Recently, the library of the Royal Society managed to find the original letter written by the famous scientist Galileo Galilei. This document is incredibly important, as it proves an attempt by a scientist to hide his position regarding controversial astronomical ideas.
Galileo is known for his discoveries, which he made using one of the earliest telescopes, as well as opposition to the Catholic Church regarding the location of the Sun and the planets. He was sure that Nicolaus Copernicus was right - the Earth revolves around the sun, and not vice versa. After that, he publishes an article entitled “A Dialogue on Two Systems of the World,” for which the Inquisition sentenced him to arrest for the last 9 years of his life.
The first and last page of Galileo's letter to his friend the physicist Benedetto Castelli. Below is the signature “ G. G.”
But the circumstances of the initial clash with the church are especially curious, since the letter that Galileo wrote to a friend 20 years before this event disappeared. In the letter, he outlined his own views on the structure of the solar system and was firmly convinced that some places in the Bible regarding the location of the Earth in the Universe can not be taken literally. The letter was in the hands of Niccolò Lorini, who handed over a copy to the church authorities. Galileo realized that this letter was capable of bringing major trouble, so he edited some parts in the original to make it more attractive and sent it to a church official, claiming that Lorini had forged a note. Unfortunately, the original has long been lost for history. Because of this, historians argued about whether Galileo tried to prevent the problem by correcting his own arguments. Now you can put an end to this question, since the original letter was found.
The document was discovered by Salvatore Ricciardo of the University of Bergamo. He was looking through the library catalog of the Royal Society and came across an amazing letter. The first tests confirmed its authenticity with crossed parts and new words added.
