They had to choose Bruno because scientist-cleric Copernicus wasn't persecuted. He wrote a book on his astronomic theories and died peacefully in his bed. Interesting facts about Copernicus:
Copernicus had a doctorate in canon law and, though without degrees, was a physician, polyglot, classics scholar, translator, governor, diplomat, and economist who in 1517 set down a quantity theory of money, a principal concept in economics to the present day, and formulated a version of Gresham's law in 1519, before Gresham.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_Catholic_scientist-clerics
He did his writing in Latin, but spoke Polish, German, Italian and Greek. Today, he'd probably be denied tenure at any major university. Neil de Grasse Tyson wants a new inquisition to drive non-atheists out of science. |
