EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | "Thunderbolts and Lightning: The Pope, Galileo, the Church and Science" 
Presented by Dr. Jeremy Wasser
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?
Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening me
(Galileo) Galileo, (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo Figaro, magnifico

But I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity

Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen, 1975

The Italian astronomer and physicist, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) got into monstrous trouble with the Holy Inquisition thanks to his affirmation that the Copernican concept of the solar system was correct. This heliocentric model held that the sun was at the center of the solar system and the earth (and other planets) orbited around it. Heliocentrism was in direct conflict with the then widely accepted ancient belief in a geocentric cosmology with the unmoving earth at the center of creation. This idea was most famously expressed by the Alexandrian astronomer and astrologer, Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100-c. 165 CE).

The trials of Galileo for the heresy of Copernican heliocentrism marked the apotheosis of a perceived centuries-long pattern of opposition by the Church to a scientific explanation for the observable world. This conflict extended beyond cosmology to essentially all scientific disciplines including medicine. A well-known medieval aphorism speaks to this conflict, ubi tres medici, duo athei, in other words, when you have three physicians (or scientists) two of them will be godless atheists!

Join physiologist and medical historian, Dr. Jeremy Wasser, as we explore the relationship of the Church and science at the dawn of the modern scientific revolution through the lens (pun intended) of Galileo‘s two trials for heresy. Was there nothing but enmity [1] between science and the sacred and was the Church  and the papacy always in opposition to the ideas of men of science such as Galileo? Or is the truth more nuanced and more complex? Buckle up for a ride through the intertwined history of the Church and science with Thunderbolts and Lightning: The Pope, Galileo, the Church and Science.

The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.

Please note:

• Your participation is confirmed once you have purchased your ticket. You will receive the Zoom link to join the presentation circa 30 minutes before the start time.
• VIDEO RECORDING of the webinar will be available for unlimited streaming at your convenience for 7 days after the event.

Jeremy Wasser, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Physiology at Texas A&M University. Dr. Wasser serves as the program leader for study abroad programs in Germany, focused on the history of medicine, providing future doctors and biomedical science researchers with a foundation in physiology and the medical humanities. Along with his scientific publications he has written and lectured on the culture of disease, the history of public health and health policy, the history of human experimentation, and the role of physiological education in contemplative practices. Additionally, Wasser’s training in opera and theatre inform the unique personas that he creates for lectures in the history of medicine and performances related to science and storytelling.