The Pilot

Issue date: 4/2/08 Section: Campus News

Dr. Stephen P. Maran came to Gardner-Webb Thursday to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo perfecting, then using, the telescope to revolutionize astronomy and science in general.

Galileo Galilei was born in 1564 and in his lifetime made significant contributions not only in astronomy, but also physics and mathematics. He generated controversy, though, because of his support of the Copernican Theory, which stated that the sun was the center of the solar system, not Earth. This directly contradicted a doctrine of the extremely powerful Roman Catholic church.

"There were a lot of things Galileo got right," said Maran, who retired from his NASA astronomer job in 2004 after 34 years. "For example, he found the Copernican Theory was right.

He said 'I've discovered four major moons going around Jupiter.'

"Of course, he was forced to recant by the church. He wasn't ready to die for it, they only had to show him the torture tools" and Galileo retracted his support, Maran said.

He discussed the fact that Galileo was the first to realize the moon was full of craters. Until that time, it was believed that its surface was flat.

Maran's lecture was part of the Shapley Lecture Series, sponsored by the American Astronomical Society. The series brings major astronomy scholars to small schools. Maran has written and edited about 10 books.
"My talk is based around a book that's coming out late this year or early in 2009, called 'Galileo's New Universe.' The book is structured into two halves in each chapter.

"The first half is written by one of my colleagues, Larry Marschall, who explains Galileo. I write the second half, where I explain how far we've come."

Dr. Don Olive, a GWU physics professor, said Maran's lecture was also sponsored by the university's chapter of Sigma Zeta, the math and science honor society.

"He is such a wealth of knowledge," Olive said. "He's bringing in some of the latest news to bring it alive to our students."

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