. And although Copernicus was the scientist who contributed to the widespread dissemination of a new vision of the universe, he was not subjected to persecution of the church during his lifetime, and died in his bed from a serious illness at the age of 70 years. Moreover, the scientist himself was a clergyman. And only in 1616, after 73 years, the Catholic Church issued an official ban on the protection and support of the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. The basis of such a ban was the decision of the Inquisition that the views of Copernicus are contrary to the Holy Scriptures and erroneous in faith.
Thus, Nikolai Copernicus could not be the author of the famous saying - during his lifetime he was not tried for heretical theories.
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei is an Italian physicist who was an active supporter of the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. Indeed, in the end, the support of these ideas led Galileo to the inquisition process, as a result of which he was forced to repent and renounce the heliocentric system of the universe. However, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was subsequently replaced by house arrest and the constant supervision of the holy Inquisition.
This lawsuit has become a symbol of the confrontation between science and the church, but contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that Galileo Galilei, “But still she is spinning,” said and was the author of these words. Even in the biography of the great physicist, written by his student and follower, there is not a single mention of this winged expression.
Giordano Bruno
Giordano Bruno is the only one of the three scientists who was burned at the stake, although this happened in 1600 - 16 years before the ban on the heliocentric theory. Moreover, the scientist was recognized as a heretic for completely different reasons. Despite the rank of priest, Bruno adhered to ideas, for example, that Christ was a magician. It was for this reason that Giordano Bruno was first taken into custody, and a few years later, without recognizing his beliefs as erroneous, he was excommunicated as an unyielding heretic and sentenced to be burned. The information on the trial of Bruno that has been preserved to this day indicates that the verdict does not mention science at all.
Thus, Giordano Bruno not only has nothing to do with the famous expression, he was convicted of thoughts that had nothing to do with either Copernican theory or science as a whole. Therefore, part of the legend of the church fighting against objectionable scholars using such radical methods is also fiction.
Who said, “And yet she is spinning!”?
What have we come to? Who really belongs to these famous words, if Galileo did not shout "But still she is spinning"? It is believed that this phrase began to be attributed to Galileo shortly after his death. In fact, the Spanish artist Murillo is the one who said "And yet she is spinning." More precisely, he didn’t even say, but painted. In 1646, one of his students painted a portrait of Galileo, in which the scientist is depicted in prison. And only after almost 2.5 centuries, art critics discovered a hidden part of the picture behind a wide frame. The fragment under the frame depicted sketches of planets orbiting the sun, as well as the phrase that has become famous throughout the world and preserved through the centuries: "Eppus si muove!"