I’ve always loved science and mathematics and I was very excited when I heard the topic for the next Becker/Rose cafe series discussion was going to be about science vs. religion. The speaker was Dr. Gregory Sloan who works in the Astronomy department. We started off with learning about some major contributors to astronomy starting with Ptolomy. The discussion then turned towards the time of Galileo and his relationship with the Catholic church at the time he was publishing his ideas. Before Galileo everyone in Europe believed that the earth was the center of the universe. In fact, I’m not sure that they understood they had a concept of the universe. It was more of the fact that to them, everything revolved around the earth. It is interesting that astronomers in the ancient times went along with the geocentric theory even though they found compelling data that poked holes at the theory. One of the major reasons that the geocentric  theory was believed to be true for such a long time was because the Catholic church was a major contributor to research in science. In addition, the church believed that the earth was the center of all creation, because that was the story that fit perfectly with the Bible. If the astronomers came up with a theory that contradicted the church’s beliefs their lives would be at risk. Galileo entered this world with his telescope and he had compelling reasons why the earth was not the center of everything. Although it contradicted with the Catholic church’s teachings Galileo went on to publish his theories. I was already aware of most of the things that were discussed so I did not find the discussion particularly interesting. I had hoped we would delve more into modern science and religion.