This phenomenon was so
wholly unexpected by Galileo that, at first, he could hardly believe
his eyes. However, the reality of the existence of a system of four
moons attending the great planet was soon established beyond all
question. Numbers of great personages crowded to Galileo to see for
themselves this beautiful miniature representing the sun with its
system of revolving planets.
Of course there were, as usual, a few incredulous people who refused
to believe the assertion that four more moving bodies had to be added
to the planetary system. They scoffed at the notion; they said the
satellites may have been in the telescope, but that they were not in
the sky. One sceptical philosopher is reported to have affirmed,
that even if he saw the moons of Jupiter himself he would not believe
in them, as their existence was contrary to the principles of
common-sense!
There can be no doubt that a special significance attached to the new
discovery at this particular epoch in the history of science. It
must be remembered that in those days the doctrine of Copernicus,
declaring that the sun, and not the earth, was the centre of the
system, that the earth revolved on its axis once a day, and that it
described a mighty circle round the sun once a year, had only
recently been promulgated.
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