DAFIST, University of Genova, Genova, Italy.
Ann Sci. 2021 Jul;78(3):265-294. doi: 10.1080/00033790.2021.1919760. Epub 2021 May 9.
In 1588 Tycho Brahe proposed a new cosmological system keeping a motionless Earth at the centre of the world. In the first half of the following century the reception of Tycho's model within the Society of Jesus was characterized by a strong resistance at the beginning, followed by a long and winding path, and then a good fortune, whereas heliocentric models were increasingly investigated in European observatories. In 1651 a Jesuit astronomer, Giovan Battista Riccioli, published the , an encyclopaedic synthesis of astronomical knowledge where the Earth's motions or rest were extensively discussed in order to prove the Earth's immobility. However, through the period 1650-1687 the did not entirely fulfil its aims, rather seeming like the dying swan's song of Tychonic or semi-Tychonic models. Contemporary scholars appreciated the encyclopaedic effort by Riccioli, but many were critical of his proofs. Even influential Jesuit astronomers showed a remarkable interest in the Copernican model, accepting geocentric models only on the basis of Holy Scripture's authority. This conduct and the tacitly allowed circulation in Catholic Europe of openly Copernican books, indicate that Catholic science tolerated heliocentric theory, when presented as a computational device rather than a representation of reality, more frequently than we usually think.
1588 年，第谷·布拉赫提出了一个新的宇宙体系，将静止不动的地球置于世界的中心。在接下来的一个世纪的前半叶，耶稣会内部对第谷模型的接受过程一开始就强烈抵制，随后经历了漫长而曲折的道路，最终才获得成功，而日心说模型在欧洲的观测站中则越来越受到关注。1651 年，一位耶稣会天文学家乔凡尼·巴蒂斯塔·里乔利出版了《阿尔戈里姆》，这是一部天文学知识的百科全书式综合著作，其中广泛讨论了地球的运动或静止，以证明地球是静止不动的。然而，在 1650 年至 1687 年期间，《阿尔戈里姆》并没有完全实现其目标，它更像是第谷或半第谷模型的天鹅之歌。当代学者赞赏里乔利的百科全书式努力，但许多人对他的证明提出了批评。甚至一些有影响力的耶稣会天文学家也对哥白尼模型表现出了极大的兴趣，他们只在《圣经》权威的基础上接受地心模型。这种行为以及在天主教欧洲默许公开的哥白尼著作的流传，表明当日心说理论被视为一种计算工具而非现实的代表时，天主教科学比我们通常认为的更能容忍它。
