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This article is from the Scientific Skepticism FAQ, by Paul Johnson Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk with numerous contributions by
others.
1.7: Galileo was persecuted, just like researchers into today.
People putting forward extraordinary claims often refer to Galileo as
an example of a great genius being persecuted by the establishment for
heretical theories. They claim that the scientific establishment is
afraid of being proved wrong, and hence is trying to suppress the
truth.
This is a classic conspiracy theory. The Conspirators are all those
scientists who have bothered to point out flaws in the claims put
forward by the researchers.
The usual rejoinder to someone who says "They laughed at Columbus,
they laughed at Galileo" is to say "But they also laughed at Bozo the
Clown". (From Carl Sagan, "Broca's Brain", Coronet 1980, p79).
Incidentally, stories about the persecution of Galileo Galilei and the
ridicule Christopher Columbus had to endure should be taken with a
grain of salt.
During the early days of Galileo's theory church officials were
interested and sometimes supportive, even though they had yet to find
a way to incorporate it into theology. His main adversaries were
established scientists - since he was unable to provide HARD proofs
they didn't accept his model. Galileo became more agitated, declared
them ignorant fools and publicly stated that his model was the correct
one, thus coming in conflict with the church.
When Columbus proposed to take the "Western Route" the spherical
nature of the Earth was common knowledge, even though the diameter was
still debatable. Columbus simply believed that the Earth was a lot
smaller, while his adversaries claimed that the Western Route would be
too long. If America hadn't been in his way, he most likely would have
failed. The myth that "he was laughed at for believing that the Earth
was a globe" stems from an American author who intentionally
adulterated history.
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