celebrating Giordano Bruno, Feb 17, 1600

I made a card to send to my father, who instilled in me a love of science. I used the first photo in this series for the card. Then I sent some extra cards to kids and ran out of photos, so you have to settle for this email, originally written to be sent in time for the anniversary of Bruno's execution.

The text inside the card:

2/17/2016

On the anniversary of the execution of
Giordano Bruno in 1600, 

greetings:

Bruno was a Dominican friar who came to believe in the new findings of science, shortly after the dawn of the telescope. Among his beliefs, he thought the earth revolved around the sun, as described by Copernicus, rather than the earth being the center of the universe. He also believed the universe was infinite, with no center at all. Stars, he felt, were other suns, but very far away. Bruno even wondered if those other suns might have planets around them, same as ours. He refused to recant his “heretical” beliefs, and was burned at the stake by the Roman Inquisition, after about seven years in their prisons. Turns out, of course, that Bruno was correct. Giordano Bruno is widely considered a martyr of science.

Only 10 years after Bruno’s execution, Galileo, famous for his telescope, came under pressure from the Church for his Copernican beliefs. Knowing full well what became of Bruno, Galileo is said to have recanted his theories to avoid a similar fate. Galileo continued, however, to work on his scientific pursuits while under house arrest for the rest of his life.

As of January 2016, over 2,000 planets have been discovered orbiting Bruno’s “other suns.”

Giordano Bruno, 1548-Feb 17, 1600

to which I add, since an email can contain more than a greeting card:

You may remember his story from the Cosmos series. Bruno was a sometimes professor & philosopher, 

living outside of Italy (thereby avoiding the Inquisition).

He returned to Italy and was arrested by the forces of reaction, to face a 7 year trial and torture ordeal, but refused to recant.

On Feb 17th, 1600, Giordano Bruno, condemned by the Pope as a heretic, was burned at the stake.

On the very spot in Rome where he was put to the torch, there now stands a monument to Bruno, erected in the late 1800s in spite of objections from the Vatican. My photos were taken of that monument in Rome, back in 2004.

Keep the faith,

Randy