Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Nov 7, 2005 22:17:26 GMT -6
Giordano Bruno
His jaw was clamped shut with an iron gag, his tongue was pierced with an iron spike and another iron spike was driven into his palate. On February 19, 1600, he was driven through the streets of Rome, stripped of his clothes and burned at the stake.
Why?
Because after hearing the ideas of Copernicus about the nature of the universe, Giordano Bruno theorized that if the Earth was not the center of the universe, and all those stars clearly seen in the night sky were also suns, then there must exist an infinite number of earths in the universe, inhabited with other beings like ourselves.
More on his Bio here: space.about.com/cs/astronomyhistory/a/giordanobruno.htm
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Ignorance and fear is quite scary.
